In Memoriam


Sister Loretta May(1933-2022)

To me, she possessed the best qualities of being an Adrian Dominican Sister. She was hard working, kind, no nonsense, self-deprecating, clear thinking and down to earth. She was someone you could always count on, a steady mind and heart.

Kathy Almany, an Adrian Dominican Associate and the chair of the Camilla Madden Charitable Trust (CMCT), in this remembrance was describing Sister Loretta May, who had spent many years as a trustee of the fund and who at the time of her death held the title of trustee emerita.

In her more than seventy years as an Adrian Dominican Sister, Sister Loretta served as a teacher, principal, associate school superintendent, founder of two grade-school programs, Treasurer of the Congregation, and CMCT trustee – and none of that might have happened if St. Mary Academy, the school administered by the Immaculate Heart of Mary Sisters in Monroe, Michigan, had not had a full enrollment when she was ready for high school.

Read more about Sister Loretta (PDF)

make a memorial giftMemorial gifts may be made to Adrian Dominican Sisters, 1257 East Siena Heights Drive, Adrian, Michigan, 49221. 

 

 

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Sister Anne Beauvais(1933-2021)

“I was called [my parents’] ‘prosperity’ baby born in the good times after the Great Depression.”

Anne Elizabeth Beauvais was the sixth child of eight in the Beauvais family, and the youngest girl. She was born August 13, 1933, in Libertyville, Illinois, to Erneste and Marian (Hallinan) Beauvais, natives of Chicago’s North Side. 

Marian’s mother died in childbirth and she was adopted by a strongly Catholic family, while Erneste was similarly raised in a solidly Catholic environment, and both passed their love of their faith on to their children: Mary, Elizabeth, Ernie, Tom, Cecile, David, Paul, and of course Anne.

“I had a wonderful and joy-filled childhood with my three fun-loving sisters and four brothers,” Sister Anne wrote in her autobiography. “Our parents believed in letting children be who they are, with of course good manners and discipline.”

All the children attended St. Joseph School, where they were taught by the Sisters of Mercy “whom I loved,” Sister Anne wrote. “In the seventh grade I knew I wanted to be a sister.”

Read more about Sister Anne (PDF)

make a memorial giftMemorial gifts may be made to Adrian Dominican Sisters, 1257 East Siena Heights Drive, Adrian, Michigan, 49221. 


 

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Sister Ann Patrice Remkus(1928-2021)

Whatever the future holds for me, one thing is certain: God will be present and will not let me down. I trust He will allow me to use whatever talents He has placed in me to be of service in His work and to bring happiness to myself.

Sister Ann Patrice Remkus wrote this passage to conclude the 1986 edition of her life story. Both it and a later version are a thoughtful, honest look back at what Sister Mary Sue Kennedy described in her homily for Sister’s Memorial Mass as “a life well lived, with its ups and downs and its joys and pains.”

Lucille Judith Remkus was born on July 2, 1928, in Rockford, Illinois, to Frank and Petronella (Stansel) Remkus. In one of her St. Catherine letters to Sister Marcella Gardner, she mused about the date of her birth: “An early firecracker? Hardly, as this letter will attest to; I’ve not been early for much of anything in my life, unfortunately.”

Frank and Pat, as Sister Ann Patrice’s mother was called (and from which name the second part of Sister’s religious name was derived), both came to the U.S. from Lithuania. Frank left his homeland in 1910 at the age of about 21, fleeing under cover of darkness to avoid being conscripted into the Russian army. He walked to the Netherlands and from there sailed to New York. Pat came to the U.S. in 1909, at about age 22, after having had a difficult childhood. Sister wrote in her life story that Pat’s mother had died when Pat was just 18 months old, and because Pat’s stepmother did not accept her and her sister, she had left home at age nine to work on a farm.

Read more about Sister Ann Patrice (PDF)

make a memorial giftMemorial gifts may be made to Adrian Dominican Sisters, 1257 East Siena Heights Drive, Adrian, Michigan, 49221. 

 


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Sister Lucy Ann Quinn(1932-2021)

Someone once wrote that the lives we live are like a pebble thrown in a pond which causes ever widening rings and ripples. The ripples in the water can often continue on for a while and will touch everything in its path. It continues even after the stone has disappeared. So, too is this true of those we know and love; they still touch us long after they are gone.

Sister Mary Sue Kennedy wrote these words in her funeral homily for Sister Lucy Ann Quinn, who definitely did her part to touch people’s lives throughout her many years of service in everything from teaching to volunteering at a local hot air balloon festival.

Lucy Ann was born in Detroit on August 31, 1932 – entering the world “during the darkest part of the total eclipse of the sun at three o’clock in the afternoon,” she wrote in her autobiography – as the fourth child of Maurice and Florence (Knill) Quinn. Her siblings were all quite a bit older than she was; Margaret was sixteen, Maurice (known as Bud) was fourteen and John was twelve. As a result, she wrote, her sister and brothers “showered me with much affection.”

The family lived in Visitation Parish, and Lucy Ann’s experience with the Adrian Dominican Sisters began in first grade at the parish school. In addition to the strong role models the Sisters were for her, she had the example of her parents’ faith life as a guiding light. “As I grew I was very impressed with the strong faith of my mother and dad,” she wrote. “Dad was a daily communicant. They both went to confession often and each made a yearly retreat. Nightly they said the rosary together kneeling beside their bed.”

Read more about Sister Lucy Ann (PDF)

make a memorial giftMemorial gifts may be made to Adrian Dominican Sisters, 1257 East Siena Heights Drive, Adrian, Michigan, 49221. 
 

 

 

Leave your comments and remembrances (if you don't see the comment box below, click on the "Read More" link).


Cemetery of the Adrian Dominican Sisters

Our Adrian Dominican cemetery with its circular headstones is a beautiful place of rest for women who gave their lives in service to God — and a peaceful place for contemplation and remembrance. 


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