News | Live Stream | Video Library
Contact Us | Employment | Donate
(1941-2026)
As the hands of God, the sacred potter, mold and shape who we are, so too Kathleen molded, shaped and enlightened our minds and spirits as we stood before her soft, reflective artwork in pictures and note cards, calling us into her world of creativity. The French novelist Marcel Proust wrote, “Only through art can we get outside of ourselves and know another’s view of the universe.” Kathleen gave us that view because she gave of herself.
In her homily preached at Sister Kathleen Voss’s funeral, Sister Patty Harvat was honoring a talented artist whose creative endeavors included acrylic and oil painting, calligraphy, photography, and even digital artwork – and who, in her ministry as a mental health therapist, knew how to find the beautiful “art” which lay under a person’s exterior self.
Kathleen was born on March 9, 1941, in Detroit to Henry and Shirley (Mallis) Voss. She had three older siblings, Sally, Dan, and Diane, and two younger ones, Paul, born four years after her, and Tim, born six years after Paul and “frequently referred to as ‘Tiny Tim,’” she wrote in her autobiography.
Henry was born in Chicago, but after his mother died his father moved the family to Detroit, while Shirley was born in Ontario, Canada, and adopted by a couple living in the U.S.
Henry was mechanically gifted and grew up to become first a typesetter for a print shop and then a toolmaker. “He also was one who loved to do ‘spontaneous’ things with his family, which created more than one funny story,” Sister Kathleen wrote in her autobiography – although she did not elaborate further.
Shirley was in poor health for much of her life and even became bedridden at one point, but when she was able to, she could play the piano and the organ by ear and loved to sing. “She sang throughout the day while doing her housework or cooking our meal,” Sister Kathleen wrote. “Her singing constantly gave me great delight. She had a great sense of humor and always enjoyed having laughs with the family.”
Read more about Sister Kathleen (PDF)
Memorial gifts may be made to Adrian Dominican Sisters, 1257 East Siena Heights Drive, Adrian, MI, 49221. Funeral arrangements are being handled by Anderson-Marry Funeral Services, Adrian.
Sister's Memorial Card (PDF)
Note: To view recordings with closed captioning, they must be viewed on our public video library rather than through the links below.
Recording of Sister Kathleen's Vigil Service - After clicking the link, download the recording by right-clicking on the video choosing "Save video as." Worship Aid (PDF)
Recording of Sister Kathleen's Funeral Mass - After clicking the link, download the recording by right-clicking on the video choosing "Save video as." Worship Aid (PDF)
Leave your comments and remembrances – if you don't see the comment box below, click on the "Read More" link.
(1938-2026)
In the early twentieth century, tiny Corunna, Michigan, and the surrounding area became home to many Czech immigrants for whom the rural setting and climate reminded them of their homeland.
Among those settlers were the Marsik and Pelikan families. Frantisek (Frank) Marsik was born in Bohemia and came to this country with his family when he was about a year and a half old. After living first in Minnesota and then in North Dakota, the Marsiks arrived in Corunna in 1920.
That same year the Pelikans, originally of Moravia, moved to Corunna from Iowa, where three children had been born, including their oldest, Frances.
With Corunna’s thriving Czech community being very tight-knit, it was only a matter of time before Frank and Frances’ paths crossed. They married in 1933 and moved to nearby Flint, Michigan, where Frank worked for the Buick division of General Motors.
In time, the couple had three children, all of whom were actually born in the Owosso hospital so that Frances could be near her family. First, in 1934, came Frank, then Vlasti (the future Sister Christa) on February 4, 1938, and finally Joseph in 1939.
Disliking city life, when an opportunity arose in 1942 to move back to Corunna the family did so. The children all attended Corunna Public School, but when young Frank needed to repeat eighth grade, he chose to attend St. Paul School in Owosso so as to have a different teacher, and when he remained at St. Paul for high school his siblings followed suit.
There, the children were taught by Adrian Dominican Sisters, and Vlasti soon knew she wanted to enter the Congregation after graduation. As that time neared in 1955, however, she realized that her dream was not going to materialize because of opposition from her parents, who did not want their only daughter going off to what her father termed “like a prison.”
So, she undertook what she, in her autobiography, called “my next best solution”: she enrolled at Siena Heights College (later University) so she could be near the Motherhouse and, she hoped, make the transition to religious life easier for her parents. Her intent was to enter the Congregation in short order – but she discovered she liked college life and remained at Siena Heights all four years, earning her bachelor’s degree in Latin.
Read more about Sister Christa (PDF)
Recording of Sister Christa's Vigil Service - After clicking the link, download the recording by right-clicking on the video choosing "Save video as." Worship Aid (PDF)
Recording of Sister Christa's Funeral Mass - After clicking the link, download the recording by right-clicking on the video choosing "Save video as." Worship Aid (PDF)
(1939-2026)
Fran was involved in some way in many of the Adrian Dominican ministries. She was constantly reaching out to others – always giving of herself in whatever way she could or was called to. Even with our crowd, she was the first to gather us for a party to celebrate birthdays or just to get together. Fran was a very happy person who lived life and someone you wanted to be with.
In the homily she preached for Sister Fran Lombaer’s memorial Mass, Sister Joella Miller was describing a woman whose ministries had encompassed teaching (including two years at a school in South Africa), administration, tutoring at the prison in Adrian, serving on the Congregation’s Portfolio Advisory Board and as Congregational Archivist, and much more.
Sister Fran was born in Chicago on August 18, 1939, to Francis and Virginia (Seidensticker) Lombaer. Although she was baptized Helen Frances, she was always known simply as Fran. She was the couple’s middle child, following Kathryn and preceding Francis, whom the family called Budd.
The elder Francis was drafted into the Navy during World War II and served in the Pacific for eighteen months before contracting a tropical infection and being medically discharged. In civilian life, he was an electrician for Illinois Bell for forty-seven years. As for Virginia, she worked part-time jobs while Fran was in elementary school and then spent twenty years as a clerk in the Chicago Public School System.
Fran’s introduction to the Adrian Dominican Sisters came at St. Philip Neri School, and the Sisters taught at Aquinas Dominican High School as well. “An eager student, I loved school and thrived on learning,” she wrote in her autobiography. She also participated in many school activities, including, at Aquinas, playing drums and then cello in the orchestra and being part of the sodality (a pious organization devoted to Mary), where she was elected an officer.
Read more about Sister Frances (PDF)
Recording of Sister Fran's Vigil Service - After clicking the link, download the recording by right-clicking on the video choosing "Save video as." Worship Aid (PDF)
Recording of Sister Fran's Funeral Mass - After clicking the link, download the recording by right-clicking on the video choosing "Save video as." Worship Aid (PDF)
Childhood experiences are certainly pivotal in helping form how a person sees the world, relates to others, and even views God. Bernadine Ann Ziemba, the future Sister Ann, was just three years old when she lost her mother to tuberculosis, and by all accounts her early life shaped her into an independent, self-reliant woman who knew that God cared for her and loved her.
Bernadine, the younger of Roman and Anna (Turczyn) Ziemba’s two children, was born in Dearborn, Michigan, on May 19, 1939. Her brother, Gerald, was five at the time.
Anna made arrangements before she died to ensure her children would be cared for. Gerald was sent to the St. Francis Home for Boys, a military school in Detroit, and Bernadine was placed at the Sarah Fisher Home in Farmington Hills, Michigan.
Roman, however, wanted to have his children with him. He found a home in one of Detroit’s west-side Polish parishes, SS. Peter and Paul, and as soon as he was settled he went to get his daughter and son. He raised them as a single father for the rest of their childhood, and Sister Ann always remembered him as a hardworking man who loved his children very much, provided for them, and was at home with them when he was not at work.
Gerald began attending the parish school, which was staffed by the Sylvania (Ohio) Franciscans, but Bernadine was too young and so became a “stay at home kid,” as Sister Ann described it in her life story. Their father worked for Chevrolet, and so while he was at work and Gerald was at school, little Bernadine stayed home, with strict orders not to open the door for anybody, and stayed away from the windows so that no one would see her.
When she was old enough to start kindergarten at SS. Peter and Paul, Roman enrolled her in the afternoon session. He taught her to look at the clock at home and know that when the small hand was on the 12 and the big hand was on the 2, she was to close the door tight behind her and make the five-block walk. Gerald would meet her outside after school and they walked home together.
Because SS. Peter and Paul did not have a high school, Gerald went on to St. Alphonsus High School in Dearborn, where the Adrian Dominican Sisters were the teachers, and in due time Bernadine followed suit.
Read more about Sister Ann (PDF)
Recording of Sister Ann's Vigil Service - After clicking the link, download the recording by clicking on the three dots at the bottom right corner of the screen and choosing "Download." Worship Aid (PDF)
Recording of Sister Ann's Funeral Mass - After clicking the link, download the recording by clicking on the three dots at the bottom right corner of the screen and choosing "Download." Worship Aid (PDF)
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.
Event Recordings (Video Library)
Dominican School Alumnae/Alumni
Learn about Associate Life and the Dominican Life Collaborative
What do you have to do to become a Sister?
Share our blog, A Sister Reflects
Sign up for the monthly Veritas newsletter (or view our other publications)
Employment opportunities
We invite you to meet some of the wonderful women who have recently crossed into eternity.