In Memoriam


Sister Rosalie Bulanda, also known as Sister David Miriam(1940 - 2023)

I have been most fortunate throughout my religious life to have been supported by a loving community. In community I have found a bond so strong that I cannot imagine living without it … When I appear near the throne of God, I will, in spirit, take all of you with me.
 
Sister Rosalie Bulanda, whose autobiography ends with this paragraph, first became part of the wider Adrian Dominican community as a prep student at the age of fourteen. When she died on March 27, 2023, she was in her sixty-sixth year as an Adrian Dominican Sister.
 
Born Rosalie Ann Sytar, she entered the world on March 19, 1940, in Aurora, Illinois. Her parents, Michael and Dolores (Senneke) Sytar, divorced soon after she was born, and her maternal grandparents became her legal guardians.

Read more about Sister Rosalie.

 

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

Sister's Prayer Card (PDF)

 

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Sister Mary Katherine Drouin(1941 - 2023)

Mary Kay lived the Gospel and did what Jesus taught her to do. Her love of neighbor overflowed into her actions. She was not afraid to show her love and those with whom she associated knew that. They knew they were loved.

These words were part of Sister Maria Goretti Browne’s memorial Mass homily for her friend Sister Mary Kay Drouin, who served the people of Beattyville, Kentucky, for some thirty years as director of Resurrection Home, a shelter for abused women and their children.

Mary Katherine Drouin was born on July 17, 1941, to Alden and Rita (Gorski) Drouin. The family lived in tiny Hubbell, Michigan, in the middle of Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula; Mary Kay was born in the hospital in nearby Laurium.

Before Mary Kay was born, Alden and Rita had two sons who both died in infancy. Another son, Skip, was born five years after she was. 

She spent her kindergarten year in public school and then attended St. Cecilia School. With the region’s location in the far north of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, snow came heavily and often in the wintertime, and Sister Mary Kay recalled in her life story that there were times the snow was as high as her home’s second story.

Read more about Sister Mary Katherine (PDF).

 

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

 

 

 

Memorial Mass for Sister Mary Kay

Worship Aid (PDF)


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Rite of Remembrance for Sister Mary Kay


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(1928 - 2023)

Of the approximately 2,800 people who called the village of Newberry, Michigan, home in the mid-1940s to early 1950s, three of them became Adrian Dominican Sisters. Sister Paul James Villemure was the second of them, after Sister Nadine Foley. (Sister Cora Campbell was the third.)
 
Lois Marie Villemure was born November 28, 1928, to Joseph and Alma (Benard) Villemure. Joseph, the town’s postmaster, brought two boys, Evar and Robert, into his marriage to Alma in 1920. Joseph’s first wife, Eva, had died in 1919, just days after giving birth to a stillborn baby. After Joseph and Alma married, twelve more children came into the family: Philip, Phyllis, Marcella, Theresa, Lois, Joseph, Charles, Irene, Matthew, Thomas, Paul James (who died in infancy), and Peter.
 
From an early age, Lois knew she wanted to be a teacher, inspired by the excellent education she received in the Newberry public school system. Her first contact with the Adrian Dominican Sisters came through the catechetical center several of the sisters operated at her parish, St. Gregory, but it was due to her later time at Siena Heights College (University) that she truly knew she was being called to religious life.

Read more about Sister Paul James (PDF)

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

 

 

 

Vigil for Sister Paul James

Worship Aid (PDF)


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Funeral for Sister Paul James

Worship Aid (PDF)


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(1926-2023)

Associate Madeline Clark was born on January 18, 1926, in Hartford, Connecticut. She was the daughter of the late Charles and Madeline (Neigle) Beyer and the youngest sister of Charles Beyer, Rosalie Alden and Constance McDougall.

Madeline attended East Hampton High School in Connecticut and graduated in 1944. While raising her three sons in the early 1960’s, Madeline served as a parish secretary for more than 15 years. She was a member of the parish education commission and a CCD teacher who worked with junior high students preparing them for Confirmation. She was also an active member of the National Council of Catholic Women for more than ten years.

In 1977, Madeline and her family moved from Connecticut to Adrian, Michigan and she became the Residential Life Assistant Director at Siena Heights College. While working, she attended Siena Heights College and graduated with a degree in Psychology in 1982 and continued to take courses in religious studies. Madeline took a job as a Psychiatric Technician at Herrick Stress Center in Tecumseh, Michigan and eventually became the Director of Mental Health Services.

Madeline became interested in Associate Life with the Adrian Dominican Sisters in 1981. She was mentored by Sister Mary Carmelia O’Connor, OP, and supported by Sister Jean Cecile Hunt, OP, and Sister Mary Phillip Ryan, OP.

Madeline had a keen interest and passion for social justice. She was also faithful to a strong call to serve others. When asked why she wanted to become an Associate with the Adrian Dominican Sisters, Madeline was quoted as saying, “I want to deepen my faith, strengthen my prayer life, and be involved with those who are working for peace and justice. I want to grow as a minister.”

In addition to Madeline’s three sons, William, Thomas, and James, she had five grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren, and several nieces and nephews.

A funeral liturgy was celebrated for Madeline on February 21, 2023, at St. Patrick Church in East Hampton, Connecticut, followed by a burial in St. Patrick Cemetery.

Madeline Clark cherished the opportunity to work, pray and gather with the Adrian Dominican Community. She was engaged in letter writing campaigns for social and political action issues and she assisted at various Great Lakes Dominican Chapter Assemblies. Her long and faithful commitment to living the Dominican Charism is an example to all who knew and loved her. May her memory be a blessing!


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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We invite you to meet some of the wonderful women who have recently crossed into eternity.

2024

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