Sister Elizabeth Francis Tekaucic
1928-2007

Dorothy May Tekaucic was born on September 18, 1928, in Cleveland, Ohio. She was the daughter of Frank and Elizabeth (Moss) Tekaucic, their first-born, followed by Betty and Frank, Jr., better known as “Lefty.” Frank Tekaucic, Sr., was from Slovenia, and Elizabeth Moss was of Polish descent. In her autobiography, Sister Elizabeth Francis does not tell us how or when they met.

The Tekaucic youngsters attended St. Lawrence School with the Adrian Dominicans. From Sister Elizabeth Francis’s writings, it is obvious that the days she spent there were happy ones. She mentioned some of the sisters who made lasting impressions on her, especially Sister Louise Marie Stepanek who was her fifth grade teacher and perhaps the source of her religious vocation.

These were the years of the “Great Depression,” and, although the father held a job in a factory, the Tekaucic family felt its effects. When Dorothy graduated from eighth grade, she had to attend a public high school because, she wrote, “my parents at that time couldn’t afford a Catholic high school.” She, therefore, enrolled at A. B. Hart High School, and later transferred to South High School. At the end of ninth grade, Dorothy wanted to enter the postulate at Adrian, but her parents would not give their consent, considering her too young.

During the summer, she kept in touch with the sisters, helping them in their cleaning and ironing chores. In her autobiography, she wrote:

Many times, at St. Lawrence Convent, I sat in the kitchen eating, and I heard the sisters in their dining room laughing, with never a cross word to each other. I could say, “Look how those Christians love one another.”

When she finished her junior high school year in June 1946, she again spoke to her parents about entering the Adrian Dominican Congregation, and they gave their permission. “All the sisters were very good to me,” she wrote, “seeing that I had everything I needed.”

On June 23, 1946, she went by herself on the train to Adrian, and was met by the sisters at the Adrian depot. It was too late for the regular supper hour, so when she arrived at the Motherhouse she and another young woman were served a special supper. There were about ninety-eight postulants in her group, and Sister Rita Marie Callaghan was the postulant mistress. Sister Elizabeth Francis wrote, “I believe we were the biggest group up to that time. Most of us were eighteen years old, right out of high school… We were kept very busy, and started classes the next day.” The length of time that it took her trunk to arrive from Cleveland was for a time a source of uneasiness.

In addition to attending college classes, the postulants spent time with Sister Frederica McCormick, who was in charge of the novitiate sewing class and helped them to make the habits they would wear on Reception Day. Since Dorothy had taken two years of sewing in high school, she was able to be of assistance in this big endeavor. She wrote that she found Sister Frederica to be very kind, although a bit impatient at times.

With her large group, she received the habit and her religious name (taken in tribute to her parents) on December 30, 1946, and entered into the required canonical novitiate year that terminated in profession of first vows on December 31, 1947. From January to June 30, 1948, she attended classes at Siena Heights College (now University). She then attended a workshop at Mercy Center in Farmington, visited her family for a short time, and made a retreat.

Most of Sister Elizabeth Francis’s teaching ministry was in the Midwest. Her first teaching assignments sent her as a primary teacher to Detroit for twelve years: eight years at Presentation School and four years at Precious Blood. Sister Dorothy Worthy was also teaching at Presentation. At the wake, she said, “She had a wonderful sense of humor. She was quiet, but to those who knew her, she was funny. We both had devotion to St. Anne, St. Joseph, and St. Francis. We both loved animals.”

In July 1954, as a result of summer study, Siena Heights College awarded Sister Elizabeth Francis a bachelor’s degree with a major in history and minors in home economics and English. Beginning with 1960, she spent seven years at Nativity in Cleveland, Ohio, her home town. During the summers she studied theology at Mount St. Mary in St. Charles, Illinois, and earned a certificate that she received in 1963.

In 1967 she taught for the only years outside the Midwest: four years at Mother of Divine Grace in Buffalo, New York, where she ministered initially in fifth grade, then went back to first grade. She returned to Ohio in 1971, where she taught for nine years: seven years at St. Francis Xavier in Medina and two years at Blessed Sacrament in Toledo. She was happy to be again near her family, especially at the time of her father’s death in 1976.

In 1980 she returned to Detroit for fourteen years at St. Jude School. There she taught in the middle grades, which she enjoyed. The sisters were living in a duplex across the street, and she wrote of a traumatic experience:

The evening of November 14, 1989, I was hit by a car, going across for Parent-Teacher Conferences. They took me to Saratoga Hospital. I had a left leg broken in three places and a fractured left arm. The next day I had a cast on my leg and was told to be in bed for six weeks. I went to Maria [in Adrian] that Friday evening. I had very good care by all on third floor, across from the nurses’ station. After six weeks the cast came off and therapy started until April 1990.

She retired in June 1994, and at the request of her brother and sister, and with the permission of her Chapter Prioress (Sister Marcine Klemm), moved to Cleveland to care for her mother. Her mother was living alone and suffering from heart problems and the beginning of Alzheimer’s.

I stayed with my mother from September 1994 to January 1997. She was in the hospital most of 1996 with a heart attack and finally a stroke, until her death on January 21, 1997, the Feast of St. Agnes. I’m very grateful to the Congregation, and so is my family, for this opportunity.

After a consultation with her Chapter Prioress (now Sister Rosemary Asaro), She went back to Adrian, and at first lived on the third floor of Weber Center, then later in Regina Residence. She felt well enough to volunteer her services to the mailroom, to the Finance Office, and occasionally to Support Services. She wrote, “They all appreciate the time and work that I do.” At the wake, the words of Sara Neuman, Director of the Finance Office, showed the truth of this statement.

To those of us who worked with Sister Elizabeth Francis in the Finance Office, she was known simply as “Sister Liz.” . . . She participated in all the extra activities of the Finance Office. Every month we make it a point to have lunch together. She seemed to enjoy spending time with us and getting out to local restaurants.

Sister Liz was labeled a volunteer. However, she worked diligently four days a week on whatever we had for her to do. Routinely, she prepared the gas bills, re-addressed Medicare envelopes, cut the stamps out of all the envelopes, stuffed all the house account bank statements every month, and did most of the office shredding. She would do the most tedious jobs without complaint and then come back the next day for more. She never complained.

Sister Liz was a very special person to all of us. She was very quiet and sometimes hard to get to know, but we all had a special bond with her… The picture I will always have of Sister Liz in my head is of her walking down the second floor hallway of Madden Hall in her light lavender flowing Capri style pants that always made me chuckle… The office will not be the same without Sister Liz’s commentary on last night’s game or TV show. Her desk sits there just the way she left it the day before her surgery.

Diagnosed with cancer, on May 24, 2007, Sister Elizabeth Francis had surgery. She was healing well and getting ready to go back to her apartment in Regina, when God called her to eternity unexpectedly.

The wake-remembrance service for Sister Elizabeth Francis was held in St. Catherine Chapel on June 5. Sister Mary Sue Kennedy, Prioress of Adrian Crossroads Mission Chapter, extended sympathy and welcomed those present: her sister Betty, her brother Lefty, nieces, nephews, and her many Dominican friends. Sister Mary Sue summarized Sister Elizabeth Francis’s life and ministry, and also said:

Tonight we gather to celebrate the life of Sister Elizabeth Francis and to remember the way in which God worked through Liz during her seventy-eight years here on this earth. We are human and so there is a sense of sadness and grief over Liz and her life that was taken from us so quickly, but we also celebrate her entrance into eternal glory.

Sister Jean Irene McAllister, a member of her “crowd,” and a good friend, said:

She loved ice cream. She had surgery recently, and when she came home from the hospital she wanted a banana split. She was a very private person, and she didn’t complain or talk about her pain. She was peaceful and accepting and in great spirits. She and I had signed up to make a retreat in August, but she’s standing me up.

Shortly before she died, I took her clean laundry over to her. As I was going out of the door, she laughed and said, “My maid!” I’ll miss her very much, especially in the dining room, as we ate together.

Cathie Pieroch, Sister Elizabeth Francis’s niece, also reminisced.

When I was about four years old, I had a doll that was dressed like a nun. I thought that the sisters’ habits were cool, and I wanted to be a nun and wear one. She took my favorite doll and made a habit for it. I’ve had that doll forever. It moved with me when I got married and I still have it. My kids have seen it. It’s not in the same condition, though. Parts of the habit have fallen off.

When Sister Elizabeth Francis’s belongings were sorted after her death, a card from her Aunt Annie, sent to her on the occasion of her Golden Jubilee in 1996, was discovered. Sister Mary Dougherty read it at the wake. Part of it is quoted here:

We, your family, thank God for the many times He was there when you needed him… As for myself and Uncle Louie, we can be really proud of a beautiful niece whom we love dearly. Each time we talk on the phone, your laughter brings us much joy and love… We ask for one favor—keep up the wonderful work and continue to keep us in your prayers. We will keep you in our prayers… All your uncles and aunts, nieces and nephews, cousins and relatives, living and departed, love you and are proud of you.

Sister Catherine Podvin spoke for the Shalom Mission Group, who considered Sister Elizabeth Francis a treasured member.

We meet monthly and she was present for about every meeting, and usually a little bit early. I don’t think any of us got to know her really, really well, because she was a very private person, very quiet and soft spoken, and she didn’t talk about herself or her opinions much. But she did have strong opinions, and when she voiced them once in a while it was in a strong way.

We volunteer for certain jobs each month—preparing the prayer, taking the minutes, providing the “goodies” for our socialization period at the end of the meeting. She was always willing to take on one of these responsibilities—although she didn’t care much for taking the minutes. But she volunteered even for that a few times.

We will certainly miss her at our Mission Group meetings. Although she was quiet and didn’t say a lot, she was a strong presence.

Other members of the group had spoken to Sister Catherine of their memories. Sister Elizabeth Francis did not drive, so when Sister Mary Ann Schikowski, who was also from Cleveland, went to visit, Sister Elizabeth Francis would often go with her. When Sister Theresa Martin Pigott went shopping, Sister Elizabeth Francis would sometimes go with her—especially if she had volunteered to provide “goodies” for the social after the Mission Group meeting.

Sister Elizabeth Francis’s funeral was held on June 6, 2007, with Father Roland Calvert, OSFS, as presider and homilist. Father ended his homily with the words:

Our faith tells us that Sister Elizabeth Francis is in the arms of the Lord, whom she served so faithfully on earth. She worked to allow him to increase in her life and to achieve unity with him. Now that growth is perfected, and she knows the perfect experience of love and of community. We rejoice with her.

It was on June 1, 2007, that God took Sister Elizabeth Francis to eternity to join the loved ones who had preceded her and to receive the reward of those who spend their lives serving others.