(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)

Memorial gifts may be made to Adrian Dominican Sisters, 1257 East Siena Heights Drive, Adrian, Michigan, 49221. 

 

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(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)

Memorial gifts may be made to Adrian Dominican Sisters, 1257 East Siena Heights Drive, Adrian, Michigan, 49221. 

 

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(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)

Memorial gifts may be made to Adrian Dominican Sisters, 1257 East Siena Heights Drive, Adrian, Michigan, 49221. 
 

 

 

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(1935-2021)

Out of the thirteen children born to Vincent and Lillian (Heitkamp) Guettler of Fort Pierce, Florida, Dorothy Florence came almost in the middle – five older siblings, seven younger, including a set of twins.

Both of Dorothy’s parents were Minnesota natives; Vincent was born in Cologne, while Lillian came from the nearby town of Carver. They met at a Firemen’s Picnic in Cologne. Lillian came from a Lutheran family and, knowing her father would never permit her to marry a Catholic, moved to Florida when Vincent and his family did. She worked for a year, converted to the Catholic faith, and on November 18, 1926, the two were married. In time, in addition to Dorothy, Betty, Gerald, Paul, Patricia, Jeanie, Edward, Dolores, Bernard, Margaret, Teresa, Kathleen and Karl came into the family.

Vincent worked in the family business, the Peerless Ice Cream Co., which was co-owned by his father, himself, and two of his brothers, for some twenty years until the factory was sold and he became a citrus grower. As for Lillian, she was an excellent cook and baker, especially noted for her skill in making kuchen, the traditional German cake. She passed her household expertise on to her children, and much more besides: “My mother’s qualities of gentleness, patience, risk-taking, courage and deep faith were given to her children,” Sister Dorothy wrote in her autobiography.

Read more about Sister Dorothy (PDF)

Memorial gifts may be made to Adrian Dominican Sisters, 1257 East Siena Heights Drive, Adrian, Michigan, 49221. 

 

 

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