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(1939-2026)
When Sister Barb Cervenka died in early 2026, she had the rare honor of having her passing mourned by the government of another country; Brazil’s Ministry for Culture issued a press release that read in part:
Barbara Cervenka’s passing represents a significant loss for the field of visual arts, art education, and policies for the appreciation of Afro-diasporan art, areas in which she dedicated her life with commitment, sensitivity, and historical vision.
… Barbara Cervenka’s legacy will live on in the institutions she helped to strengthen, in the cultural policies she inspired, and in the works that now permanently integrate into Brazil’s cultural heritage.
Barbara Florence Cervenka was born September 28, 1939, in Cleveland, Ohio, to James and Florence (Balzer) Cervenka. She was the older of the couple’s two children; a sister, Anita, came into the family three years after Barb’s birth.
Florence was in remission from Hodgkin’s disease at the time Barb was born, and her health declined over the next few years. Although her illness often made her tired and even short-tempered, “I can remember her sitting on the floor and playing board games with me,” Sister Barb wrote in her autobiography. “I remember walking with her to the store, with Anita in a ‘Taylor-Tot.’ I remember listening to my favorite program, ‘Baby Snooks,’ with her and my Dad. I remember our Christmas tree and how magical it was.”
Barb was only five years old when her mother died, and “losing her was one of the most significant events of my life,” she wrote. The children first went to live with their maternal grandparents, then lived with their father’s parents when their Grandma Balzer became ill and returned to the Balzers when Grandma Cervenka died. Although the children were well loved by their grandmothers, and Barb and Anita were close, Barb still found herself very lonely and “lived a lot in my imagination,” she wrote. She discovered drawing – especially pictures of horses – and it became her refuge.
Read more about Sister Barbara (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 Home, 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 Barb'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 Barb'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.
(1930-2026)
In preparing my autobiography, I recognize that it is all about God’s love for me that has been there, guiding my life. I am very grateful that I have loved and served people of all ages and received love in return. And it is God’s love that will carry me Home.
Sister Thérèse Haggerty’s autobiography began with her reflecting on how the hand of God had long prepared her to become an Adrian Dominican Sister even though she spent thirty-one years of religious life in a different congregation, and it ended with the paragraph cited above. In between lies a fascinating life story.
Thérèse Mary Haggerty was born July 24, 1930, in Brooklyn, New York, to Hugh Alphonsus and Thérèse Ann (Fay) Haggerty, who was nicknamed Teddy. Both parents were of Irish descent; Hugh’s parents were born in County Donegal, Ireland, while Ann’s grandparents came from County Cork, Ireland, and settled in Boston.
Hugh, who left school in the sixth grade to help support his family, enlisted in the Army at age seventeen and was sent to France to fight in World War I. There, he was badly wounded and was actually thought to be dead until a nurse saw the sheet that was over him move.
He and Thérèse Ann met after the war on a train from Washington, D.C., to New York, when she was walking from one car to another, slipped, and he caught her. They were married in 1923 in Brooklyn.
The couple had two boys who both died in infancy before Thérèse was born. Before Thérèse arrived, her mother prayed to St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus that if her baby was a girl and survived, she would name her Thérèse Mary. Even so, Thérèse’s nickname was always Peggy, after Thérèse Ann’s friend who was also named Thérèse but was called Peggy.
Two children followed Thérèse into the family: Hugh Aloysius (known as Buddy) and Helen Agnes. Hugh remarried two years after his wife died of cancer and three more children were born to him and Thérèse’s stepmother: Mary Jane, Patricia Ann, and Kathryn Marie.
Read more about Sister Thérèse (PDF)
Recording of Sister Thérèse'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 Thérèse's Funeral Mass - After clicking the link, download the recording by right-clicking on the video choosing "Save video as." Worship Aid (PDF)
(1982-2026)
In 1999, Father Theodore Kuchnirtz, OP, a German Dominican priest at St. Michael the Archangel Parish in Tungkang, Taiwan, saw a need for outreach to the many members of his parish who were natives of the Philippines. Some were the wives of Taiwanese men, while others were immigrant workers.
The Dominican Sisters of Our Lady of Remedies responded to Father Kuchnirtz’s call for a religious community native to the Philippines to undertake this ministry. And, in time, as other local priests saw the importance of this work, the ministry expanded to other places, including Kaohsiung, a city near Tungkang.
It was there, in 2013, that the Remedies Sisters, by that time part of the Adrian Dominican Congregation, first met a young Filipina named Meliza Arquillano, who was working in Taiwan for a semiconductor company. Meliza was introduced by a friend who knew she was interested in religious life to the Sisters missioned in the area – Sisters Victoria Changcoco and Maribeth Manquil – and, that October, returned to her homeland and entered the convent.
Meliza was born on October 7, 1982, in Cavite City in the southern Philippines. She was the youngest child born to German Dominguez and Leonilla Arquillano, following brothers German Jr., Roger, and Roland.
Read more about Sister Meliza (PDF)
Memorial gifts may be made to Adrian Dominican Sisters, 1257 East Siena Heights Drive, Adrian, MI, 49221.
Recording of Sister Meliza's (and Sister Rosita's) Mass of Remembrance - After clicking the link, download the recording by right-clicking on the video choosing "Save video as."
(1935-2026)
Though Joan suffered a great deal in her life, she has been remembered by those who knew her best as one who cared for others and showed that care generously. She gave of herself with whatever she could do, whether it was driving someone to classes or getting something from the top shelf of a closet. … She could enjoy life and time with friends, giving them her beautiful smile.
Sister Carol Gross’s memorial Mass homily for Sister Joan Schroeder was a reflection on the unwavering, unconditional love of God for everyone and Sister Joan’s quest to know this God in her own life.
Born on July 5, 1935, in Chicago, Joan was the second child and only daughter of Clement and Genevieve (Coleman) Schroeder. Her four brothers were Richard, Lawrence, Edward, and Clement.
Her autobiography details a childhood that certainly had its challenges. Her father was a Chicago police officer who had a side job as a sheet metal worker, and so “for all purposes he was constantly out of the house either as a policeman or at his side job.” As for her mother, she had her hands full with caring for five children, four of them boys, essentially by herself.
Joan attended Queen of Angels School on Chicago’s north side, which was staffed by Adrian Dominican Sisters, and then St. Gregory High School. She was a good, hardworking student and a fine athlete, especially at baseball, and in her autobiography recalled her dad taking her to the store and letting her buy whatever she wanted – which she decided would be a beautiful black baseball bat. “He was so proud,” she said of her dad’s being able to buy the bat for her.
She graduated from St. Gregory in June 1953 and entered the Congregation later that month. When the new school year began a couple of months later, she was sent to St. Alphonsus School in Dearborn, Michigan, and spent the rest of her postulancy there. She was received as a novice that December and given the religious name Sister Francis Maureen.
Read more about Sister Joan (PDF)
Recording of Sister Joan's Memorial Mass - After clicking the link, download the recording by right-clicking on the video choosing "Save video as." Worship Aid (PDF)
Recording of Sister Joan's Ritual of Remembrance - After clicking the link, download the recording by right-clicking on the video choosing "Save video as."
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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