(1938-2026)

Sister Ann Marie Wood was one of the relatively few women in religious life who was married and raised a family before entering the convent.

Ann Marie was born in New Orleans to Paul and Lucille (Zitzmann) Davidson on January 23, 1938. She was the couple’s only child. When she was two years old, her mother was admitted to a mental hospital. Shortly thereafter, Paul, who had been unable to find work in the private sector, accepted a job with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and was sent to Europe for the duration of World War II.

Their neighbor in the other half of the duplex where they lived, Florence Dannahy, was a recent widow with two teenage daughters, the oldest of whom was Ann Marie’s godmother. Florence agreed to care for Ann Marie until her father made other arrangements. Those “other arrangements” never exactly happened; Paul provided for his daughter’s education and other expenses and even paid for new housing for the family, but saw very little of his daughter. Florence raised Ann Marie as her own child for seventeen years.

“She loved me unconditionally and instilled her Irish Catholic faith, wit and values into my hungry heart,” Sister Ann Marie wrote in her autobiography.

Ann Marie attended grades K-5 at St. Rita School, grades 6-8 at St. Agnes School, and high school at St. Mary Dominican High School, all in New Orleans. She then attended Loyola University (New Orleans) for a year and Mercy Hospital Nursing School for about two years.

Read more about Sister Ann Marie (PDF)

Memorial gifts may be made to Adrian Dominican Sisters, 1257 East Siena Heights Drive, Adrian, MI, 49221. Funeral arrangements are being handled by Beck’s Tribute Center, Edmonds, Washington.

Sister's Memorial Card (PDF)

 

Memorial Mass Recording

Note: To view recordings with closed captioning, they must be viewed on our public video library rather than through the link below.

Recording of Sister Ann Marie's Memorial Mass - After clicking the link, download the recording by right-clicking on the video choosing "Save video as."

Leave your comments and remembrances – if you don't see the comment box below, click on the "Read More" link.

(1933-2026)

Your life and career reflect a commitment to using your education to respond thoughtfully and creatively to the needs of others. We are proud to call you “one of ours”!

This quotation comes from the citation accompanying the Siena Heights University Alumni Association’s honoring of Sister Mary Alan Stuart with the 2007 Sister Ann Joachim Award. The award came her way for her many years of service to the people of rural Kentucky, helping them learn about healthy nutrition.

Rita Jean Stuart, as she was baptized, was born in Chicago on November 27, 1933, to Arthur and Cecilia (Studer) Stuart. She was the couple’s third child, following Alan and David and preceding Ruth, Christine, Paul, and Louise.

Arthur was born in Chesaning, Michigan, while Cecilia came from Fowler, Indiana. Arthur was just two years old when his father disappeared on a trip out West, and when he was three years old, his mother, Anna, brought Arthur and his sister to Ypsilanti, Michigan, where Anna found work as a domestic and later opened a boarding house.

Arthur went on to college at the University of Michigan, graduated with a degree in chemical engineering, and went to work for the Ford Motor Co. Later, wanting a career where he could get ahead and better raise a family, he went back to the University of Michigan for a law degree and got a job with a firm in Chicago. As for Cecilia, she attended secretarial school in Kankakee, Illinois, becoming the only one of her siblings to have a post-secondary education, and then worked for the Chicago Evening American Newspaper.

Despite the fact that both Arthur and Cecilia were living and working in Chicago, the couple actually met at a family reunion in Fowler, Indiana. They married in 1929. In 1936, Arthur became the corporate attorney for the Hiram Walker Corporation in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, and the family moved to Windsor.

With the outbreak of World War II and the likelihood of American involvement, Arthur decided he wanted the family to live back in the States, and so in the summer of 1940 they moved to Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan, and Arthur commuted to work in Canada each day. The Stuarts became part of St. Ambrose Parish, which is how young Rita, a second-grader at the time, met the Adrian Dominican Sisters who taught at the grade and high school.

Read more about Sister Mary Alan (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)

Vigil and Funeral Recordings

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 Mary Alan'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 Mary Alan'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.

(1928-2026)

Sister Marge Urban concluded her homily at Jubilee in 1998 – her 50th Jubilee in the Congregation -- with these words:

Perhaps one of the greatest gifts of our Jubilee years is to be Eucharist to others, to nourish others from the riches of our personal experience of brokenness and blessing. In the Eucharist, the everyday of our lives and the experiences of the Gospel converge. The story, then, of the Adrian Dominicans that will be told with the story of Jesus is that they were broken and poured out, as food for the world. Dare we dream that? And dare we make it happen?

Whether as a teacher, a pastoral minister, a substance abuse counselor, or one of the driving forces of a low-vision support group on the Adrian Dominican Sisters campus, Sister Marge certainly spent most of her almost eighty years in religious life using her own experiences of both brokenness and blessing to help other people.

Mary Margaret Urban was born in Detroit on September 2, 1928, the youngest child of Michael and Elizabeth (Kulwicki) Urban. Elizabeth was born on Detroit’s east side, while Michael’s family (originally surnamed Urbanski) came to Detroit from the small town of Potulice - which, at the time, was located in Germany but historically was part of Poland – when he was two years old. 

The couple were married at St. Albertus Church, the first Polish church in the Archdiocese of Detroit. As the city’s Polish community began expanding northeastward, a new parish, St. Hyacinth, took shape several blocks from St. Albertus, and the Urbans became a St. Hyacinth family.

Originally, Michael worked as a printer, but after 13 years in that profession he quit and took classes at Wayne State to become a funeral director and follow in the footsteps of his father-in-law, who was the first Polish undertaker in Michigan.

Over time, three daughters were born: first Anastasia, then Elizabeth, and finally Mary Margaret. The two older girls were each named after one of their grandmothers, and all three were given nicknames by their father: Anastasia became “Honey,” Elizabeth was called “Mitzi,” and Mary Margaret was known as “Margie.”

Read more about Sister Margaret (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)

 

Vigil and Funeral Recordings

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 Margaret'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 Margaret'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.

(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)

 

Vigil and Funeral Recordings

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.