(1941-2025)

We remember and cherish Jamie as an African American Christian Catholic woman, member of the Order of Preachers at Adrian, sister, aunt, theologian, scholar, friend, teacher, colleague, counselor, administrator; advocate for racial and social justice, for diversity, equity, inclusion, and unity; advocate for human dignity, freedom, and liberation; for spiritual, intellectual, and moral excellence; advocate for a Church that would be committed to living concretely the mystery of “communion” in the name of Jesus.

This powerful description of Sister Jamie Phelps came from Dr. M. Shawn Copeland, professor emerita of theology at Boston College and Sister Jamie’s longtime friend and collaborator, in the homily Dr. Copeland preached for a funeral Mass presided over by Cardinal Wilton Gregory and attended by many of those whose lives Sister Jamie had touched.

Jamie Theresa Phelps was born in Pritchard, Alabama, on October 24, 1941. She was the youngest daughter out of a total of six siblings – herself, sisters Alfreda and Marionette, and brothers William, Julius, and Alfred Jr. – born to Alfred and Emma (Brown) Phelps.

Alfred and Emma met while attending Alabama A&M College. Alfred was a Catholic and Emma a Methodist, but the two were married in the Catholic Church and the children were all raised Catholic.

Not long after Jamie’s birth, her parents decided to leave the segregated South for Chicago, and Alfred traveled there to pave the way for the move. He started a business that provided walk-in refrigerators for mom-and-pop grocery stores, and once that was well established Emma and the family’s four children at the time took a train to Chicago, where they lived in an apartment near Holy Name Cathedral.

Read more about Sister Jamie (PDF)

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

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 Jamie'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 Jamie'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.

(1936-2025)

Jeanne Marie Stickling came into the world on December 5, 1936, on the family farm near Itasca, Illinois. She was the youngest child of Herman Leo and Louise (Lowe) Stickling, joining thirteen-year-old Betty, ten-year-old Leo, and 18-month-old Maryann.

The family moved twice during Jeanne’s childhood, first to a farm near Elgin, Illinois, when she was three years old, and then into Elgin itself, where her father worked in a factory, when she was in fifth grade. In Elgin, she and Maryann attended St. Mary School, and it was here that she first met the Adrian Dominican Sisters.

That connection to the Congregation continued at St. Edward High School, also in Elgin. “I was drawn to the happiness and kindness of the Sisters,” Sister Jeanne wrote in her autobiography, and in her senior year she decided to enter. Her family supported her choice, and in June 1954, not long after she graduated from high school, her parents and both sisters drove her to Adrian to become a postulant.

When the next school year began, she was sent to St. Gabriel School in Detroit to teach third grade for a short time, returning to Adrian in December to begin her canonical novitiate year. She received the religious name Sister Louis Anthony at her reception into the novitiate.

After making profession on New Year’s Eve 1955, she and a number of her temporary-professed compatriots remained in Adrian for study at Siena Heights College (University). Her first teaching assignment, in August 1956, was to St. Bridget School in Detroit, but after three weeks there, she was switched to St. James School in Miami, Florida, so that another Sister could be nearer to her ill mother in Detroit.

Read more about Sister Jeanne (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 Jeanne'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 Jeanne'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.

(1937-2025)

Four years after Leo John Kehn and his wife, Mabel Frances King, were married in Toledo, Ohio, the first of their two children entered the world, a daughter they named Barbara Lou.

Barbara was born on February 21, 1937, in Toledo, and was baptized three weeks later at Gesu Church, where her parents were members at the time. The Kehns’ second child, Judith Ann, arrived fourteen months after her sister.

Leo grew up in Toledo and worked on the railroad for a while before becoming a tool and die maker at City Auto Stamping, where he worked for thirty-four years. Mabel was born in nearby Perrysburg, came to Toledo to attend high school at Notre Dame Academy, and worked as a secretary at Auburn Motors until she and Leo married.

Both Kehn children attended Blessed Sacrament School and then Notre Dame Academy for high school. In Sister Joan Leo’s autobiography, she wrote at length about her very devout family home, where prayer was a daily practice. When the children got home from school each day, they would find their mother in her rocking chair saying the rosary, which became a family rosary and, later on, a weekly “Block Rosary” because other families in the neighborhood gathered in the Kehn home to pray.

It was “a very nurturing and happy home,” Sister Joan Leo wrote. Her parents were always interested in what had happened at school each day, and Mabel became a Brownie leader when her daughters got into Scouting.

Read more about Sister Joan Leo (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 Joan Leo'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 Joan Leo'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.

(1930-2025)

Alice was a true daughter of St. Dominic – living the vows: simple life, sharing what she had with others, always being obedient to what the Congregation was asking of her and loving God with her whole soul, mind and spirit. She always gave herself 100 percent to whatever she was asked to do – even if it meant going to Puerto Rico when she didn’t know Spanish.

This description of Sister Alice Riegel came from her good friend Sister Mary Kay Homan in her homily for Sister Alice’s funeral. “Alice has many titles: sister, aunt, friend, confidante, supporter, and cheerleader – giving people the strength to make difficult decisions and to see God’s hand in any decision,” Sister Mary Kay continued. “Alice was my FRIEND. She was a gift from God.”

Alice Agnes Riegel was born on July 28, 1930, at a hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan, not far from the couple’s home on Detroit’s west side, to Alden and Laura (Ouellette) Riegel. She was the couple’s first child, born just two days shy of their second wedding anniversary. Three more children were to follow: Mary Lou, Carol Anne, and William Alden.

The country was in the early months of the Great Depression, and the Riegels felt the impact. The day after Alice was born, Alden came to the hospital to bring his wife a small cradle that had been passed down through the family, filled with flowers. When Laura wondered how he could be there instead of at work, he told her that he had lost his job. He later went to work at a dairy.

After Mary Lou was born, the family moved to a different home a few miles away. They attended St. Brigid Church and, in the parish school, “God’s plan for me began,” she wrote in her autobiography – for there, she was taught by the Adrian Dominican Sisters.

Read more about Sister Alice (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 Alice'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 Alice'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.