(1938-2025)

… Mary’s love of the color pink was legendary. She often bought pink things and wore them just for the joy of it. I’m wearing a pink sweater in honor of Mary and my folder is hot pink. And she delighted in playing cards! She found it so much fun that she could have played all night!

In fact, as Sister Carol Johannes noted later on in her funeral homily for Sister Mary Plunkett, from which the above quote comes, Sister Mary was even preparing to head to another Sister’s room for a game of UNO when she died, suddenly and quietly, as the aides were getting her into her wheelchair.

“As we heard last night, (Mary) often found Thomas Merton’s quote a healing remedy when she was anxious: ‘God does not ask us not to feel anxious, but to trust God no matter how we feel,’” Sister Carol added. “This is why Mary’s death bears such powerful witness to the gentle sensitivity of God. … God gave her absolutely no chance to be frightened.”

Mary Ann Plunkett was born on June 12, 1938, in Detroit, to John and Hazel (Cutler) Plunkett. She was the first of the couple’s two children, with Jane Elizabeth following almost exactly a year later.

Read more about Sister Mary (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

Recording of Sister Mary'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'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)

The worship aid cover for Sister Kathleen Walli’s funeral Mass featured a portion of one of the Book of Proverbs’ best-known passages: the description of the “Valiant Woman.”

A good woman is hard to find, and worth far more than diamonds. She shops around for the best yarns and cottons, and enjoys knitting and sewing. She’s skilled in the crafts of home and hearth, diligent in homemaking.

The more complete passage found in Proverbs 31 was chosen as the first reading for the Mass, and Sister Maria Goretti Browne, who preached the homily, noted how well it fit Sister Kathleen:

Kathleen was a home economics teacher and did that not come through loud and clear as you listened to the first reading? “She is skilled in the crafts of home and hearth, diligent in homemaking … she is quick to assist anyone in need … reaches out to help the poor … she makes her own clothing and dresses in colorful linens and silks … her clothes are well-made and elegant and she always faces tomorrow with a smile.” Do those words not describe Kathleen?
 
Skill in home economics undoubtedly came in handy in the large Walli family. She was the fifth of fourteen children born to Henry and Marian (Bomberry) Walli, and the first daughter; preceding her were Richard, Charles, Henry, and Larry, with Yvonne, Dennis, Douglas, Sheila, Lance, Maribeth, Michael, Suzanne, and Joy following.

Read more about Sister Kathleen (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

Recording of Sister Kathleen's Vigil Service - After clicking the link, download the recording by clicking on the three dots at the bottom right corner of the screen and choosing "Download." Worship Aid (PDF)

Recording of Sister Kathleen's Funeral Mass - After clicking the link, download the recording by clicking on the three dots at the bottom right corner of the screen and choosing "Download." 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)

Rest in the peace of Christ, dearest Sister Agnes Francis. You were kind, beautiful, faith-filled and the gold standard for teachers.

I was a student at Presentation of Our Lady [in Detroit] in the graduating class of 1965. You were instrumental in my faith formation as well as a masterful teacher who made it a pleasure to be in the classroom.

I am a life-long practicing Catholic because of you and all the wonderful and selfless Dominican Sisters that blessed my life. Thank you, one and all.

Christine Katros Stander wrote this remembrance in honor of Sister Jo Ann Lucas, whose long life of service included teaching, school and parish administration, faith formation ministry, and much more.

Sister Jo Ann’s role as a mentor to Christine and countless others over the years was a deliberate mirroring of the important roles mentors had played in her own life. Her autobiography – which she whimsically titled “Mentors and More, Mentors Galore” – lists some of the many family members, friends, superiors and principals, pastors, and friends who had filled that role for her, and “being graced with such benevolent mentors, I pray to be a mentor for others,” she wrote.

Her first mentors were her parents, Frank and Agnes (Rohde) Lucas, to whom she was born in Chicago on August 20, 1937. She was the oldest of three, followed by brothers Frank and David.

Read more about Sister Jo Ann (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

Recording of Sister Jo Ann'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 Jo Ann's Ritual of Remembrance - 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.

(1933-2025)

Near the end of her St. Catherine letter  dated January 26, 1981, Sister Mary Alice Naour wrote:

So I pray – and keep hoping – that my career  in music will indeed be a mission of love and service to others that they may indeed be brought closer to the love of the Father for them; that I, too, may grow closer to Him in His constant love for me.

Given that her music ministry spanned some fifty years and touched elementary schoolchildren, high school students, and her Adrian Dominican community itself, she most certainly aided many, many people in their experiences of connecting with God through music.

Mary Alice was born in Detroit on April 20, 1933, to Francois and Blanche Alice (Coté) Naour. She was the couple’s eighth child, following Estelle; Joseph, who died shortly after his birth; Jacqueline; John; George; Paul; and Jim. Another sister, Denise, was the ninth Naour sibling.

Francois, called Frank by his friends and Frenchy by his co-workers, was born in a small farming village near Brest, France, and came to the United States on a freighter in 1914 or 1915, when he was seventeen or eighteen years old. He originally settled in New Jersey, living with his oldest brother, but eventually found his way to Detroit. There, he became acquainted with a family of French heritage who had come to Detroit from Massachusetts several years earlier, the Cotés – and most especially, he got to know the family’s oldest child, Blanche. The two were married on August 8, 1917.

Mary Alice attended St. Ambrose School for all 12 years of her early education and enjoyed school and her Adrian Dominican teachers very much. She often rode her bike around the convent, hoping to see one of the Sisters, and loved helping them at every opportunity. In fact, she wrote, “I stayed around to help the ‘nuns’ so much that Mother would say that I should take my bed down to school.”

Read more about Sister Mary Alice (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

Recording of Sister Mary Alice'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 Mary Alice's Ritual of Remembrance - 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.