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(1937-2025)
Sister Kathleen Walli, formerly known as Sister Charles Miriam, died on Saturday, January 25, 2025, at the Dominican Life Center in Adrian. She was 87 years of age and in the 64th year of her religious profession in the Adrian Dominican Congregation.
Sister Kathleen was born in Stephenson, Michigan, to Henry and Marian (Bomberry) Walli. She graduated from Stephenson High School and received a bachelor’s degree in home economics from Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti and a master’s degree in clothing from Michigan State University in East Lansing.
Sister Kathleen ministered for 19 years in elementary and secondary education in Chicago and St. Charles, Illinois; Cleveland, Ohio; Detroit and Utica, Michigan; and West Palm Beach, Florida. This included four years at Hoban Dominican High School in Cleveland and Mt. St. Mary Academy in St. Charles, both sponsored institutions of the Congregation.
Sister Kathleen also served for nine years as a professor at two other institutions of the Congregation: St. Dominic College in St. Charles, Illinois, and Siena Heights College (University) in Adrian. She served two years as Secretary of the Congregation in Adrian and 15 years as a pastoral associate/religious education director in Keshena and Merrill, Wisconsin.
Sister became a resident of the Dominican Life Center in 2017. She was preceded in death by brothers Richard, Lawrence, Dennis, and Charles and a sister, Yvonne Bochenek. She is survived by sisters Suzanne Condon (Louis), Joy Brock, Maribeth Czerwonka, and Sheila Glodowski; brothers Douglas, Michael, Lance, and Henry; other loving family members; and her Adrian Dominican Sisters.
Visitation will be held from 6:30 to 7:00 p.m. on Monday, February 3, 2025, in the gathering space of St. Catherine Chapel. The Vigil Prayer will be held at 7:00 p.m. Monday, February 3, 2025, in St. Catherine Chapel. A Funeral Mass will be offered in St. Catherine Chapel at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, February 4, 2025. Prayers of Committal will be held in the Congregation Cemetery.
Those not attending services in person are welcome to participate via livestream at https://adriandominicans.org/Live-Stream.
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)
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)
LEFT: Graduation photo from Stephenson High School, Stephenson, Michigan,1955. MIDDLE RIGHT: Sister Kathleen Walli at Siena Heights College.
LEFT: Sister Kathleen Walli, top right, with her blood sisters, Sheila, Maribeth, Yvonne, Suzanne, and Joy. RIGHT: From left, Sisters Kathleen Walli and Thomas James Burns.
LEFT: From left, Sisters Maureen Fenlon, Nancy Murray (as St. Catherine of Siena), and Kathleen Walli. RIGHT: Members of the 1988-1992 General Council are, from left, Sisters Sharon Weber; Nadine Foley, Prioress; Kathleen Walli, Congregation Secretary; Donna Markham, Linda Bevilaqua, and Attracta Kelly.
Former Secretaries of the Congregation are, from left, Sisters Rose Celeste O’Connell, Grace Flowers, Marie Wiedner, Kathleen Walli, Mary Ward, and Helen Sohn. Not shown is Sister Mary Catherine Jordan.
Members of the 2010 Golden Jubilee Holy Angels Crowd are: back row, from left, Sisters Kathleen Walli, Kathleen Voss, Mary Katherine Drouin, Molly Giller, Helene Kloss, and Monica Charles Stankus and front row, from left, Sisters Marie Carleen Maly, Annice Mordenski, Jamie Phelps, Mary Ann Dixon, Maureen Barzantni, Mary Carr, and Donna Markham (Prioress).
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Sister Jo Ann Lucas, formerly known as Sister Agnes Francis, died on Sunday, January 19, 2025, at her home in Troy, Michigan. She was 87 years of age and in the 69th year of her religious profession in the Adrian Dominican Congregation.
Sister Jo Ann was born in Chicago to Frank and Agnes (Rohde) Lucas. She graduated from Mercy High School in Chicago and obtained a bachelor’s degree in Latin and a master’s degree in education administration, both from Siena Heights College (University) in Adrian.
Sister Jo Ann spent 15 years ministering in education in Clawson and Detroit, Michigan, including six years as principal at St. Gemma in Detroit. She served 16 years as a religious education coordinator at St. Anastasia in Troy, while also serving the Congregation for six of those years as Chapter Prioress of the Nokomis Chapter. She then continued for six years as parish administrator at St. Anastasia.
Sister served one and a half years as a bookkeeper for the AIDS Interfaith Network in Detroit, then five years as parish business manager at St. Alphonsus in Dearborn. She served the Congregation for 12 years as director of the Ministry Trust.
Sister Jo Ann was preceded in death by her parents. She is survived by two brothers, David Lucas (Laurinda) and Frank Lucas (Donna); other loving family members; and her Adrian Dominican Sisters.
Prayers of Committal will be held at 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, January 21, 2025, in St. Catherine Chapel. A Memorial Mass will be offered in St. Catherine Chapel at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, January 29, 2025 and a Ritual of Remembrance will be held in the Rose Room of the Dominican Life Center at 1:30 p.m. that same day. Those who are not attending services in person are welcome to participate via live stream at https://adriandominicans.org/Live-Stream.
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."
LEFT: Josephine Ann, 1947. RIGHT: Harry Belafonte with Sister Jo Ann Lucas, April 2012.
LEFT: Sisters Rosemarie Kieffer, left, and Jo Ann Lucas, April 1993. RIGHT: Lynne Bondy and Sister Jo Ann Lucas wash dishes at an Italian dinner fund-raiser.
Members of the 1998 General Chapter Planning Steering Committee are: seated, from left, Sisters Madeline Dervin, Julie Hyer, and Christine Matthews, and standing, from left, Sisters Jo Ann Lucas, Corinne Sanders, Molly Nicholson, Teresa Disch, Marie Michael, Durstyne Farnan, and Jean Hughes.
Members of the 2015 Diamond Jubilee December Crowd are: back row, from left, Sisters Rosalie Esquerra, Kathleen Waters, Norine Burns, Molly Nicholson, Sheila Delaney, and Nancyann Turner; third row, from left, Sisters Leontia Cooney, Barbara Long, Margaret Manners, Mary Kastens, and Joan Leo Kehn; second row, from left, Sisters Mary Hemmen, Anneliese Sinnott, Joan Mary, Jo Ann Lucas, and Elizabeth Gibbons; and front row, from left, Sisters Esther Ortega, Marilyn Uline, Arlene Seckel, Ann Ziemba, and Jovanna Stein.
(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.
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."
(1927-2024)
Eight years ago [Sister] Jodie Screes interviewed Marg for her Sister’s Story. She closed the interview with a question: Marg, suppose there was a tombstone and you could offer a favorite saying or a bit of wisdom, what would you want to say? Marg’s response was, “To whom much is given, much shall be required.”
Margaret Mary Heinz, always known as “Marg,” for whose funeral Sister Mary Jane Lubinski was preaching the homily that included the above quote, lived her life with a sense of gratitude, knowing that despite the hardships she and her family faced over the years, God had blessed them and had always seen them through.
Marg was born on April 20, 1927, in Chicago, to Anthony and Margaret (McBride) Heinz. The couple’s first child, Richard, had been born a year and a half earlier. After Marg came into the family, her parents lost their next child and Margaret was told she would never be able to have more children – but after a difficult fourth pregnancy, she gave birth to a second girl, Rita.
The family originally lived in a small home on Chicago’s South Side in St. Felicitas Parish, and Richard and Marg attended St. Felicitas School. As the Great Depression took hold, “I never experienced want but I learned early on that I couldn’t have everything I wanted,” Sister Marg wrote in her autobiography. “Even as a child I realized things were hard when during the winter we could afford to heat only the downstairs part of the house.”
Read more about Sister Margaret (PDF)
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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