(1954-2018)

Jacqueline “Jacqui” Richardson, born on August 18, 1954, in Detroit, was adopted by Earl and Patricia (Williams) Freeze. Jacqui and her older brother Don grew up in Huntington Woods, Michigan, and enjoyed a happy childhood, which had faith at its center. Jacqui and her brother attended St. Mary’s Elementary School in Royal Oak, Michigan. 

Jacqui recalled that her second-grade teacher, Sister Rose Sharon, OP, was a very special teacher whose faith was contagious. At this early age, Jacqui began an interest in the lives of saints and spent many contented hours reading about them and praying. Likewise, the Sacrament of Confirmation was a powerful experience for Jacqui. 

At the suggestion of Sister Therese Mary Foote, OP, Jacqui attended St. Joseph Academy in Adrian for all four years of high school. As Jacqui wrote in her application to Associate Life, “I knew I was walking on Holy Ground. So many of the Sisters at the Academy were instrumental in my spiritual growth."

During these important years, Jacqui considered religious life, but, through many hours of contemplation, came to the conclusion that God was calling her to be a mother. Jacqui preferred solitary prayer and was private about her prayer life. Married at the age of 22, Jacqui was 24 when she gave birth to her daughter Cheryl. Her son David followed two years later. This began a time of great joy, but also heartache as Jacqui’s beloved father died at the young age of 61 and her marriage ended. Through these moments, Jacqui relied on prayer and meditation.

As a single parent, Jacqui needed to find employment. She became an executive assistant to the General Council of the Adrian Dominican Sisters. Her superior organizing skills were a real asset. Jacqui continued to raise her children and share her faith with them. Her second marriage, to Michael Richardson, lasted 13 years. Jacqui’s four grandchildren – Grace, Cole, Jennifer, and Niklas – meant everything to her.  Jacqui enjoyed camping, the outdoors, a good glass of wine, and her family and friends.

Sister Therese Mary encouraged Jacqui to become an Associate, which she did on August 2, 2014. She began to visit and help the Sisters and volunteered at the Adrian Rea Literacy Center. 

Jacqui was diagnosed with a brain tumor and, through treatments, surgery, and medications, remained positive. Her ex-husband, Michael, was a great help in caring for her during these challenging times. Under the care of Hospice of Lenawee, she died peacefully on June 5, 2018. She is survived by her daughter Cheryl (Ryan) Henry and her son David (Heather) Hellebuyd, her four grandchildren, her brother Don, and many friends.

“Jacqui Richardson was a sensitive, kind and very efficient person,” said Sister Tarianne DeYonker, OP, who served on the General Council from 2010 to 2016. “As a Co-worker I could not have asked for anyone better suited to what she offered in her service to me when I served on the General Council and when I was president of our sponsored institution, Dominican High School and Academy in Detroit. … She was persistent in offering to do whatever she could to lighten my workload. When I allowed her to do that she never ceased to amaze me at how quickly she could arrange what was needed, including contacting people who would be affected by events and decisions. I could trust her and entrust her with information I needed to do my work.”

Associate Jane Surbeck, from Fort Wayne, Indiana, met Jacqui in 2006 when she was recommended to serve on the St. Joseph Academy Alumnae Association Board of Directors. “She and I were best friends from day one,” Jane recalled. “I cannot imagine my life without her by my side. We did everything together.”

Through their shared faith, they studied for and became Adrian Dominican Associates together. “It was a very memorable day for both of us,” Jane said. “As a matter of fact, after Jacqui’s cancer surgery she did not spend much time away from home. She did, however, attend Partners [the annual Associates gathering] in 2017, which tells us all how much she cared for our God.” 

May she rest in the peace of God.

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

(1931-2018)

The familiar story ... of the two disciples who met the risen Jesus on the road to Emmaus was selected by Sister Betty Jenkins as the Gospel reading for her funeral Mass, and appeared on her memorial card and the cover of the worship aid as well. According to Sister Joan Delaplane, who preached the homily that day, there were many reasons why that particular reading resonated with Sister Betty.

An eye infection very early in Sister Betty’s childhood left her with almost no sight in that eye, and that poor vision contributed to her difficulties in reading and learning. As a result, Sister Joan noted, Sister Betty had been bullied by other children, one factor in her becoming a shy woman who struggled with a negative self-image.

Some of us are aware that the first half at least of Betty’s life was a Jerusalem experience – a lot of pain, questions, discouragement. … In light of all that, isn’t it “Amazing Grace” when we consider the words we heard last [Friday] during our remembrances of our experience of dear, dear Betty? We heard she was kind, fun, compassionate, [had] an aura about her that made one feel good about oneself, always encouraging her students, a pleasant person to be with. How did she ever make the leap from the self-defeating youth experience to the outgoing, compassionate individual that we came to know and love?

Read more about Sister Betty (pdf).

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

(1923-2018)

Helen Ann Masuga was born on July 13, 1923, into the cultural melting pot that was Michigan’s Upper Peninsula in that era. Both sets of grandparents were born in the part of Austria that became part of Poland, and her father, Paul, came to the United States at the age of 17 and made his way first to Cleveland and then to the iron mines of the Upper Peninsula, while her mother, Frances Rucinski, arrived in New York at age 16 and became a seamstress.

Of her parents, Sister Maureen Therese, as she became known in religious life, wrote in her autobiography: “How I marvel at their courage and determination!” Besides the fact that they were just teenagers when they emigrated, “it had to be very difficult to journey to an unknown country, uncertain of the future, relying only on relatives and friends to help them adjust to a new culture and a new language.”

Sister Maureen Therese attended the public school in Caspian until eighth grade, at which point she went to St. Ignace, on the other side of the U.P., to be taught by the Ursuline Sisters at their academy for that year. She already knew the Ursulines of St. Ignace from the three weeks each summer that the pastor would bring some of them in to provide sacramental preparation, and even at the early age of seven she had dreamed of joining their community some day.

Read more about Sister Maureen Therese (pdf).

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

(1931-2018)

Although she had been educated by Adrian Dominicans throughout 12 years of schooling at St. Mary’s in Royal Oak, Michigan, it took a chance visit to Adrian for Barbara Hubbard to realize her call to religious life.

During Barbara’s senior year, she was invited to a fashion show at Siena Heights College (now University), and prior to the event was introduced to Sister Mary Edmund Harrison, the Mistress of Novices. As it turned out, Barbara never went over to the show; when her companions headed over to the college, she stayed behind, deep in conversation with Sister Edmund, and by the time the others returned to collect her for the drive home, she had decided to enter the Congregation..

Read more about Sister Barbara (PDF).

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