(1938-2018)

As Chapter Prioress and General Council member Molly was a servant leader. No matter the role, she was one with the others, bringing unity, clarity, common sense and competence. Time and again she had a remarkable ability to sense tension and, with patience and skill, to reconcile and unite groups.

That description of Sister Molly Giller, made at her wake service by Sister Mary Jane Lubinski, Prioress of the Adrian Crossroads Mission Chapter, sums up just some of the qualities that Sister Molly gave to the Congregation of which she was a part for almost sixty years.

Sister Molly was born on March 2, 1938, in Columbus, Ohio, and given the baptismal name Mary Elizabeth after her mother, Mary Elizabeth Cotter. Her father, Rowland Stanley Giller, was a native Welshman, while her mother was of Irish descent and came from Worthington, Ohio, just north of Columbus.

Read more about Sister Molly (pdf)

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

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(1932-2018)

Although their education did not extend beyond eighth grade, which included no psychology or parenting classes, our parents provided a loving home environment. Hospitality was one of their special gifts and our home was constantly filled with relatives and friends. Whatever the techniques they used, the six of us all ended up possessing a good self-image and a deep love for one another that exists to this day. We often say that if we were penniless, we would be rich.

Such was the home life with which Dorothy Joanne Budenz and her five siblings – Henry Joseph, Louis William, Lawrence Francis, Jerome Quentin, and Mary Kathryn – were surrounded in their hometown of Terre Haute, Indiana.

Dorothy was the youngest of the six, born on October 25, 1932, to Clara Ann (Massing) Budenz and Henry Joseph Budenz Jr., who worked for the American Can Company. The family lived in Terre Haute until 1945, when Henry was transferred to Chicago.

For the Budenz family, life in Terre Haute in the 1930s and early 1940s was as typically “Americana” as could be, with a tight-knit neighborhood whose children played together, had lemonade stands, and put on theatrical productions in the Budenzes’ three-car garage. Dorothy loaded up her little red wagon with cucumbers to sell and also sold the Saturday Evening Post and the Ladies’ Home Journal. Much of life centered around St. Margaret Mary Parish, where the family attended church and where Dorothy was taught by the Sisters of Providence.

Read more about Sister Clara Ann (pdf)

(1935-2018)

She had the Dominican charism. That was the foundation of everything in her life.

The connection between retired Diocese of Lansing Bishop Carl Mengeling, who spoke those words, and Sister Dorita Wotiska, to whom he was referring, stretched back more than twenty years. In November 1995, he was new to the diocese, and after the press conference introducing him, the diocesan staff lined up to meet him. One of those present was Sister Dorita, who by that time had already been superintendent of schools for the diocese for nine years and associate superintendent for four years before that. And the new bishop quickly discovered her ability, as he put it, to “tell it like it is.”

“She looked right at me, and looked at me right in the eyes … and she said, ‘I’m from the Chicago area too, and I don’t want you to disappoint us, because I’ll be watching you,’” the bishop told those gathered for Sister Dorita’s memorial Mass on February 2, 2018.

(1936-2018)

Mary Honora Hemmen was born in Detroit on December 8, 1936, to Raymond and Ada (Noon) Hemmen. Raymond was born and raised in Detroit and Ada came from Jackson, Michigan. They married when they were older and had two children, Mary and Lawrence. Raymond was a clerk at the Michigan Central railroad terminal in southeast Detroit for fifty-three years.

According to Sister Mary’s autobiography, her parents named her Mary because she was born on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception; it was easy for her to remember her birthday, she said, and she always had the day off from school.

The family lived on the east side of the city, on McKinney Street, and was part of St. Matthew Parish, where the children attended grade school. Ada died of cancer when Mary was nine and Lawrence was seven. Aunts and other helpers were present throughout Ada’s illness, and a maternal aunt especially helped in the children’s care after their mother’s passing; she lived on a farm near Jackson, and the children often spent their summers on Aunt Mary’s farm where they were surrounded by numerous cousins from around the area.

Read more about Sister Mary (pdf)

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