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(1928-2017)
Sister Joan Sopha, born in Port Huron, Michigan, on December 12, 1928, was second youngest of eight children born to Herbert and Mary (Lynch) Sopha. She was born at home and, because she barely weighed one and a half pounds, was baptized a few weeks later.
Sister Joan’s father was an engineer at Edison and her mother was a homemaker. The eight children attended St. Stephen Grade School staffed by the Immaculate Heart of Mary (IHM) Sisters from Monroe. She continued her education at St. Stephen High School, where she graduated in 1947.
In her biography, Sister Joan is described as actively participating in high school basketball and tennis games. In fact, it was after a game with St. Joseph High School in Port Huron that Sister Joan first met the Adrian Dominican Sisters. What impressed her most was the Sisters’ outgoing spirit because they attended all of St. Joseph’s athletic events to support their team.
Read more about Sister Joan (pdf)
Memorial gifts may be made to Adrian Dominican Sisters, 1257 East Siena Heights Drive, Adrian, Michigan, 49221.
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(1929-2017)
Sister Nelda Ann Klein, known also as Sister Ellen Dolores, was born in Los Angeles, California, on September 3, 1929. She was the third of four children born to William and Nell (Smith) Klein.
Her father was born in Pennsylvania to Lutheran parents who were second-generation German-Americans. When his mother died, the family moved to Kingman, Arizona, where he eventually met Nelda’s mother, Nell Smith. Nell’s father, Anson Smith, was one of the founders of Kingman, Arizona.
In her autobiography, Sister Nelda shared these memories of her youth.
I grew up in the small town of Kingman, surrounded by an older brother and sister, Bill Jr. and Mary Alice, and a younger brother, Anson. [In addition, I had] eleven sets of aunts and uncles and many cousins. It was a good time to grow up. We young people used to joke that we were related to half the population and knew the other half, so little supervision was necessary. Before I got home in late afternoon, my parents knew every place I had been and all I had done!
Read more about Sister Nelda Ann (pdf)
(1924-2017)
Help us, when the work is done, to have been Friends of God and prophets.
Sister Nadine Foley, known also as Sister Thomas Aquin, was born on April 10, 1924, in Newberry, Michigan, in the Upper Peninsula. She was the first of eight children born to Thomas and Ursula (Thompson) Foley. Both parents were born in Michigan and, based on her father’s family, are of Irish/French heritage. Sister Nadine’s mother was given up for adoption at birth and nothing is known about her birth mother.
Their eight children were born over a period of twenty-eight years. Her mother was about twenty when Sister Nadine was born and when the youngest child, Michael, was born, her mother was forty-seven.
In her autobiography, Sister Nadine shared the following memory about her mother.
I still think a lot more about my mother since her death [1997]; she was really a remarkable woman. She loved school and she was a very good student [but] she never had the opportunity to attend high school. I realized, as the oldest one, that much of what she wanted for herself she transferred to me. In the course of time she worked at Newberry State Hospital, a mental health institution, and later became a licensed psychiatric nurse by taking courses at Northern Michigan University. When she was 70 she got her high school equivalency from Newberry High School and we were all there for her graduation.
Sister Nadine’s early years were during the Great Depression. Her education began in Newberry Elementary School in 1928 and ended in 1941 when she graduated from Newberry High School.
Read more about Sister Nadine (pdf)
Additional articles:
Come Wisdom: Remembering Sr. Nadine Foley, written by Sister Elise D. García, published by Global Sisters Report: http://globalsistersreport.org/news/ministry/come-wisdom-remembering-sr-nadine-foley-46786
Learn more about Sister Nadine in this What's Happening article.
Text of Funeral Homily by Sister Attracta Kelly, OP.
(1933-2017)
Wisdom Woman, Critical Thinker, Friend to All
Sister Diana Bader, baptized Gloria Bernadine, was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, on July 9, 1933. She was the first of five children born to Martin and Marjorie (Hartney) Bader. Her siblings are John (Jack), Donna, Betty, and Colleen.
In her autobiography, Sister Diana wrote:
During my childhood, family life was much broader than our immediate family, embracing fourteen aunts and uncles and numerous cousins. My father’s Dutch ancestry has always been a matter of pride and fascination for me, especially as I have observed the Dutch Catholic Church over recent decades.
Sister Diana was educated at St. Patrick, the parish school in Vancouver. She graduated from St. Patrick High School in 1950. Her first interest in a religious vocation developed during those years, but, she said, “I didn’t give it a lot of attention because my focus was on becoming a physician.” However, this all changed when she heard the Dominican preachers. She wrote:
When I “heard the call” it came from the Dominican Order, through the preachers who offered missions and retreats fairly regularly in Vancouver parishes. I soon found my way to the women’s branch of the order, located in Everett.
Read more about Sister Diana (pdf)
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