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(1938-2025)
Sister Mary Plunkett, formerly known as Sister John Clare, died on Tuesday, February 11, 2025, at the Dominican Life Center in Adrian, Michigan. She was 86 years of age and in the 68th year of her religious profession in the Adrian Dominican Congregation.
Sister Mary was born in Detroit to John and Hazel (Cutler) Plunkett. She graduated from Dominican High School in Detroit and obtained a bachelor’s degree in Spanish from Siena Heights College (University) in Adrian and a master’s degree in elementary education and a master’s degree in social work, both from Wayne State University in Detroit.
Sister Mary ministered for 30 years in education in Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, Florida and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, including two years as principal at the Colegio Santo Domingo; and East Detroit and Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan. She later served 21 years as a psychiatric social worker at Macomb County Community Mental Health in Mount Clemens, Michigan.
Sister became a resident of the Dominican Life Center in 2019.She was preceded in death by her parents and a cousin, Sister John Dominic Hatfield, an Adrian Dominican Sister. She is survived by her sister, Jane Emanoil (Ronald); other loving family members; and her Adrian Dominican Sisters.
Visitation will be held from 6:30 to 7:00 p.m. on Monday, February 17, 2025, in the gathering space of St. Catherine Chapel. The Vigil Prayer will be held at 7:00 p.m. Monday, February 17, 2025, in St. Catherine Chapel. A Funeral Mass will be offered in St. Catherine Chapel at 4:00 p.m. Tuesday, February 18, 2025. Prayers of Committal will be held in the Congregation Cemetery. Those not attending services in person are welcome to participate via live stream 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 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)
LEFT: First Holy Communion. MIDDLE LEFT: 1956 graduate of Dominican High School, Detroit. MIDDLE RIGHT: Sister Mary Plunkett’s parents, John and Hazel. RIGHT: Sisters John Clare Plunkett, left, and Michael Eilese Doherty, Colegio Santo Domingo.
LEFT: From left, Sisters Mary Plunkett and Mary Catherine Daly in Mount Clemens, Michigan, 1990-2011. RIGHT: Sister Mary Plunkett, front and center, at the 1990 Great Lakes Mission Chapter Assembly.
Sister Mary Plunkett, far right, wearing a corsage, celebrates her Silver Jubilee with her family.
Members of the 2016 Diamond Jubilee June Crowd are: back row, from left, Sisters Margaret O’Flynn, Catherine Camille DeClercq, Jean Crane, Grace Dougherty, and Grace Henneberry; fourth row, from left, Sisters Mary Margaret Mannard, Mary Plunkett, Marian Castelluccio, Attracta Kelly (Prioress) and Donna Joan Mehney; third row, from left, Sisters Jeanne Lefebvre, Patricia Downey, Maureen Gallagher, and Mary Kathryn Cliatt; second row, from left, Sisters Marie Luisa Vasquez, Mary Catherine Gagliano, Jean Tobin, and Rosario Martin; and front row, seated, from left, Sisters Pauline Opliger and Sally Ann Fergus.
(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)
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.
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.
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.
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."
(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)
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."
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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