(1927 - 2015)
Mary Otillie Ripplinger, known as Sister William Christine, was born in Chicago on June 23, 1927. She was the first of six children born to Edwin and Clara (Wangler) Ripplinger.  Her parents were still very young when their families moved to neighboring farms in Belle Rive, Illinois. This is where her mother and father met and went to school together.  In her autobiography Mary wrote:

After their marriage at St. John Church in Dahlgren, Illinois, mom and dad moved to Chicago. Dad had gone to Chicago to find work prior to their marriage. He had worked at a coffee company, but was a Yellow Cab driver at the time of my birth.

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(1939 - 2015)

Sister Sharon Culhane, known as Sister Thomas Clare, was born in Rockford, Illinois, on December 1, 1938. Her parents were Thomas H. and Clara (Holomany) Culhane. She was one of six children in the Culhane family: three girls and three boys.

Sister Sharon graduated from Bishop Muldoon High School in 1956 and a year later entered the postulate on June 26, 1957, at the age of eighteen. Immediately after profession in December 1958, she was sent to St. Augustin School in Des Moines, Iowa, to teach elementary grades and CCD classes after school. Her next five teaching assignments would be in Illinois.

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(1932 - 2015)

They shall run and not grow weary; they shall walk and never tire.
- Isaiah 40:31

Sister Helen Belsito, also known as Sister Louise Joseph, was born on January 2, 1932, in Lansing, Michigan. She was one of six children born to Joseph and Louise (Filice) Belsito. Both parents were born in Italy. In her autobiography, Sister Helen wrote this about her parents:
    
My father was born in Santa Ippolito, Italy. He worked on a farm and was a brick and tile maker. He was a cook in World War I. My mother was born in Cozensa, Italy and also worked on a farm there. My dad came to the United States from Italy, in 1907 and worked in a tile factory in Beloit, Wisconsin. In 1926 he returned to Italy and married my mother and then [they] returned to the United States and lived in Pontiac, Michigan, where they owned a grocery store. After a time my parents moved to Lansing, Michigan, where my dad worked for the city of Lansing until he retired.

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(1929 - 2015)
Sister Ann Marie Meagher was born in Chicago on March 7, 1929. She was the youngest and the only girl of the six children born to William and Ann (Duggan) Meagher. Both parents were born in Ireland. Her father was a policemen and her mother a housewife whose health was seriously compromised by asthma and high blood pressure.

More about Sister Ann Marie Meagher (pdf)

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