(1927-2022)

After three sons were born to Eugene and Jane (Monckton) Quirk, the little girl who came into the world on January 21, 1927, in Harvey, Illinois, and was baptized Jean Ellen was certainly warmly welcomed.

“With three older brothers, my life was wonderful!” Sister Jane (as she later was known) wrote in her life story. “This is not to say that the four of us did not have a few altercations but I always knew that love was the law of the household.”

Jean, the future Sister Jane Martin, joined her brothers Francis, Robert, and George in a family home that also included a grandmother and two aunts. Her father was a mechanic, while her mother was trained as a teacher but was a homemaker by choice.

Although her childhood took place during the Great Depression, and the family had to be very careful with money and food, no one ever went hungry because Sister Jane’s mother and grandmother were excellent cooks. Her grandmother, who worked for a local haberdasher, was an expert seamstress, and the aunts both worked as office professionals. One of the aunts, Nell, worked for the president of a local auto parts manufacturer that made parts for GM, and was picked up for work every day by a chauffeur-driven car. “I thought they could take me to school, too, but once out the front door Aunt Nell didn’t even know me!” Sister Jane wrote.

Read more about Sister Jane (PDF)

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

 

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