(1929-2023)

On June 24, 2023, Sister Marie Geraldine Brownell attended the Jubilee Mass to celebrate her 75th anniversary as an Adrian Dominican Sister, delighted in sharing the festive dinner afterward with several of her Sister-friends, and then retired to her room … where, early in the morning of June 25, she put the exclamation point on her Jubilee celebration by going home to her God. She was ninety-three years old.
 
By the time Jubilee 2023 arrived, Sister Geraldine’s health had declined to the point where she had been confined to her room at Maria, only venturing out for meals in the 2 South solarium. “But evidently, she was storing up her energy,” said Sister Judy Friedel, Holy Rosary Mission Chapter Prioress, at Sister Geraldine’s wake service. However she was able to do it – and with much help from the nurses, aides, and chaplains – Sister Geraldine was able to participate in that great celebration of her many years in the Congregation only hours before her passing.
 
Barbara Jane Brownell, the oldest child of Peter and Geraldine (Schlaff) Brownell, was born in Detroit on October 15, 1929, only days before the stock market crash that ushered in the Great Depression. As she wrote in her autobiography:

I grew up without realizing there was a depression since it was never discussed in my presence. I do remember how glad adults in my family were when Franklin Roosevelt was elected president, but I didn’t know why. I knew later that times were hard, but it seemed they were hard for everyone. Besides, I had nothing to which to compare them.

Read more about Sister Marie (PDF).

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

Sister's Memorial Card (PDF)

 

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