In Memoriam

Help us remember our sisters.

In death we say our ultimate human yes to God. Trusting in God’s power to bring us to the fullness of life, we conclude our earthly life with an act of worship: in the action of death we proclaim God as God, and ourselves as God’s creatures. We are called by God and sent by the community; we go in joy!

 

- You Are Sent, Constitution of the School Sisters of Notre Dame

 

Sister Elise Diemert

Sister Elise died on April 12, 2018, at Notre Dame Convent, Waterdown, Ontario. She turned 102 in March. She was in her 84th year as a School Sister of Notre Dame. Adela was born on March 10, 1916, the third youngest of a family of 12. Her farm home was near the hamlet of  Deemerton. She received her elementary education in a one-room school, known as the “mosquito” school, located in the nearby bush. It was there she discovered a library book on the Little Flower of Jesus. St. Therese’s life inspired her to become a nun. She felt that she could do little things even though she had suffered from polio at age five.

In Memoriam: Sister Mary Serafine Della Croce

Sister Seraphine

Sister Mary Serafine Della Croce was born on August 24, 1932. In her biography she wrote: “My parents, Serafina Alvano and Louis Della Croce, were of Italian descent. I was the first of five children and was baptized Antoinette. Two years later, my brother, Louis, was born, and he was followed by Salvadore, Anthony, and Michael. Both my parents were from large families, so I had plenty of playmates.

In Memoriam: Sister Joan Maier

Siser Joan Maier

Joan Irene, youngest of the four children of Clara Rappl and Thomas Maier, was born in Rochester, N.Y. on Sept. 30, 1932.  Joan was baptized at Holy Family Church, Rochester and attended grammar school at Holy Family School. The school was staffed by the School Sisters of Notre Dame and Joan said in her autobiography, “I greatly admired the Sisters and even during these early years, I felt attracted to Notre Dame.”

As a second grader, Joan received her first Holy Communion at Holy Family Church and was confirmed there in 1944 by Rev. James E. Kearney, the Bishop of Rochester.  

In Memoriam: Sister Caroleen Baummer

Marie Regina Baummer, only daughter of Sigmund and Eleanor Roth Baummer, was born in Baltimore on October 6, 1923, and was baptized at St. Michael’s Church on Oct. 7. Jean, as she was called, had an older brother, Charles. Sister Caroleen later described her early days in “a beautiful Catholic home” where she “learned to love music.” Her mother played the piano and her father sang in the St. Michael’s choir. They had a good collection of records, and Jean and her father listened together to the opera on radio every Saturday afternoon.

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