Below are our 2011 Jubilarians
Sister M. Judith Kurry, OSF — 75th Jubilee
Sister M. Judith Kurry, a native of Chicago, Illinois, is the eldest daughter born to the late John and Mary Kurry. Sister Judith’s brothers Michael, Raymond, Joseph, Al, Lawrence and Robert, as well as her sister, Susan, are all deceased.
Sister Judith attended SS Peter and Paul Grade School in Chicago and graduated from St. Francis Academy in Joliet, Illinois. She received her B.A. and M.A. in Franciscan Studies from the College of St. Francis (now University) in Joliet.
From 1938 to 1973 Sister Judith ministered in the field of education at various grade schools in Illinois and Ohio. In 1973 she became secretary for the Catholic Schools Office in Joliet for one year, returning to the classroom in 1974. From 1977 until 2010 she ministered as a teacher aide at the Franciscan Learning Center in Joliet.
Currently, Sister Judith resides at Our Lady of Angels Retirement Home where she serves as a communion minister and does Community Service for the sisters and other residents.
When asked about her ministry in the field of education these seventy plus years, Sister Judith stated that she enjoyed all her years of teaching, but most especially her last thirty years at the Franciscan Learning Center. The people connected to that ministry have been very supportive. She especially enjoyed the “freshness” that young children bring to each day.
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Sister Rita Greene, OSF (Alexander) — 75th Jubilee
Sister Mary Rita Greene was born in Columbus, Ohio to the late Helen and Michael Greene. She has four brothers: Michael (Alahambra, California) and James, Jerome and Joseph (all deceased). She also has five sisters: Helene Terrill (Tulsa, Oklahoma), Lydia Greene and Patricia Sorenson (both of Columbus) and Luella Trumball (deceased).
Sister Rita attended St. John the Evangelist Grade School and Holy Rosary Grade and High Schools in Columbus. She graduated from St. Francis Academy in Joliet, Ilinois and then went on to attend the College of St. Francis where she earned her Bachelor of Arts Degree. Sister Rita earned her Master of Fine Arts Degree from Catholic University in Washington, D.C. and then went on to do postgraduate work at the Art Institute of Chicago, Siena Heights College and the University of Florence in Italy.
Sister Rita began her teaching ministry in 1940 at St. Bernard School in Joliet where she taught students in grades kindergarten through second grade. She also taught kindergarten and art in all the grades at Sacred Heart School in Hubbard Woods, Illinois for ten years. From 1954 until 1976 she was a faculty member at the College of St. Francis, where she taught art. In 1976 Sister Rita went to Guam to teach art in various high schools. She returned to the United States in 1979 and taught art at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Romeoville, Illinois. In 1981 she returned to Guam where she ministered for twenty-one more years at Father Duenas Memorial High School in Agana, Guam.
In 2002 Sister Rita became a resident of Our Lady of Angels Retirement Home where she continues to minister in Community Service to her sisters and other residents.
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Sister Helen Zulka, OSF (John Edward) — 60th Jubilee
Sister Helen Zulka was born in Toledo, Ohio to the late John and Helen Zulka. Her two brothers, John and Edward, are both deceased.
Sister Helen attended St. Hedwig Grade School in Toledo, Ohio. After completing her high school education at Central Catholic High School in Toledo, Sister Helen attended the College of St. Francis (now University) in Joliet, Illinois. She completed her bachelor’s degree there after entering the Sisters of St. Francis in 1948. She later studied at the University of Michigan; St. Mary of the Woods in Terre Haute, Indiana; Marian College in Fon du Lac, Wisconsin; Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Florida and the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana.
Sister Helen began her teaching ministry at St. Peter Grade School in Mansfield, Ohio. After four years in elementary education, she taught home economics and art in high schools in Ohio and Illinois. She completed her 20 year ministry in secondary education at Cardinal Gibbons High School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Since 1976 Sister Helen has ministered in parishes in Illinois, Indiana and Ohio as a pastoral minister, director of religious education, RCIA teacher and visitor to the elderly. She served as Pastoral Associate at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Fort Wayne, Indiana from 1980 to 1986. From 1986 to 1993 she ministered at St. Monica Parish in Mishawaka, Indiana. After completing CPE training she ministered as a hospice worker, bereavement coordinator and volunteer at Bryan Nursing Home in Bryan, Ohio from 1995 to 2004.
Sister Helen currently resides in a retired independent community in Plainfield, Illinois, ministers as a hospice greeter and is involved in a mission project for the Sisters of St. Francis’ Brazil Missions as Stamp Coordinator. She is also a member of the Philatelic Club of Joliet.
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Sister Ruth Anne Berry, OSF — 60th Jubilee
Sister Ruth Berry, a native of Shelby Ohio, is the daughter of the late Norma and Dorwin Berry. Her sister, Jeanne Marie continues to reside in Shelby. Her brothers now reside in other areas: William in South Bend, IN, James in Palm Springs, CA and Richard in Columbus, Ohio. Her brother Dorwin is deceased.
Sister Ruth attended Most Pure Heart of Mary School in Shelby. She graduated from St. Francis Academy in Joliet, Illinois. She received her B.A. in Music from the College of St. Francis (now University) in Joliet. In Brazil she attended courses for Intensive Portuguese Language and Culture, as well as Franciscan Spirituality and Pastoral studies for Latin America.
Sister Ruth spent her first twelve years in elementary education with an emphasis on music. She taught grades 2, 3 and 4 at St. Ann in Lansing, Illinois from 1951 to 1956. She also taught music and was the parish organist. From 1956 to 1959 she taught grades 5, 6 and 7 and was parish organist at St. Paul the Apostle in Joliet, IL. From 1960 to 1963 she served as music teacher and parish organist at St. John the Baptist Parish in Joliet.
In 1963 she began her ministry in Brazil as one of the four founding members of the Congregation, serving in Santa Helena de Goiás, Brazil. Since that time, she has ministered mainly in central Brazil as musician, teacher, pastoral minister, formation director, regional coordinator of the Sisters of St. Francis in Brazil and director of San Damiano School.
Presently Sister Ruth lives in Santa Helena de Goiás and ministers in the parish as a pastoral minister, serving as a home visitor and participant in the Children’s Pastoral in the area. She meets with the members of the Legion of Mary in the parish.
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Sister Patricia Wagner, OSF — 60th Jubilee
Sister Patricia Wagner is the only child born to Rose and Frank Wagner of Chicago, Illinois. She attended St. Pascal Grade School in Chicago and graduated from St. Francis Academy, in Joliet, Illinois. She received her BA in Music from the College of St. Francis (now University) in Joliet, and received an M.A. in Education (Administration/Supervision) from DePaul University in Chicago. She did further studies in the field of education at George Peabody College in Nashville, Tennessee.
Sister Patricia began her ministry in education and music at St. Bernard School in Joliet in 1951. Over the next seventeen years she taught the middle and junior high classes in schools in Illinois and Ohio along with teaching music and serving as the parish organist. From 1962 to 1968, she ministered at St. Jude Parish in Warrensville Heights, Ohio as the superior/principal/organist and teacher of 8th grade. After serving on the faculty of the Education Department at the College of St. Francis for ten years, Sister Patricia ministered at Divine Savior Parish in Norridge, Illinois for fifteen years as director in religious education, pastoral minister and director in family life. In 1981 she served as teacher, administrator and therapist at FranCenter in Darien, Illinois. From 1993 to 1995 she taught in the Center for Adult Basic Education at Joliet Junior College. After serving as coordinator to the Sisters at St. Francis Convent and residential manager at St. Elizabeth Home in Joliet, she returned to FranCenter in Darien, Illinois as Support Service Administrator.
Currently Sister Patricia resides at Guardian Angel Home where she ministers in Community Service to the Sisters residing there and in special Prayer Ministry for the Sisters of the Congregation and the needs of the Church.
When asked about her Jubilee celebration, Sister Patricia remarked, “I celebrate this anniversary with gratitude to my religious community, my family and friends and the hundreds of faithful with whom I have worked and ministered. With all these I share this anniversary and all the blessing s and prayers I receive. We continue to walk together in faith.”
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Sister Anna Marie Metz, OSF (Leonissa) — 60th Jubilee
Sister Anna Marie Metz, a native of Chicago, Illinois, is one of four children born to Louise and Leo Metz. She has one brother, Frederick, residing in Wheeling, Illinois and two sisters, Meronic Buetow and Mary Bernacchi, both residing in the Chicago area.
Sister Anna Marie attended St. Bartholomew Grade School and Foreman High School before entering the Sisters of St. Francis in Joliet, Illinois. She received her B.A. from the College of St. Francis (now University) in Joliet.
In 1951 Sister Anna Marie began her ministry of education in the primary grades at St. Francis Xavier School in Chicago. In 1954 she moved to St. Mary School in Fairfield, Alabama, to teach in grades 2 and 3. While spending only three years there, St. Mary’s became a place that was very dear to her heart. In 1977 she returned to St. Mary’s to teach in Grade 2 for five years.
Sister Anna Marie also taught in various schools in Illinois, Ohio and Wisconsin, including six years in Mansfield, Ohio and three years in Shelby, Ohio. In 1982 she became a remedial reading teacher at Holy Family School in Bayfield, Wisconsin. From 1985 until 1987 she did volunteer work in the Will County Jail Library and in 1987 became a tutor in the ESL program at the Spanish Center in Joliet.
Currently, Sister Anna Marie resides at Our Lady of Angels Retirement Home where she ministers to the residents in the area of Community Service and shares her creative talents in art and poetry.
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Sister Lois Prebil, OSF — 50th Jubilee
Lois Prebil, a native of Chicago, Illinois, is the daughter of the late Margaret and Anton Prebil. Her brother Anthony (Sheri) resides in Naperville, Illinois, her sister Kathleen Monahan (late Tim) in Oak Park, Illinois and her sister Rose Kasarda (Jim) in Schaumburg, Illinois.
Lois Prebil attended St. Procopius Grade School and graduated from St. Francis de Sales High School, both in Chicago. She received her B.A. in Mathematics at the College of St. Francis (now University) in Joliet, and her M.A. in Mathematics from the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana. She received a Master of Science in Organization Development from Loyola University in Chicago. She also received Certification in Secondary Administration from Northern Illinois University.
Lois Prebil’s present ministries are racial justice ministry with the Office for Racial Justice of the Archdiocese of Chicago; organization development consulting, primarily with churches, schools and religious congregations, and Local Coordinator for the Sisters of St. Francis.
Lois has served in the ministry of education as a teacher at Bishop Ready High School in Columbus, Ohio and St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Louisville, Ohio, and as teacher, assistant principal and principal at St. Francis Academy in Joliet. She ministered as principal of St. Mary Cathedral High School in Saginaw, Michigan and at Regina High School in Iowa City, Iowa. She served in the administration of the Sisters of St. Francis as Councilor Coordinator before beginning a ministry as Social Care Coordinator for St. James Parish in Chicago.
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Sister Juanita Regine Ujcik, OSF — 50 Jubilee
Sister Juanita is the daughter of Mary and the late Stanley Ujcik. She was born in Chicago and attended St. John Bosco School. She moved to Lemont, Illinois, where she attended St. Alphonsus School from grades 2 through 8. She received her high school education at St. Francis Academy, Joliet; a B.A. in Physics and Chemistry from the College of St. Francis (now University) and an M.S. in Natural Science at Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York. She did further studies at Ohio State University, Bowling Green State and the University of Toledo.
Sister Juanita’s ministry has revolved around three areas: Education, Ministry to the Incarcerated and presently as Vocation Minister for the Sisters of St. Francis.
Sister Juanita taught in elementary education for one year at St. John the Baptist Parish in Joliet. She then spent twenty years in secondary education as a teacher of mathematics, chemistry and physics at St. Mary High School, Columbus, Ohio, St. Thomas Aquinas High School, Louisville, Ohio and Robinson Junior High and Scott Public High School in Toledo, Ohio. In 1984, while teaching as an adjunct professor at Lewis University, she began her ministry to the incarcerated by teaching at the Center for Correctional Concerns in Joliet, Illinois. In 1986 she was the founder of JUST (Justice, Understanding, Service, Teaching) of DuPage. She returned to the Center of Correctional Concerns as director in 1988, a position she held until June, 2009.
Presently Sister Juanita ministers to the young women who are seeking to serve Christ in Religious Life.
Commenting on her fifty years of service to the Church Sister Juanita says, “I have found that I enjoy both variety and challenges in my life, my work and my other interests. I have worked on several serious issues of our times and have been glad to offer some small forms of assistance in those areas. I am grateful to the Sisters of St. Francis for the encouragement and freedom to accept new challenges and work in a variety of ministries and volunteer activities.”
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Sister Ann Freiburg, OSF — 50th Jubilee
Sister Ann Freiburg is a native of Lombard, Illinois, the daughter of Richard and Pauline Freiburg and one of five children. One sister, Elizabeth Burke, lives in St. Peter, Minnesota; another, Mary Wolff, in Downers Grove, Illinois; and the youngest, Marjorie Wiemels and brother-in-law Gene, in University Heights, Ohio. Her brother Michael and sister-in-law Angela live in Trumbull, Connecticut.
Sister Ann attended Sacred Heart School in Lombard, Immaculate Conception High School in Elmhurst, and the College of St. Francis (now University), where she earned a B.A. degree. Further education included an M.A. in literature from the University of Illinois and a Certificate in Religious Formation from the Aquinas Institute of Theology in Dubuque, Iowa.
After college, she taught in the Los Angeles public school system for several years before joining the Joliet Franciscan Sisters in 1959. She continued her teaching career at Bishop Ready High School in Columbus, Ohio, and at St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Canton, Ohio before coming back to Joliet to join the faculty at the College of St. Francis.
After a sabbatical year at Aquinas Institute, Sister Ann served as Director of Initial Formation and Novice Director for the Joliet Franciscans. While in this position, she coordinated the Intercommunity Novitiate Program for the Chicago area and served on the National Board of the Religious Formation Conference.
Following her years in formation work, she became Director of Adult Education at St. Walter Church in Roselle, Illinois. In her eighth year of ministry at St. Walter’s, at the time of her mother’s illness and death, she became familiar with the hospice movement and felt called to this ministry. She has served as both Director of Bereavement Services and Chaplain, and continues to this day as Chaplain at CNS Hospice in DuPage County.
Her interests include reading; music, especially sacred, choral, and classical; environmental concerns; inter-religious dialogue; the integration of science and spirituality; body/mind/spirit approaches to holistic health and spirituality; and issues of death and dying.
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Sister Martha Kienzler, OSF — 50th Jubilee
Sister Martha Kienzler is a native of Springfield, Illinois. She is one of four children born to the late George and Clementine Kienzler. Her sister, Dolores Pellman, lives in Springfield. Her brother George and her sister Mary Schafer are deceased.
Sister Martha attended SS Peter and Paul Grade School and Ursuline Academy in Springfield. She received an Associate’s Degree from Springfield Junior College (now Benedictine) and a B.A. and a M.A. in Theology from the College of St. Francis (now University) in Joliet, Illinois. She received a Master’s in Social Work from the University of St. Louis in St. Louis, Missouri.
After ministering in elementary education for two years, Sister Martha served as a case worker for Catholic Charities in Toledo, Ohio for ten years. From 1973 to 1975 she served as director of Social Services at Guardian Angel Home, Joliet, IL. From 1975 to 1981 she ministered in Defiance, Ohio as Director of Catholic Social Services. From 1981 to 1984 Sister Martha ministered as Director of Initial Formation for the Sisters of St. Francis. In 1984 Sister Martha became pastoral minister at Sacred Heart Parish in Muskegon Heights, Michigan and in 1989 she returned to Joliet where she ministered as Director of Social Services at Our Lady of Angels Retirement Home. From 1996 until 2008 she was pastoral associate at Immaculate Conception Parish in Morris, Illinois. Presently Sister Martha ministers as sacristan for the Pastoral Care Department at Our Lady of Angels.
Commenting on her life as a Joliet Franciscan, Sister Martha states that “Franciscan religious life is, for me, a vowed commitment to live the Gospel Life in the spirit of Francis and Clare. It is living the Good News that God is love overflowing; that all creation is good; that Jesus Christ is the Incarnation of that love which shows us how to return God’s love… Franciscan religious life projects the ‘reign of God’ as here and now through the sacramental life of the Church and service to one another.”
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Sister René Simonelic, OSF — 50th Jubilee
Sister René Simonelic, a native of Chicago, Illinois, is the daughter of the late John and Alice Simonelic and sister of Colette (Ted) Wysocki of Hot Springs, Arizona.
Sister René was educated at Fordham University, New York where she received a Bachelor of Education in 1965. She studied simultaneously at Manhattanville’s St. Pius X School to complete a minor in Social Studies and Music. She received a Certificate of Church Music and Liturgy at St. Joseph College, Rensselaer, Indiana. In 1985, she received a Master of Science Degree in Music at Indiana State University, Terre Haute, Indiana majoring in voice and choral conducting. She completed a Master of Arts in Liturgical Studies at St. John’s University, Collegeville, Minnesota in 1990. In 2005, she was recognized by the Northwestern Kellogg School of Management as a Kellogg Executive Scholar and was awarded a certificate in nonprofit management.
Sister René taught music and religious education at elementary and secondary schools in Chicago and Panama City, Florida. She was chair of the Fine Arts department at Resurrection High School, Chicago, from 1969 to 1978 and was director of music programs there from 1980 to 1987. From 1987 to 1991 Sister René was director of Music Ministries at St. Symphorosa Parish, Chicago. From 1991 to 1993 she was the director of the Office for Worship in St. Cloud, Minnesota. From 1993 to 1995 she was director of worship at Holy Angels Parish in Aurora, IL and then director of worship for the Franciscan Renewal Center in Scottsdale, Arizona. In 1997 she began her ministry as Liturgical Consultant and then director of liturgy for the Diocese of Columbus, Ohio. She became director of development for the Sisters of St. Francis in 2004. She presently ministers as director of general programming for the Office of Divine Worship for the Archdiocese of Chicago.
Sister René is a renowned soprano, having sung at Carnegie hall with the New York Pops Orchestra in December, 1997 and again in April, 2001 with the Columbus Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. Currently, she enjoys singing with the St. Cletus Chancel Choir, Musichorale, and the Moraine Valley Chorale.
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