Entries by Karen Garifo

Remembering Sister Louise Marie Skoch, OSF

Sister Louise Marie Skoch once said that her life had always been exciting, rewarding, and filled with love and energy. For that reason, she said her favorite line of Mary’s Magnificat was “God who is mighty has done great things for me.” In one more great act of love, the Lord invited Louise to leave […]

Remembering Sister Jo Anne Murphy, OSF

After living with challenging health issues for many years, Sister Jo Anne Murphy slipped away from us peacefully on November 28, 2023, at Ascension Villa Franciscan Place. Jo Anne was born on April 6, 1947, in Chicago, to Joseph Murphy and Elizabeth (Nowak) Murphy. She was the oldest of a large family of siblings when […]

Remembering Sister Barbarine Houdek, OSF

Sister Barbarine Houdek (Sister Mary Leonard) died in the hospital on October 10, 2023, just a little over of month before her 98th birthday. She was helped to eat a good meal, smiling and happy, then put her hand out to signal she was finished, laid her head back on the pillow and died within […]

Remembering Sister Mary Jo Young, OSF

Sister Mary Jo Young was so full of life! She stepped courageously into eternal life on September 27, 2023. Mary Jo was multi-talented, intelligent, friendly, talkative, caring and funny. She was a superb educator, mentor and organizer who loved to read, knit, teach, garden, travel, bake, sing, visit, and beat Jeopardy contestants at their own […]

Remembering Sister Martha Kienzler, OSF

Sister Martha Kienzler died on September 20, 2023. Many years before, in 1976, when she was working with Catholic Charities in Defiance, Ohio, Sister Martha wrote an article for the “Catholic Chronicle” about the faith and service of her namesake: Martha of the Gospel story in Luke 11:38-42. She described Martha as task-oriented with attention […]

Remembering Sister Rita Mandella, OSF

When Sister Rita Mandella was asked how she wanted to be remembered, she said, “I loved God, my family, my Franciscan Sisters, and friends.” Indeed, the theme she chose for her funeral was from 1 Corinthians 16:14: “Your every act should be done with love.” Rita will also be remembered for being easy to tease […]

Remembering Sister Helen Vahling, OSF

Sister Helen Vahling embraced going home to God on July 29, 2023. After a stroke in June, which caused her to be moved from the StoryPoint Memory Care unit to Ascension Villa Franciscan nursing home, she was accepted into hospice care when she could not swallow. The ability to swallow eventually returned so that she […]

Remembering Sister Patricia Mitchell, OSF

In mid-June, 2023, Sister Pat was happily welcoming visitors to the new home she had moved to early in the year as Our Lady of Angels was preparing to close. Along with Sisters Ann Freiburg and Mary Agnes Cross, she was the first to arrive at Heritage Woods Assisted Living in Minooka, Illinois. They would […]

Remembering Sister Carole von Buelow, OSF

Our Sister Carole von Buelow was born the youngest of three children to Bodo and Winifred (Geary) von Buelow on December 27, 1937, on Chicago’s north side. She and her sister Carlene and brother Robert were raised in a loving and supportive German-Irish Catholic family. She graduated from St. Clement grade school and high school […]