2020 Jubilarians
We are preachers. It is not what we do. It is who we are. Mission is not what we do. It is who we are. And if that is clear, everything will just follow. - Gerard Timoner, III, OP Master of the Order
What is a Jubilarian? Our Hebrew roots provide a tradition for Jubilee to be celebrated every fifty years. In our Dominican tradition we have developed our own customs. Our celebration of Jubilee brings our Jubilarians back to their origin in the Congregation. We honor each woman and find ways to identify her unique contributions to our lives. We tell stories about our lives, our learnings and our joys and sorrows. We celebrate! Each Jubilarian has a story to tell, and the common threads of our stories are enhanced by one another. The unfolding of the mystery of God’s presence in our lives is awesome. We recognize this unfolding mystery of dying and being reborn as we walk together throughout life. Each Sister’s YES, each day, enhances the whole community. As we continue to be inflamed with contemplative love daily, we are so grateful for these holy women who celebrate their Jubilee this year, and we continue to be enriched by their lives.
Rose Seraphine Sagorski, OP
In death life is changed, not ended.
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ouise Ann Sagorski, born April 22,1917, was the youngest of eight children of Vincent and Albina Sagorski. The attention of parents steeped in appreciation of their faith helped create a loving family. Louise came to Marywood in the ninth grade from Sand Lake, Michigan, graduated from Marywood Academy, and entered the Grand Rapids Dominicans. She made her final profession as Sister Rose Seraphine of the Sacred Heart in 1940. Sister Rose Seraphine taught elementary school for a total of forty years: ten years in New Mexico and thirty years in Michigan. After completing her MA in theology through the Aquinas Institute of Religious Studies summer program, she longed to serve people who were sick and aging. She began to minister in home care at St. Stephen and Sacred Heart and later continued in service at Aquinata Hall. Following these ministries, she served by volunteering in the mail room. Senior Math 103 Sr. Rose Seraphine enjoys completing math exercises every morning.
85 Years
Sister Rose Seraphine resides at Aquinata Hall where she engages daily in math exercises to assist in maintaining her 103-year young brain agility. Sister Rose continues her ministry of service as she shares her smiles and joins with all of us, as she is able, in communal prayer.
Julia Mae Groulx, OP As I celebrate 70 years as a Grand Rapids Dominican, I ask God to bless my family, my Dominican community, and all who have nurtured and formed me into the person I am today. I am grateful for the love, joy, and peace I experience as I contemplate all of creation - always remembering and rejoicing in the words “Eye has not seen, ear has not heard what God has ready for those who love...�
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, Catherine Julia, was born in 1926 to William and Catherine Badour Groulx in Munger, Michigan. I was the first in my family to attend high school, graduating at the top of my class. After attending Bay City Junior College, I taught in a one-room school at Arn Station in Bay County. In 1949, I entered the Grand Rapids Dominicans and in 1950, at Reception, I received the name Sister Julia Mae of the Holy Ghost. While teaching in several Michigan cities, I earned an MA in Education and an MA in Religious Education. I also served as school principal while teaching for three years in Belen, New Mexico. While spending a year in Japan in 1989, I taught English Conversation at the Heisel Foreign Language Institute, living in a small apartment in Onga-Gun and enjoying the local culture. From 1990 to 1996 I was a live-in companion to two older women. Sr. Julia Mae enjoys working on This prepared me for a ministry her computer in her free time at at Saints Peter and Paul Parish in Aquinata Hall. Ionia, Michigan, where I worked as Bereavement Ministry Coordinator. I retired to Marywood in 2008 and spend my time reading and working on my computer.
70 Years
Sylvia Wozniak, OP Thankful for yesterday and today, Open to God’s plan for today, The journey continues.
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remember myself being one in a family of five. My half-brother was in the military and his sister in high school when I entered kindergarten. It wasn’t until my junior year that my youngest sister was born. That disconnectedness is still how we relate today. Hence, I am most thankful for the deep bonds of friendship and support I share with my two siblings closest to me in age. During my senior high school retreat, God called me to this Dominican community. Through the years as I’ve struggled with life’s challenges, including community living and the call, I’ve only experienced inner peace when remembering the call and remaining true to it. For God’s ever-present sustaining grace and presence, I am thankful.
Sr. Sylvia attends a dinner party for residents at Carefree Manor, Apache Junction, AZ. When she visits her sister and brother-inlaw there, she “lives” a ministry of presence in the campground.
Relocating about 17 times over the past sixty years of “mission experiences”, I’ve learned that the assigned or mutually discerned ministry wasn’t always the real reason I landed where I did. I’ve come to understand it was God’s way of inviting me to live a much deeper life than I envisioned I ever could.
60 Years
Tereska Wozniak, OP Shout with joy to our God, all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness. -Psalm 100
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n this 60th anniversary as a religious Sister, my heart is filled with deep gratitude for many blessings. I have been gifted by being born into a beautiful family in Posen, Michigan. My parents’ faith was very strong, and they were devoted to God and Church. My vocation to the Dominicans of Grand Rapids is pure gift. My religious community has taught me so much about the spiritual life and social justice. They have educated me well. I had opportunities to study Spanish in Mexico and to travel in Europe to the lands of Dominic. In my various ministries in Michigan, I came to know so many wonderful people. They have inspired me in many ways. I pray that I gave them my best in return. Liturgy of the Hours, Liturgy of the Eucharist, and contemplative prayer have been special gifts and my guiding lights through all my years of religious life. Sr. Tereska is a gifted preacher and loves proclaiming the By the loving grace of God, we now Word of God. celebrate Jubilee.
60 Years
Regina Mary Goeldel, OP Yesterday is but today’s memory and tomorrow is today’s dream. -Kahlil Gibran
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ubilee 2020 - a vision, a dream, a reality. Who would have thought that in the year 2020 I would be celebrating 60 years as a Grand Rapids Dominican? So much for which to be grateful, so many opportunities and privileges, so much to pray for, so much yet to be done. I know that God who has begun this “work” will be with me until it’s completed. What more could I desire?
60 Years
Sitting behind a typewriter, a word processor, a computer these many years - challenging, daunting, exciting, fulfilling. How blessed I was, how blessed I am!
Jean Williams, OP All will be well, and you yourself shall see That every manner of thing will be well. -Julian of Norwich
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ll has been well and will continue to be well as my spirit is quieted through the practice of centering prayer. I am grateful for the support of community, family, and friends. Sister Jean’s ministry in dietary support includes preparation of salad bar items for Ratisbon.
When Sister Jean is not working in the kitchen, she is busy making about 165 scrubbies each year to gift family and friends.
I look back to the grace of 20 years of teaching and 20 years of directing parish religious education programs. My present ministry, providing dietary support to our main kitchen staff, is both joyful and suited to my skills. All is well.
60 Years
Joan Williams, OP “May Christ dwell in your hearts
through faith,
as you are being rooted and grounded in love.” -Ephesians 3:17
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ondering these sixty years as a Dominican fills my heart and spirit with gratitude. The unfolding of my life has truly been a gift of grace and of opportunity. Service and hospitality were modeled by my parents; these qualities were contagiously caught by all my siblings from early childhood forward. Though not articulated at the time, joining a community dedicated to service seemed a natural way to carry on our parents’ legacy. Each professional ministry prepared me for the next: as musician in K-12, as liturgist and choir director in multicultural, multilingual parishes, as formator and instructor with Church communities in transitional times following the Second Vatican Council, as religious educator among the Spanish-speaking, bringing groups together around the Word and preaching; all were part of the journey.
Sr. Joan Williams along with Sr. Doris Regan (top photo) led many spiritual enrichment workshops while in Honduras. All places of mission were long stays: the Her prison ministry in longest being 19 years in San Pedro Sula, San Pedro (bottom photo) Honduras. Unknowingly, inner transformation included organizing liturgical services with the help of the takes place while immersed in the reality of prisoners. another culture. Upon return to U.S.A., now
three years later, I realize how deeply the contemplative, life-giving, and challenging Latin American Spirituality has ingrained my spirit.
60 Years
I am grateful that God is still at work in me and trust that ‘God’s work’ will be brought to fruition.
Joyce Williams, OP
The Beauty of nature is a gift to quiet the soul.
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hen I entered the community in 1959, I could not have imagined celebrating sixty years of ministry with the Grand Rapids Dominican Sisters. Yet here I am. My country upbringing on a small vegetable farm in Byron Center instilled an appreciation for the outdoors and the beauty of nature. Capturing that beauty through photography has been a hobby of mine for several years. Gifting others with the beauty of nature and art on custom note cards has been a joy. My ministries have been in Food Service and Health Care. Most recently I retired from Saint Louis University Hospital as the Trauma Chaplain. I continue to cherish memories of being present to others during some of the most vulnerable times of their lives. Retirement from full-time active ministry has, however, given me the opportunity to volunteer in multiple ways on the Motherhouse Campus of Marywood.
Capturing the beauty of nature through photography has been a hobby of Sr. Joyce’s for several years.
In 2018, participating in the Holy Land Retreat with Sister Barbara Reid OP and Father Leslie Hoppe OFM, along with my sisters, Catherine and Joan, was a trip of a lifetime. It has changed forever how I read and meditate on the scriptures. I look forward to how that experience will continue to impact my life. I am so blessed with the support from my sisters in Community along with family and friends who have made this all possible.
60 Years
Margaret Hillary, OP “Teach me, O God, your way that I may walk in your truth. I give thanks to you, my God. Great has been your kindness toward me.�
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ith a heart full of gratitude and joy, I celebrate 60 years as a Dominican Sister. These years of service to our God were possible because of the support and love received from our Sisters. Recalling them brings many warm memories of ministry with our Sisters, mentoring from our Sisters, and happy community times together. I thank all of our Sisters for being the source of the happiness that I feel.
Sr. Margaret with St. Ignatius Mission staff where she works as Pastoral Assistant and Director of Religious Education.
I am also grateful to my family for their support and affirmation. The respect that I feel from my seven sisters and brothers, their spouses, children and grandchildren strengthens me in my choice to be a vowed woman religious.
These 60 years have opened for me many wonderful ministry opportunities: teaching in Catholic schools in all sectors of Michigan and New Mexico, Diocesan ministry in Illinois and Pennsylvania, congregational ministry, and now service on the Flathead Indian Reservation in Montana. These ministries have enriched my spirit. I am grateful for all of the persons and places that have helped me grow into a deeper relationship with Christ.
60 Years
Sr. Margaret with members of the Kateri Circle.
Marguerite Cool, OP “Be still and know that I am God.” -Psalm 46
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was born in Detroit and moved to Lakewood, Ohio, before settling in Grand Rapids with my parents, Lawrence and Gladys Cool, along with my siblings in 1945. I attended St. Francis Xavier School and was taught by the Sisters of Mercy. In June 1959 I graduated from Catholic Central, and then in September entered the Grand Rapids Dominicans. After making final vows, I graduated from Aquinas College and began my much-loved teaching ministry in 1st through 4th grade. I taught 35 years in various Michigan Catholic Schools including urban, rural, and inner city. Many of the schools were of mixed cultures and religions. I loved my days teaching first graders. The fact that my name was Cool, the children enjoyed being called “the Cool Kids”. I feel I gave the children a gift for life by teaching them how to read. In 1998 I transitioned from educating children to teaching adults in creating a family ministry “Partners in Parenting” with Sr. Jean Kramer, OP. We found the same skills of listening, encouraging, modeling, as well as respect-patience, communication, organization, and understanding -could be used by parents to enrich their parenting skills.
Over the years I have enjoyed doodling in watercolor painting, craft making, baking and sharing favorite cookie recipes, reading, traveling back East, taking walks, and writing prayer poems. Being part of this Dominican Congregation has been a gift and a blessing. I’m grateful for all the people I have met and the many wonderful educational opportunities and experiences I have been offered. I thank all my Dominican Sisters, family, and friends who have been loving and supportive on my journey.
Srs. Marguerite and Jean found that the same skills to educate children could also be used by parents to enrich their parenting skills.
60 Years
Chris Wood, OP “For I know well the plans I have in mind for you, says the Lord.” -Jeremiah 29:11a
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his passage from Jeremiah speaks to my religious life journey begun in 1969 with the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary in California. Over the next 25 years, this journey included a variety of ministries and transitions typical of my peers: elementary education, infirmary nurse aide, hospital/infirmary nursing, and nursing researcher/ consultant/faculty. Celebrating my Silver Jubilee in 1997, I commented to my classmate, Sally Slyngstad, “I guess this is it until our 50th!” Never was I more wrong! In early 1998, Sr. Lisa Marie Lazio brought me to Grand Rapids as a consultant for how to meet the retirement healthcare needs of sisters at Marywood moving into the future. One consultation turned into several over the next few years and awakened in me an awareness of a call to transfer, which occurred in 2002. Looking back on my 33 years as a Holy Names Sister and 18 as a Dominican Sister, I am grateful that God has gifted me with the opportunity to integrate the charisms of these two congregations as I have lived out my call to religious life.
50 Years
Beth Tanner, Sr. Chris Wood, and Yara Pena-Toy are part of a team of nurses serving the needs of patients and residents at Marywood Health Center and Aquinata Hall on Marywood Campus.
In memory of the Jubilarians who share eternal life…...
85 Years – 1935
Kenneth Fitzgerald Aquino Boyce Anthony Therese Pacek Rene Langlois Rose Callahan Helen Bolger Susana Gilbert Marie Rosaire Longtin Lucille Leannah Marie Raymond Baker Patricia Clare Carroll Lucinda Lehmkuhle Bede Frahm Thomas More Connolly Justyn Krieg
75 Years – 1945
Mary Sullivan Mary Ann Otway Loyola Maestas Eileen Marie Prueter Marie Joseph Ryan Lenora Carmody Phyllis Schoenborn Marie Emile Rivard Diana Mlynarchek
70 Years – 1950
Ottilia Schaub Maria Tardani Marie Jude Wysocki Marie Eickholt
60 Years – 1960
Marita MacNall Joan Lehman Ann Thielen Ann Norman Susanne Tracy
We remember with fondness the Jubilarians who celebrate with us bathed in the glory of Eternal Life.
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