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 and play tricks on, a good sense of humor, a beautiful voice, very detailed and organized, a good worker, and loved babies! She died on September 2, 2023, at Ascension Villa Franciscan Place in Joliet.

Rita Ann was born on December 14, 1937, to Sylvester and Anna Mandella and was the fifth of six children. As a small child, she saw her two older brothers join the armed services during World Wat II. Bernard, at first missing in action, was then a prisoner of war in Germany until the war ended. Gene traveled on an expedition to Antarctica with Admiral Byrd where their Navy ship was punctured by an iceberg. When a documentary was made about the incident, Gene was cast in the movie and Rita went to the theater over and over again just to see him.

Rita grew up in St. Bernard’s parish in Joliet. When she was in the sixth grade, while vacuuming a carpet, she suddenly knew she wanted to be a nun. As a high school student she entered St. Francis Preparatory, and by her senior year she was accepted as a postulant. One year later, as a novice, she took the name Sister Mary Carmel in honor of the Carmelite pastor of her home parish.

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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 soon be followed by others. The visitor’s Pat was so happy to see in June were the many Sisters arriving from out of town for the annual community week of meetings, missioning, and Jubilee celebrations. She was as eager to show them her new home as they were to see it. Always smiling and always hospitable…that was Pat.

Soon after those meetings, a sudden visit to the hospital for tests revealed that Pat had a malignant tumor pressing on her lungs. She entered into hospice care, lost the ability to speak, was anointed and moved from a hospice facility to Ascension Villa Franciscan Place, and died on the morning of July 18, 2023…a rapid transition from welcoming others to being welcomed home to heaven.

Read More About Sister Pat’s Life

If you would like to make a donation in honor of Sister Pat or another Joliet Franciscan Sister, please click here:  Remembering our Deceased Sisters.

On April 24, 2023, after a short time in hospice care, Sister Laura Filipas died quickly, peacefully, and unexpectedly. After 88 years of loving her family and then her religious community, she passes on that legacy of love to all of us. Some years ago, in creating a document that might be called a spiritual will, Sister Laura wrote, “I am a teacher to the marrow of my bones because I love to learn and share, but intellect and knowledge without love and understanding is nothing. Any success I may have achieved, any good I may have done for others, was inspired by my familial and Franciscan ancestors. This is the love I leave, to live on in you who read these words.”

On May 28, 1934, Laura Ann Filipas was born in Chicago to Croatian parents, Pearl (Bogdanic) and John J. Filipas, both of whom had been born in Austria. She was their youngest child and was welcomed into a family of three brothers and one sister. They were raised in Sacred Heart-Englewood parish in Chicago. At her 25th Jubilee, Sister Laura described her entry into the Joliet Congregation as a kind of home and Community affair. She recalled with amusement driving herself, her mother, and Sisters Francella and Celestine to Joliet the day she entered. Her companions then had to wait for a return trip to Chicago until her brother, after work, could travel to Joliet by bus to chauffeur them home.

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If you would like to make a donation in honor of Sister Laura or another Joliet Franciscan Sister, please click here:  Remembering our Deceased Sisters.

On the evening of March 26, 2023, in the company of loved ones, our sister, Lucille Adelmann, was led peacefully from this life into paradise. As a hope-filled healer, a gifted comforter and a courageous advocate over the course of her ninety-six years, we can imagine that among the angels who came to carry Lucy home to God, the Archangel Raphael, most certainly took the lead.

In the summer of 1926, Agnes (Brankey) and Harry Adelmann welcomed into the world of Lockport, Illinois, a precious infant daughter whom they named Lucille Agnes. As a family, the Adelmanns belonged to St. John the Baptist Parish in Joliet, Illinois, where they were welcomed by the
Franciscan Friars. It was at St. John’s that Lucy and her sister, Evelyn Rose, received the sacraments of Christian Initiation as well as a Catholic elementary school education provided by the Sisters of Saint Francis of Mary Immaculate. During her adolescent years, Lucy continued to come under the influence and inspiration of many Joliet Franciscan sisters who were her teachers and mentors at St. Francis Academy and later at the College of Saint Francis. As a student, Lucy’s abilities in Mathematics and Science were noteworthy as was her natural talent for music that found expression in her beloved instrument, the accordion. However, there was much more to the young Lucy Adelmann than these particular talents and gifts. Generous, kind, intuitive, undaunted, compassionate and attentive to God’s holy manner working in her life, Lucy’s Franciscan heart was enkindled with love for the God who called her by name.

Read More About Sister Lucille’s Life

If you would like to make a donation in honor of Sister Lucille or another Joliet Franciscan Sister, please click here:  Remembering our Deceased Sisters.

On the afternoon of February 8, 2023, our sister, Janet Rieden, was surrounded with the loving presence of family, Sisters and dear friends, as the final hours of her Christian journey were drawing near. Conformed throughout her life to the Word of God, it was most fitting that the Gospel reading for the day (Matthew: 25:6 -7) heralded the parable of the wise virgin who kept her lamp trimmed and burning, never growing weary until her work was done.

In 1934, as the New Year dawned in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, Catherine (Hentges) and Peter J. Rieden eagerly awaited the anticipated birth of their first child. Among the great joys of the holiday season was the arrival of their infant daughter, Janet Marie, on January 2, the ninth day of Christmas!

Together with her beloved brother, Gordon, Janet was raised in the wonder and beauty of life on the southern shore of Lake Winnebago. From an early age, she embraced the love of learning and the value that her family placed on education. Influenced by the example of the Sisters of St. Agnes, her teachers at St. Patrick’s Parish school and later, at St. Mary’s Springs High School, one of the first co-educational Catholic high schools in Wisconsin, Janet was drawn to the vocation of teaching. In the Fall of 1952, she made her way to Joliet, Illinois, to attend the College of St. Francis where she met the Sisters of St. Francis of Mary Immaculate. It was there that she was drawn to the charism of the congregation through the spirit and life of the sisters who were her mentors and her classmates.

Read More About Sister Janet’s Life

If you would like to make a donation in honor of Sister Janet or another Joliet Franciscan Sister, please click here:  Remembering our Deceased Sisters.