Remembering Sister Janet Rieden, OSF

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.