Remembering Sister Laura Filipas, OSF

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.

Read More About Sister Laura’s Life

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.