Alice Joann Havelka

Joann Alice Havelka was born on August 4, 1932, in Baltimore, Maryland, to Edward Lincoln Havelka and Joanna Lillian (Cronin) Havelka. She was her parents' first child, with the family welcoming her younger siblings Joseph, Kathleen and James within 16 years. Joann attended a local public elementary school until the fourth grade, when she transferred to St. Dominic School, Baltimore, Maryland, and was taught by the Daughters of Charity. Her Catholic education continued at Mount St. Agnes School, Baltimore, Maryland, sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy. Joann was a member of the high school's basketball and field hockey teams, the latter of which she was appointed team captain her senior year.
During Joann's sophomore year, she began to consider the possibility of having a religious vocation, maybe even as a missionary, often asking God to help with her discernment. She recalled how one day, as she was praying, a bright beam of sunlight shone on her through the window. Joann interpreted this occurrence as a sign that God's desire for her was the religious life. After graduating from high school in 1950, she met the Sisters of the Holy Cross while attending Dunbarton College of Holy Cross, Washington, D.C. Joann entered the Sisters of the Holy Cross, Notre Dame, Indiana, on September 7, 1952. Upon reception of the holy habit, she became Sister Mary Edward Joann, a name that honored both her parents-and herself. She taught for three years in two elementary schools in New York and Texas following her initial profession of vows in 1955. She completed her bachelor's degree in history from Saint Mary's College, Notre Dame, Indiana, in 1959, ready to continue her life of mission beyond her home country.
In 1959, Sister Edward Joann's assignment to Dhaka, Bangladesh, then known as Dacca, East Pakistan, began a 53-year ministry in Asia. In 1967, she returned to her baptismal name becoming Sister Joann Havelka. From the moment Sister Joann arrived in the country, she loved the people and the language, describing it as "soft, poetic, and even musical," but challenging to learn. Sister Joann, calling herself a "notorious talker," credited her desire to express herself, and to hear others' thoughts, for her determination to be fluent in Bengali.
Sister was involved in a variety of ministries throughout her 37 years in Bangladesh, mainly in education. She was an English and history teacher at Holy Cross School and Holy Cross College, Dhaka, Bangladesh, for more than 20 years. She was also vice principal and acting principal intermittently from 1966 to 1972. She earned her master's degree in history from the University of Dacca, Dacca, East Pakistan, in 1965. The university was renamed the University of Dhaka following the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971. Sister Joann also taught at Narayanganj Preparatory School, Narayanganj, Bangladesh, for three years and was involved with several community development projects. She worked with two women's jute handicraft and sewing cooperatives in Narayanganj and offered classes in health, hygiene, family planning, and adult literacy. In 1981, she supervised the establishment of the Lokhipur Mission School in Kulaura, Moulvibazar District in northeastern Bangladesh, moving to Kulaura once construction of the convent and school was completed in 1984. For two years, Sister Joann was responsible for catechetics, parish liturgy, and youth ministry. She also managed a local hostel built by the Oblate Fathers of Mary Immaculate. She returned to Dhaka in 1986 to be the headmistress and teacher at Holy Cross Girls High School for 11 years, also serving a term in the Congregation as a councilor for the Area of Asia.
After almost four decades, Sister Joann left Bangladesh for India in 1998 when the Holy Cross sisters in Bangladesh extended their mission to Northeast India. Sister first quickly volunteered her service at Holy Cross House, Bangalore (now Bengaluru), capital of Karnataka, in southern India, soon moving to Holy Cross Villa, Shillong, the capital of Meghalaya in northeastern India. Across 14 years, Sister Joann was the convent caretaker and guide for younger Holy Cross sisters in formation, a member of the Area of Asia leadership team, and member of the board of trustees and treasurer of the Society for the Welfare of the Disabled. She was also the aspirant directress from 2001, serving as a model to young women discerning a religious vocation. Sister Joann was fearless and practical. She could dispose quickly of a snake in the house; motorbike a great distance to oversee the construction of a new convent; or take command of a bus on a winding mountain road when she sensed the driver was impaired.
For health reasons, Sister Joann left Asia in 2012 to transition to Saint Mary's, Notre Dame. For several years she interacted with small support groups of laity for whom she was a warm and calming presence. As other health issues developed, for safety's sake she relied on others to get her to church for the community Mass, greeting the sisters with a smile. It had been a long time since she had sat confidently in control of a motorbike in service to the mission of Jesus Christ. Though the former missionary had left Asia, Sister Joann lived her life stateside one day at a time, enjoying every moment she could with her religious community, friends and family. In her last days, novices from the International Novitiate on campus at Saint Mary's visited Sister and sang and played Hindustani music to the beat of the tabla (drum) in her room. Sister Margaret Ann Shield, CSC, said "Joann was expert at the tabla. She had a wonderful beat and felt the mood and rhythm of the music."
Sister Joann Havelka died in the last hour of May 13, 2025, in Saint Mary's Convent, at 92 years old, having lived in religious community for more than 72 years. She died in the first week of the new pontificate of Pope Leo XIV, whose first message and blessing to the city and the world was "to work as men and women who are faithful to Jesus Christ, without fear, to proclaim the Gospel, to be missionaries." Such was the life of this Sister of the Holy Cross. She now sings to God a new song and makes sweet music, alive in God's faithful love (Psalm 33: 3, 18).
Visitation begins at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, May 22, 2025, in the Church of Our Lady of Loretto, followed by the Mass of the Resurrection. Please see the Sisters of the Holy Cross website for details. Kaniewski Funeral Homes is assisting with the arrangements.
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