Sister Joan LaVerne RUTZ OSF

RUTZ Sister Joan LaVerne OSF 1931-2012 Sylvania Franciscan Sister Joan LaVerne Rutz died on May 29, 2012, at the Ebeid Hospice Center in Sylvania, Ohio. The daughter of Michael and Martina Rutz, she was born on April 19, 1931, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She came to the Sylvania Franciscans on August 21, 1945. She professed her first vows as a Sister of St. Francis on August 18, 1950, and her final vows on August 13, 1953. Sister Joan taught at elementary schools in Cincinnati, Ohio; Detroit, Michigan, and St. Paul, Minnesota. She taught high school classes in Hamtramck, Michigan. She was also the organist at the parishes at which she served. Sister Joan taught French at St. Clare Academy and Lourdes Junior College and served as the resident director of Assisi Residence Hall and director of Assisi Retreat Center on the campus. She was an administrative secretary at Lourdes Junior College and was pastoral minister at St. Helena Parish in Minneapolis, Minnesota where she served for 21 years before retiring to Rosary Care Center in August, 2011. Sister Joan was well prepared for the ministry of teaching. She had a B.A. degree from Our Lady of Cincinnati College and a M.E. from Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio. She was fluent in French and worked with her friend, Sister Bernarda Pastwa, OSF, assisting her in translating and typing some important manuscripts that were historically related to the Louisiana Purchase. Sister Joan will be missed by her Sisters in Community as well as by her family and many friends from St. Helena's Parish. There will be a Welcoming for Sister Joan in Our Lady Queen of Peace Chapel at the Motherhouse of the Sisters of St. Francis in Sylvania from 6-8 p.m., Friday, June 1, 2012. Her funeral liturgy will be at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, June 2, 2012. Interment will be in Porta Coeli Cemetery on the Sylvania Franciscan Motherhouse grounds. Memorial contributions may be made to the Sisters of St. Francis, Sylvania, Ohio. Arrangements by Thomas I. Wisniewski Funeral Home, Toledo, Ohio.