Memorials › Sister Mary Monica Jean Welniak
Sister Mary Monica Jean Welniak
1 Jun 1930 – 9 Aug 2017
| Birth | 1 Jun 1930 |
| Death | 9 Aug 2017 |
| Cemetery | School Sisters of Notre Dame Cemetery Elm Grove , Waukesha County , Wisconsin , USA |
| Added by | AnnieSings on 20 Sep 2018 |
| FaG | https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/182237372 |
Bio
Sister Mary Monica Jean Welniak, SSND (née Delores Mae Welniak) First Profession July 28, 1960 Motherhouse Mequon, Wisconsin Delores Mae Welniak was born to John Welniak and Monica (Knebel) Welniak in a farmhouse in Elyria, Nebraska. The farmhouse was owned by Delores's grandparents, Joseph and Josephine Welniak, who had emigrated from Warsaw, Poland. Delores Mae was the oldest of five children. Her sister, Alvina, was born in 1932 in the family farmhouse in Nebraska, as was her brother, Hubert in 1936. She wrote in her autobiography, "We were happy when he came along because we wanted a baby brother. He later bought the farmhouse my parents owned." In 1940, her sister, Gloria, was born and the family moved to the Marshfield, Wisconsin, area. Her youngest sister, Patricia, was born in 1946 when Delores was 16 years old. She enjoyed growing up on the farm and taking care of her siblings, writing, "When you live on a farm, there aren't too many chances that you will get into trouble or do too many exciting things because there are always chores to do." She attended two different one room schools, one in Nebraska and one in Wisconsin, and graduated from Marshfield Senior High School in 1948. After high school, Sister Monica Jean worked in Marshfield for five years. According to her biography, she was looking for a change. She moved to Denver, Colorado, to live with some extended family. Then decided to move again, to Cincinnati, Ohio, for two years. Sister Monica Jean wrote, "It was there that I found what God had in store for me. I worked in an office with a seminarian who had a summer job there, and he mentioned a few words about vocations that really struck home, and that is why I found myself ringing the doorbell of the Motherhouse of the School Sisters of Notre Dame on August 25, 1958, which was my entrance day." She professed First Vows on July 28, 1960. During most of her life as an SSND, Sister Monica Jean served as a homemaker and in food service in grade schools, high schools, convents, independent services and at restaurants in Chicago and Wisconsin. In her autobiography, Sister Monica Jean makes observations remembering her ministry there, like how she would bake 20 loaves of bread at a time for over 400 students at Pacelli High School in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. She never anticipated getting a job in a restaurant, where she cooked for seven years until it closed In her autobiography, Sister Monica shared, "The hardest time that I had was from July 4 to September 24, 1979. That was the year my dad was sick with cancer and I went home to help my mom take care of him. When he died, it was like a piece of my life had fallen out of me. I still, to this day, find it hard that he is not with us." After she retired in 2001, she lived with her mother until her mother passed away in September 2005. In 2011, she moved to Elm Grove. She ended her autobiography joyfully, "I am very happy. We are well taken care of and everyone is very nice." Sister Monica, was well known her for love of the both the Brewers and the Packers, her bobblehead collection and her love for making cookies. She was a loyal and devoted fan, known for collecting and displaying memorabilia of her teams. Sister Monica Jean Welniak, died August 9, 2017, at age 87. She was preceded in death by her sister, Alvina Hansen, and her brother Hubert Welniak and she is survived and remembered by her sisters, Gloria Welniak and Patricia Wester. (School Sisters of Notre Dame, Central Pacific Province) Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord!
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