Sister Ann Walters, CSA, baptized Mary Loraine Walters, died peacefully
on November 30, 2020, at St. Francis Home, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin.
Mary
Loraine was born in Catharine, Kansas, on December 4, 1928, to Anthony
Walters and Lidwina Polifka Walters. She was the third oldest in her
family of eleven, five girls and six boys. Living through the Kansas
Dust Storms with her family taught Mary the importance of working
together and gathering for prayer to sustain one other. She believed that these family experiences nurtured her vocation and prepared her for life in religious community.
Feeling
a deep sense of belonging to God from an early age, Sister Ann entered
St. Agnes Convent in 1943 and made her first profession of vows in the
Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes on August 15, 1948.
Throughout
her life, Sister Ann loved teaching, learning, and offering one-on-one
guidance and spiritual support to people of all ages. She received a BS
in Education from Marian College, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. She taught
for 19 years in grade schools and high schools in Wisconsin,
Kansas, Illinois and Indiana. In 1967, she earned her MALS in Library
Science from Rosary College, River Forest, Illinois. Sister Ann then
enjoyed serving as a librarian for nine years in grade schools in
Illinois and Indiana and at Beloit Catholic High School, Beloit,
Wisconsin.
In 1967, desiring a more contemplative lifestyle,
Sister Ann worked at the Renewal Center of the University of
Steubenville, Steubenville, Ohio, serving as Director of Retreats and
offering counseling part-time. This experience led her to pursue a
Certificate of Theological Studies and Spirituality from the Jesuit
School of Theology, Berkeley, California, and an MS in Pastoral
Counseling from Loyola of Maryland, Baltimore, after which she did
retreat ministry at Franciscan Spirituality Center, La Crosse,
Wisconsin. Sister Ann then actively engaged in ministries of counseling,
spiritual direction, and pastoral care in Wisconsin and Kansas for 39
years. She served in Campus Ministry at Regis University in Denver,
Colorado, and at the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh.
Her
summer ministries included directing retreats in Wisconsin at the Jesuit
Retreat House, Oshkosh, St. Anthony Retreat House, Marathon, and St.
Joseph Retreat House, Baileys Harbor.
In 2004, Sister Ann
returned to Fond du Lac, living for a time at the CSA motherhouse, and
with her sisters at Nazareth Court and Center and St. Francis Home.
During this time, she volunteered in ministries of hospitality and
wellness in the emergency room at St. Agnes Hospital, the Treffert
Center, and St. Francis Home until frail health no longer allowed her to
engage in these activities.
Sister Ann was preceded in death by
her parents Anthony and Lidwina Walters, her brothers Herbert, Delbert,
Marvin, Daniel and Patrick and her sisters Dolores Giebler and Sister
Rose Walters, CSA.
She is survived by her brother Thomas and her
sisters Catherine Perino and Nettie Kuhn-Verdi, her nieces and nephews,
and the Sisters of St. Agnes, with whom she lived, prayed and
ministered.
Burial took place on December 2, 2020, at St. Joseph
Springs Cemetery, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. Due to COVID-19 restrictions,
a Memorial Mass for Sister Ann will be celebrated on a future date at
the Nazareth Center Chapel with Father Ken Smits, Capuchin, presiding.
Memorials can be directed to the CSA Mission Advancement Office, 320 County Road K, Fond du Lac, WI 54937.
The
Sisters of St. Agnes are grateful to the nurses and staff of Nazareth
Court and Center, St. Francis Home, and Hospice Hope for their care of
Sister Ann in her last years of life.
Zacherl Funeral Home is serving the Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes.