Memorial services for Sister Miriam (Miriam Victor) Jansen, SSND, were held on July 23 at Sancta Maria in Ripa in St. Louis. Sister Miriam passed away peacefully in the early morning of June 25 at Saint Louis University Hospital. She was 86.
Twin girls were born in St. Ann’s Hospital in St. Louis on May 9, 1939. They were baptized on June 1, 1939, in the Immaculate Conception chapel at the hospital and named Irene and Alice after the nurses who cared for them. The sisters spent the first nine months of their lives at the Catholic Children’s Home in Alton, Illinois. They were adopted by Victor and Rose Mary Jansen.
Irene and Alice enjoyed a very happy childhood and did everything together. They attended St. Mary’s Grade School, staffed by the School Sisters of Notre Dame (SSND), and Marquette High School.
Irene loved the sisters, and even as a young student in grade school, felt drawn to join them. The girls’ father died when they were juniors in high school. Following graduation, Irene asked her mother to enter the School Sisters of Notre Dame. Her mother initially found this very difficult to accept but supported her, and encouraged by her twin, Alice, she applied.
Irene entered the candidature at Sancta Maria in Ripa on Aug. 29, 1957. She was received into the novitiate on July 29, 1958, and given the name Miriam Victor in memory of her father. Her mother passed away four months later in November. She was professed on July 30, 1959. She professed final vows on July 30, 1965.
Sister Miriam began her lengthy education career by teaching primary children at Holy Rosary School in Houma, Louisiana, and Sacred Heart School in Rich Fountain, Missouri. She taught intermediate grades at St. Martin in Jefferson City, Missouri; St. Augustine in Breese, Illinois; and Immaculate Conception in West Alton.
In 1972, she was appointed superintendent of schools in the Jefferson City Diocese – the first woman appointed to this position. In 1979, she was elected provincial leader of the former St. Louis Province and served for two terms. During that time the General Council asked her to co-lead a two-year international seminar focused on the congregation’s ministry directed toward education. After a year of study at Harvard University, she was a consultant for Global Education Associates in New York. She then became the curriculum coordinator for the newly established Sister Thea Bowman Catholic School in East St. Louis, Illinois.
In 1992, she became director of international programs at the College of Notre Dame of Maryland (now University) in Baltimore. She served in this position for 19 years. After leaving higher education, she continued to do consulting work, within and beyond SSND. She participated in developing new models for ministry sponsorship for SSND provinces. She moved back to St. Louis in August 2024.
Sister Miriam received a bachelor’s degree in speech from the former Notre Dame College in St. Louis in 1962; a master’s degree in education from Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, in 1974; and a master’s degree focusing on global/international education from Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1989.
Sister Miriam was preceded in death by her parents, Rose Mary and Victor Jansen. She is survived by her twin, Alice (Bob) Reinecke, nieces, nephews and their families, School Sisters of Notre Dame and SSND Associates.
Cremains were buried in the Sancta Maria in Ripa cemetery in the center circle reserved for the former St. Louis provincial leaders.
