A funeral Mass for Sister Joyce (Sister Mary Jacinta) Schramm was celebrated July 25 in the St. Joseph Chapel in O’Fallon. Sister Joyce died July 21. The Sister of the Most Precious Blood of O’Fallon was 84 years old.
She was born to Clarence (Dutch) and Elvira Schramm on Nov. 10, 1941, in Wentzville. She joined two older brothers, Donald and Leroy, and an older sister, Carol. They were later joined by two younger brothers, Edward and Thomas.
Joyce attended St. Patrick Grade School and Assumption High School. During those years, she began asking God for some sign of what to do with her life. No sign or spectacular event appeared, but she knew she wanted to be close to God. She entered the convent of the Sisters of the Most Precious Blood in O’Fallon at the beginning of her junior year of high school. Sister Joyce completed her bachelor’s degree in music at Fontbonne College and a master’s degree in music from the University of Missouri-Columbia. Her vast musical skills, especially as pianist, organist and choir director, were shared in schools and parishes.
Her love of music and dancing as well as her quick sense of humor would always be integral parts of Sister Joyce’s life. But it was her missionary spirit and her heart for children that determined her ministry. She taught in several elementary schools in the St. Louis Archdiocese: St. Paul, Fenton; Holy Rosary, Warrenton; St. Joseph, Josephville; St. Lawrence, Bridgeton; Holy Family and St. Stephen Protomartyr, St. Louis. She also served at St. Charles Academy in Stratton, Colorado. Sister Joyce earned certification in Montessori education and taught for 13 years at Linda Vista Montessori School in Chesterfield as well as in Montessori schools in Spokane, Washington, and Brownsville, Texas.
Sister Joyce took her love for poor children and her Montessori skills to Cochabamba, Bolivia, in 1992. She started a Montessori class at Solomon Klein Orphanage. Contact with Montessori volunteer teachers from Mexico, Chile, Puerto Rico and the United States resulted in Montessori education in children’s homes and orphanages throughout Bolivia. Sister Joyce started the Cochabamba Montessori Association with an ongoing focus on service to the poorest of the poor.
Upon returning to the United States in 2002, Sister Joyce was called to Jefferson City, Missouri, where she coordinated Hispanic Ministry for the diocese. After four years, she returned to St. Louis and began working with the English Tutoring Project, helping refugee and immigrant children to succeed in Catholic schools. At first, she drove and taught children grades K-8 from a 29-foot RV, outfitted as a classroom. Sister Joyce also taught English as a second language (ESL) at St. Frances Cabrini Academy and later started an ESL program at Holy Trinity School in St. Ann. Sister Joyce retired from full-time teaching in 2015 but continued to volunteer at schools, tutoring children in ESL.
Sister Joyce is preceded in death by her parents and her brothers, Father Edward and Thomas Schramm. She is survived by her sister, Carol Oschner, and her brothers, Leroy and Msgr. Don Schramm. Sister Joyce will be cremated and her remains will be buried in the family plot at Eternal Peace Cemetery in Wentzville at a later date.
