A funeral Mass for Sister Joanne Fitzpatrick, RSCJ, was to be celebrated Saturday, Feb. 25, in Atherton, Calif. Sister Joanne died Feb. 16 at the Oakwood community for retired religious sisters. She was 84 and was in the Society of the Sacred Heart for 64 years.
Born in St. Joseph, Mo., on April 21, 1932, Sister Joanne entered the community in 1953, took first vows in 1955 and made her final profession on Feb. 4, 1961, in Rome. She earned a bachelor’s in English from Duchesne College, in Omaha, Neb., in 1961, a master’s in counselor education from Northwestern in 1970 and a master’s in religious studies from St. Louis University in 1985.
Sister Joanne taught in Sacred Heart Schools, both elementary and high school, in Omaha, Neb., Illinois and St. Joseph. She also taught locally at Nerinx Hall in Webster Groves. She later served as an academic counselor for Duchesne Academy in Houston and also in Omaha. She retried from active ministry in 2012 and moved to the Oakwood community.
She is survived by two sisters, Rosemary Haug, of La Crosse, Wis., and Peggy Rigaud of Montpellier, France.
