Sister  Mary  Johnmarie  

Sister  Mary  Johnmarie                  ND  4396              PDF Download

Joan Mary HAGAN

Immaculate Conception Province, USA

Date and Place of Birth:              July 23, 1929         Washington, D.C.
Date and Place of Profession:   August 16, 1950     Cleveland, Ohio
Date and Place of Death:            July 19, 2020         Health Care Center, Chardon, Ohio
Date and Place of Burial:            July 23, 2020         Resurrection Cemetery, Chardon, Ohio

“How Can I Keep From Singing…” 

Joan was the second of three children born to John and Margaret (Eckhardt) Hagan. She grew up in the nation’s capital, Washington, D.C. Thanks to her father’s job as a tour guide, Joan came to love the city and made it her own. She often accompanied her father as he took visitors to view and enjoy the national monuments and points of interest. Joan attended the Catholic University Campus School staffed by the Sisters of Notre Dame. It was the friendliness of these sisters, along with their excellent teaching, that drew her to religious life. After graduation, with great courage and determination, she left her beloved family and moved to Cleveland to become a student and aspirant at Notre Dame Academy. In February of her senior year, she entered as a postulant and at investment received the name Sister Mary Johnmarie.

Sister earned a bachelor’s degree in education from St. John College in Cleveland and a master’s degree in administration from Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio. For almost fifty years, she ministered as principal or teacher in elementary schools in Ohio and Virginia. Sister was a well- prepared and respected teacher. With every class she taught, and throughout life, she shared her love of music and song, a gift inherited from her mother. Whether teaching, directing choirs at every level, participating as a choir member, or  playing the organ in church, music was always a vital part of Sister’s life. Her enthusiasm, energy and outgoing manner were appreciated by her coworkers and students.

During her twenty-two years of ministry at various schools in Virginia, Sister Mary Johnmarie enjoyed taking visitors into Washington, knowing just where to drop them off at monuments or museums. She shared stories and points of interest that the ordinary tourist might overlook!

In 1998 Sister moved to Chardon. For the next fifteen years, she used her skills to drive sisters to appointments and for visits to friends and relatives. Navigating unfamiliar roads and destinations was never a problem, but a challenge! Sister had a hearty laugh, was sometimes strong-willed, but always had a heart for others.

Sister Mary Johnmarie also assumed the special role of music minister in chapel or by spreading joy among the sisters. She anticipated calls or letters from her dear family and friends and sent many cards and messages to let others know she was thinking of them. Sister’s Jubilee of Grace, seventy years of religious profession, was observed just a few weeks ago. This celebration of loving fidelity will continue for eternity. May Sister Mary Johnmarie, who set her life to music, now delight in the presence of our good and loving God.