Sister Noreen Joyce

A Mass of Christian Burial for Sister of Notre Dame de Namur Noreen Joyce was celebrated
Dec. 27 at the Mount Notre Dame Health Center. Sister Noreen, 83, died Dec. 20. A native of Chicago, she was a Sister of Notre Dame de Namur for 66 years.
In the archdiocese, Sister Noreen taught at St. Helen and St. James schools in Dayton, and in the Montessori Program at the Summit County Day School in Cincinnati. In her later years, she served part time as a receptionist for the Province Offices and as a sisterly presence to the sisters in the health center.
Interment was in the convent cemetery.

Sister Rita Schirtzinger

A Mass of Christian Burial for Sister of Notre Dame de Namur Sister Rita Schirtzinger was celebrated Jan. 4 at Mount Notre Dame Health Center. Sister Rita, 88, died Dec. 27. A native of Dayton, she was a Sister of Notre Dame de Namur for 70 years.
In the archdiocese, Sister Rita taught at St. Stephen School, Hamilton; Holy Angels, Dayton; St. Francis de Sales, Lebanon; St. James, Wyoming; Sts. Peter and Paul, Reading; and Immaculate Conception and Holy Family, Dayton. She also served as a tutor and bookkeeper for the Alliance for Work-Based Education Program, Dayton, and as a volunteer tutor for GED students, St. Mary Center, Dayton.
Sister Rita is survived by her sister, Ida. Interment was in the convent cemetery.

Sister Nancy Gnau

A Mass of Christian Burial for Sister of Notre Dame de Namur Nancy Gnau was celebrated Jan. 13 at Mount Notre Dame Health Center. Sister Nancy, 86, died Jan. 8. A native of Dayton, she was a Sister of Notre Dame de Namur for 68 years.
Her educational ministry included teaching and serving as assistant principal and principal at Julienne High School in Dayton. She collaborated on the merger between Julienne and Chaminade high schools, and went on to become the first executive director of the new Chaminade Julienne High School in 1973. She later served as a teacher and principal in Chicago.
Sister Nancy is survived by her sisters, Norma Schweller and Mary Richard. Interment was in the convent cemetery.

Sister Mary Ellen Andrisin

A Mass of Christian Burial for Precious Blood Sister Mary Ellen Andrisin was celebrated Jan. 30 at the Salem Heights chapel. Sister Mary Ellen, 80, died Jan. 10. A native of Cleveland, Sister Mary Ellen had been a Sister of the Precious Blood for 63 years.
Mary Ellen’s active ministry from 1956 to 1976 was mainly science education, being a teacher of middle school, junior high and high school students. She taught in Saint Joseph, Mo.; in Wapakoneta, Cincinnati, and Celina, Ohio; in Fort Wayne, Ind.; and in Strasburg and Linton, N.D. She later served ministered in pastoral care at the Maria-Joseph Center, Dayton. As director of resident Life she ministered for nine years to her sisters at their retirement center. In addition, she served at the Maria Stein Center, coordinating events and hospitality.
Sister Mary Ellen is survived by her brother, John, and her sisters, Michele Wittig and Danielle Hoffman.

Sister Joan Patrice Flynn

A Mass of Christian Burial for Sister of Charity of Cincinnati Joan Patrice Flynn was celebrated
Jan. 24 in the motherhouse chapel. Sister Joan Patrice, 84, died Jan. 14. A native of Cincinnati, Sister Joan Patrice was a Sister of Charity of Cincinnati for 66 years.
In the archdiocese, Sister Joan Patrice served at St. William, Cincinnati; St. John the Baptist, Harrison; St. Joseph Springfield; and Corpus Christi, Dayton. She also served at St. Raphael, Springfield, and Catholic Central High School as a theology teacher, administrative assistant and dean of discipline. After teaching for many years in Massachusetts, she returned to Cincinnati, to teach at Seton High School and again at St. William.
Sister Joan Patrice is survived by her sister, Patricia Holscher, and brother, Brian. Interment was in the Sisters of Charity cemetery.

Father Valens Waldschmidt

A Mass of Christian Burial for Franciscan Father Father Valens Waldschmidt was celebrated Feb. 1 at St. Paul’s Archibishop Leibold Home. Father Waldschmidt died Jan. 28. The senior member of the Province of St. John the Baptist, he would have been 97 years old March 7.
A native of Metamora, Ill., Father Waldschmidt attended St. Francis Seminary High School in Cincinnati; Duns Scotus College in Southfield, Mich.; and Holy Family Theologate in Oldenburg, Ind., where he was ordained a priest in 1947. Father Valens served in parish work, preached parish missions and was a teacher and retreat master, but he is best remembered for 26 years of ministry to the mentally ill at the Pauline Warfield Lewis Center (Longview) in Cincinnati. After retiring in 1998, he served as chaplain emeritus and had lived in retirement at St. Paul’s Archbishop Leibold Home since 2004.
He is survived by a sister, Alma DeJohn. Interment was in St. Mary Cemetery, St. Bernard.

Sister Rosina Panning

A Mass of Christian Burial for Sister of Charity of Cincinnati Rosina Panning was celebrated Feb. 10 at the motherhouse chapel. Sister Rosina, 93, died Feb. 5. A Cincinnati native, she was a Sister of Charity of Cincinnati for 72 years.
In the archdiocese, Sister Rosina served at Corpus Christi, Dayton; St. Mary, Cincinnati; St. Bernadette, Amelia; and Gressle School, Norwood. Sister Rosina also taught in Michigan and Colorado. She went on to spend 20 years serving the community’s Insurance Office.
Interment was in the Sisters of Charity cemetery.