Sr. Jeanne Marie Suerth, SNDdeN
July 11, 1934 – July 24, 2023
Sr. Jeanne Marie Suerth (Sr. Jeanne Patricia) was born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1934, the youngest of three children, and entered the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1953. She taught in elementary schools in Ohio (Cincinnati, Dayton, Hamilton) and in Illinois (Chicago, Rockford), as well as in programs for adults (Cincinnati Works, a job training program for the economically disadvantaged; and Notre Dame Education Center, for adults completing their GED.) Known for her practical, hands-on abilities, she oversaw the maintenance services for some of her community´s largest institutions, including the Province Center and Infirmary in Reading, Ohio. In 1988, Jeanne Marie started a new ministry: “Jeanne on the Scene,” a home maintenance service for seniors that provided a variety of services such as rewiring a lamp, changing a lightbulb, painting a wall, reupholstering a chair . . . In this capacity, she was a member of Handy Home Helpers, a network of individuals providing similar services, and was honored with that association´s Member of the Year award in 1995. In 2008 she moved to the Mount Notre Dame Healthcare Center, and continued her very active and generous life of service: driving, organizing, and maintaining files, planning parties . . . Her death on July 24, 2023, just 5 weeks after celebrating her 70th jubilee of religious life, caught all of us by surprise. As we celebrate Jeanne Marie´s good and generous life, we ask your prayers for all of us who mourn her loss, including her religious sisters, her dear family, and her friends.