February 23, 2011

A Mass of Christian Burial for Sister of Charity of Cincinnati Joan Rutterer was celebrated Feb. 18 in the Immaculate Conception Chapel at the congregation’s Delhi Township Motherhouse. Sister Joan, 92, died Feb. 12 at Mother Margaret Hall, the congregation’s nursing facility. She was a Sister of Charity for 68 years. 

A Cincinnati native, Sister Joan earned a bachelor’s degree in English from the College of Mount St. Joseph and a master’s degree in history from the University of Dayton. In the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, she served at St. Dominic and St. Lawrence  schools, along with Seton High School and the former Marian High School. She also taught at schools in Cleveland, Toledo, Detroit and Santa Fe, N.M.

In 1980 Sister Joan joined the staff at St. Joseph Maternity Home High School, where she served as a teacher and principal.  In 1992 she was one of a distinguished list of volunteers honored by the National Society of Fund Raising Executives for her ministry at St. Joseph Home.

Sister Joan is survived by her sister, Lois Bourgraf. Interment was in the Sisters of Charity Cemetery.