The eldest member is Sr. Ardis Cloutier.  She ministers as office manager of the Midwest Augustinian Province Vocation Office.  Ask anyone and they will say that Sr. Ardis' greatest gift is her ability to be a generous and genuine friend.  One small proof of this is in her long and enduring correspondence to those she has befriended over the years.

Sr. Ardis claims Turton, South Dakota as her home. Moving to Fergus Falls, Minnesota as an 8th grader, she met some Franciscan Sisters.  These Sisters included Leona Trettel, Jeremia Trutwin and Alicia Pischke. The next year she attended St. Francis High School and later entered the Sisters' community.  Previously, she served as supervisor of the medical labs at St. Francis Hospital in Breckenridge and at St. Gabriel Hospital in Little Falls, MN. She has also served as executive secretary of the Franciscan Sisters and executive director of Stauros, U.S.A. a Passionist Congregation sponsored organization founded to challenge the problem of human suffering.

The next eldest member of the Chicago community is Sr. Sharon Fitzpatrick.  She serves as assistant minister of the Common Franciscan Novitiate in Joliet, IL. This novitiate is a collaboration of several Franciscan Communities.  She is responsible for arranging programming, transportation, and all the things that go into making a building a home for novices in their canonical year.  She will describe herself as a "behind the scenes" worker and will find the most efficient way to accomplish tasks. 

Previously Sr. Sharon co-founded and directed Becker House in Chicago.  Becker House provided safe and supportive transitional housing for women.  She also co-founded and directed a Catholic Worker house in Evansville, Indiana and was on staff at the Hope Community, a personal growth program sponsored by the Franciscan Sisters of Little Falls.

Sr. Sharon is a farm girl from Foley, Minnesota and met Franciscan Sisters who came to Foley to teach Saturday catechism.  She especially remembers Sr. Justina Bieganek who taught her and all her siblings. In her early years as a Sister, Sr. Florence Gendreau mentored Sharon in the artistry of food preparation.  She enjoys camping and being in nature as a way to keep her soul fresh.

For the past 14 years Sr. Carolyn Law has been learning and honing her skills in the healing arts of psychotherapy and energy healing.  Originally, she came to Chicago to study counseling psychology and train in bioenergetic analysis, a body/mind approach to psychotherapy.  Her latest adventure in the healing arts is brain integration technique, an effective approach to correcting learning disabilities.  Previously she taught high school, served in pastoral ministry, and as a missionary in Venezuela and Nicaragua.

Sr. Carolyn, also a farm girl and also from South Dakota, had one aunt and five great aunts who were Milwaukee Franciscans.  She met the Little Falls Franciscan Sisters in a round about way.  When teaching high school, a  Notre Dame Sister recommended that she look at the Little Falls Franciscans.  A weekend visit there put her into contact with Sr. Ade Kroll who was vocation director.  Sr. Shirley Mueller was assistant vocation director.  After a couple years of spiritual searching and such things as tenting retreats she decided to join the Franciscan Sisters.  For fun she is an amateur musician and birder.

(Note: This article first appeared in Our Journey Summer 2009.)

At a glance

Location: Chicago, IL