Sister Pauline Sticka, Maryknoll Sister for 76 Years Dies

Posted on December 12, 2018

Sister Pauline M. Sticka died on December 7th, 2018 at the Maryknoll Sisters Center in Maryknoll, New York.  She was 94 years old and had been a Maryknoll Sister for 76 years.

Pauline was born on November 9th, 1924 in Dickenson, North Dakota to Odelia (Frank) Sticka and Raphael Sticka.  She had four brothers and five sisters.

In 1942, Pauline graduated from Good Counsel Academy in Mankato, Minnesota.   She entered the Maryknoll Sisters Novitiate in Ossining, NY from St. Mary’s, in New England (Diocese of Bismark, North Dakota) on September 2nd, 1942.  At her Reception into the Congregation she received the religious name Sister M. Paul Therese.  She made her First Profession of Vows at the Maryknoll Sisters Center on March 7th, 1945 and her Final Profession of Vows on March 7th, 1948, in China.

Sister Pauline remained at the Maryknoll Sisters Center after making her First Profession of Vows and worked at the Seminary kitchen. In 1947, she received her first overseas assignment to Kaying, China to do catechetical work. In December, 1950 she was placed under house arrest by the Communist Regime until 1951, when she was expelled from China and returned to the US. She served for the next several years in the Development Department at the Maryknoll Sisters Center and then did pastoral ministry in Chinatown, in Chicago, IL.

In 1955, Sister Pauline was assigned to Changhua, Taiwan where she did language study for two years and was then assigned to Puli, Taiwan where she did parish ministry until 1967. In 1970, she returned to the Maryknoll Sisters Center to study at Mary Rogers College and earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Community Service in 1973. Sister Pauline then returned to Hsinchu and then Chiayi, Taiwan where she spent the next twenty years doing religious education, family seminars, pastoral work, building Basic Christian Communities, facilitating Marriage Encounter Activities, and began a new neighborhood presence ministry to live among the people and get to know who they were.

In 1994 she returned to the Maryknoll Sisters Center to work as Office Assistant to the Main House Council until 1997. That same year she returned to Taiwan where she again served the people in pastoral care, home visits and community ministry, first in Kaohsiung and later in Taichung until 2006. From 2006-2007, she staffed the Regional House and did neighborhood ministry. In 2008, Sister Pauline returned to the U.S. and was assigned to the Sisters house in Monrovia, CA.  On December 1st, 2014 she retired at the Maryknoll Sisters Center in Maryknoll, NY.

A Wake and Vespers service will be held in the Annunciation Chapel of the Maryknoll Sisters Center at Maryknoll, NY on Thursday, December 13, 2018 at 4:15 P.M. 

A Mass of the Resurrection will be celebrated on Friday, December 14, 2018 at 11:00 A.M. also in Annunciation Chapel. Interment will follow in the Maryknoll Sisters Cemetery.

Sister Grace Mary Kuji, Maryknoll Sister for 67 Years Dies

Posted on December 7, 2018

Maryknoll, NY-Sister Grace Mary Kuji, M.M. died on December 4 th , 2018 at the Maryknoll Sisters Center in Maryknoll, NY. She was 91 years old and had been a Maryknoll Sister for 67 years.

Grace Mary was born in Tsingtao (today known as Quingdao), China on May 5 th , 1927 to Misao (Ishigami) Kuji and Kanichi Kuji. Though she was born in China, she was a Japanese national. She had five brothers (Hiroshi, Manabu Fujita, Takashi, and Kanji two of whom are deceased (Takashi and Kanji) and one sister, Mrs. Shigeko Onosuka.

From 1941-1944, Grace Mary attended Chinto Women’s High School in China. She then earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Social Science from the Japan’s Women’s College in Tokyo, Japan in 1950.

On August 29 th , 1951 Grace Mary entered the Maryknoll Sisters Novitiate at the Maryknoll Sisters Center in Maryknoll, NY from Takano Parish (Diocese of Kyoto). At her Reception into the Congregation she received the religious name Sister Gratia Marie. She made her First Profession of Vows on March 7 th , 1954 at the Maryknoll Sisters Center in Maryknoll, NY and her Final Profession of Vows on March 7 th , 1960 in Japan.

In 1954, Sister Grace Mary was assigned to Kyoto, Japan where she was in charge of a hostel and taught catechism classes for two years. During the next eight years, she worked in parishes run by the Maryknoll Fathers in Kyoto and Shiga Prefectures. In 1962, Sister Grace Mary and five other Maryknoll Sisters founded the Maryknoll Girls School in Yokkaichi, Japan; where she remained for thirty years serving in various roles: teaching Christian Ethics in the High School, Advisor to Alumni/Maryknoll Student Service Club, and supervising practice teachers from 1982 – 1992.

In 1992, Sister Grace Mary returned to the Maryknoll Sisters Center and served as Sacristan in the main chapel for two years. In 1994, she returned to Kichijoji, Tokyo to join a volunteer group to help foreign prisoner detainees. She then worked in two homeless shelters and did parish catechetical work, teaching religion and leading Bible study groups for a few years.

In 2001, Sister Grace Mary returned to the Maryknoll Sisters Center to serve as a member of the Pastoral Care Team, helping many of the Sisters in the home care unit. She also served in the chapel, making beautiful flower arrangements until her retirement in 2011.

Sr. Grace Mary generously donated her body to science.

A Vespers service will be held for Sister Grace Mary on Tuesday, December 11, 2018 at 4:15 p.m. in the Chapel of the Annunciation at the Maryknoll Sisters Center, Maryknoll, NY.A Memorial Mass will follow, also at the Maryknoll Sisters Center.

A special memorial service will take place in Japan on December 22, 2018.

Sister Grace Mary Kuji M.M.-Memorial Video.720p from Maryknoll Sisters on Vimeo.

Sister Irene Solzbacher, Maryknoll Sister for 65 Years Dies

Posted on December 4, 2018

Sister Irene E. Solzbacher, medical doctor, and psychiatrist, died on November 29th, 2018 at the Maryknoll Sisters Center in Maryknoll, NY.  She was 84 years old and had been a Maryknoll Sister for 65 years.

Irene was born on June 21st, 1934 in Luxemberg City, Luxemberg to Regina (Reiff) Solzbacher and William A. Solzbacher. She had three sisters, Josephine, Regina and Eve all of whom are still living.

In 1952, Irene graduated from Convent of the Sacred Heart High School in Greenwich, CT and then attended Manhattanville College in Purchase, NY from 1952 – 1953. She entered the Maryknoll Sisters Novitiate in Maryknoll, NY on September 2nd, 1953 from St. Barnabas Parish in Yonkers, NY.  Irene made her First Profession of Vows on March 7th, 1956 at the Maryknoll Sisters Center in Maryknoll, NY and her Final Profession of Vows in Honolulu, HI on March 7th, 1962.

From 1958-1961, Sister Irene studied at Maryknoll Teachers College where she earned a Bachelor of Education Degree.  She then received her first mission assignment to Hawaii, there she earned a Master’s of Education Degree in Physical Science at the University of Hawaii in 1965 and taught Math, Science and Religion at the Maryknoll High School in Honolulu, HI until 1970. Sister Irene decided she wanted to begin her studies in the medical field, from 1970-1971 she was a medical student at Kuhio Park Terrace Project, in Honolulu and was also a part-time research assistant and taught catechetics.  She then began studying at the University of Hawaii Medical School and earned a Doctor of Medicine Degree in 1975.

From 1975-1978, Sister Irene served in a Psychiatric Residency at the University of Hawaii.  She was then assigned to Waianae Mental Health Clinic to work as a Psychiatrist and also served as Director/Director of Social Services at Kahumana Counseling Center in Maili, Oahu from 1979-2000. Sister Irene then returned to the Maryknoll Sisters Center in Maryknoll, NY and served as a volunteer/medical companion in the Out Patient Clinic from 2001 until 2014 when she retired.

Sister Irene has generously donated her body to science.

A Vespers Service will be held on Wednesday, December 5, 2018 at 4:15 P.M. in the Chapel of the Annunciation at the Maryknoll Sisters Center, Maryknoll, NY.

A Memorial Mass will be celebrated on Thursday, December 6, 2018 at 4:00 P.M., also in the Chapel of the Annunciation.