The funeral Mass for Sister Joan (Mary Anselm) Schnorbus was to have been celebrated June 16 in St. Joseph Chapel in O’Fallon, Mo. Sister Joan died June 9. She was 89.
Sr. SchnorbusBorn on Sept. 22, 1929, Sister Joan entered the Sisters of the Most Precious Bloody in 1949, and professed first vows on Aug. 10, 1951. With both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English from Saint Louis University, she spent much of her life teaching high school English. She later completed a master’s in spirituality at Creighton University.
Sister Joan taught elementary school at Holy Family and St. Clement in St. Louis; St. Henry in Charleston, Mo; and Immaculate Heart of Mary in Las Cruces, N.M. She was a teaching principal at St. Anthony School in High Ridge. She also taught at St. Elizabeth Academy and Bishop DuBourg High School in St. Louis, St. Mary’s Academy in O’Fallon and Valle High School in Ste. Genevieve. She served as the director of religious education for the parishes of St. Brigid in Liberty and St. Thomas in Camp Point, Ill..
In 2007, Sister Joan returned to O’Fallon. She ministered as volunteer, driver and spiritual director. The volunteer activities were legion — sacristan, RCIA and Bible study at Assumption Parish, English as Second Language teacher, Mass text preparation at Mount Carmel, O’Fallon police chaplain and many others.