Sister Anne Lawrence Buchmiller's Services
Visitation: 4:00 p.m. to 5:15 p.m., Mon., Oct. 27, Aquinas Center, Sacred Heart Convent, 1237 W. Monroe St., Springfield, IL 62704.
Funeral Mass: 6:30 p.m., Mon., Oct. 27, at Sacred Heart Convent Chapel, Dominican Father Robert Kelly, presiding. Wake and Mass livestreamed at springfieldop.org/livestream/
Burial: She will be laid to rest at Roselawn Memorial Park, 10:00 a.m. Tues. Oct. 28. Those services will livestream on Facebook @springfieldop.
Springfield Dominican Sister Anne Lawrence Buchmiller, OP, died October 21, 2025, in the 65th year of her religious profession, at St. John’s Hospital, Springfield, Ill.
She was born in 1940 in Greenville, Ill., to Erwin and Stella (Schnyder) Buchmiller and baptized Constance June at St. Lawrence Church in Greenville. She joined the Dominican Sisters of Springfield in 1959 and made her first profession of vows in 1960, taking the religious name Sister Anne de Montfort. In 1984 she took the name Sister Anne Lawrence.
The first 18 of Sister Anne Lawrence’s 65 years of religious profession were given to educating elementary school children in central and northern Illinois. She began her teaching ministry in a first-grade classroom at St. Bernadette School, Evergreen Park (1960-1961); taught grades 1-2, and music at Sacred Heart, Granite City (1961-1962); then returned to St. Bernadette School and first grade (1962-1966). She then taught kindergarten at Christ the King, Springfield (1966-1968); grades 4-5 and music at St. Mary, Paris (1968-1969), and grade 7 and music at St. Francis Cabrini, Springfield (1969-1970). She taught middle grades and music at St. Peter, Aurora (1970-1971) before becoming principal at Little Flower, Springfield (1971-1977). In 1977 she returned to Sacred Heart in Granite City and for that one school year did double duty as principal and 8th grade music teacher.
In 1978, Sister Anne Lawrence began secondary school ministry. For 15 years she taught civics and U.S., World, and Church history at Marian Catholic High School, Chicago Heights. Then for 26 years she taught history, tutored math and history, and assisted in the finance office at Sacred Heart-Griffin in Springfield. In 1998 she was prayer sponsor for her sister Marylin McDevitt during her formation as a Springfield Dominican Associate.
Sister Anne Lawrence’s quiet, patient demeanor made her approachable for students, especially those who struggled. One former student sent her a message in 2020 to mark the occasion of her 60th profession anniversary. “Even though I was raised in a Catholic household, I made my first communion freshman year,” he wrote. “You gave me a gift of a cross on a chain. It was the only acknowledgment from anyone that I knew. That act of kindness showed me that…one kind act could make a change in another’s perspective. You may not remember your act of kindness to me. It is something that I will never forget.”
In 2010 Sister Anne Lawrence moved from St. Rose Convent, the residence for the SHG faculty and staff, across the parking lot to the motherhouse. From there she continued to tutor at the high school while assisting with many tasks in her new community. She was of great help to the finance office, where, for several years, she assisted with analysis of the investment portfolio.
In 2019, when she ceased her classroom ministry, Sister Anne Lawrence took up a new role of service as assistant in the convent supply room, where, several days a week, with her usual graciousness, she looked after the material needs of her sisters in community, assuring that they had the toiletries and personal items they needed.
Sisters and coworkers at Sacred Heart Convent say they will miss Sister Anne’s daily perambulations around the motherhouse, her gentle greetings, and thoughtful words of support and promise of prayer.
Sister Ann Lawrence was preceded in death by her parents and her brother Gregory. She is survived by her sisters Marylin McDevitt (Jerry), Highland, Ill., Karen Rossi, Decatur, Ill., and several loving nieces, nephews, and great nieces and nephews.
Visitation: 4:00 p.m. to 5:15 p.m., Mon., Oct. 27, Aquinas Center, Sacred Heart Convent, 1237 W. Monroe St., Springfield, IL 62704.
Funeral Mass: 6:30 p.m., Mon., Oct. 27, at Sacred Heart Convent Chapel, Dominican Father Robert Kelly, presiding. Wake and Mass livestreamed at springfieldop.org/livestream/
She will be laid to rest at Roselawn Memorial Park, 10:00 a.m. Tues. Oct. 28. Those services will livestream on Facebook @springfieldop.
Memorials to honor the memory of Sister Anne Lawrence may be made to the Dominican Sisters Retirement Fund, 1237 W. Monroe St., Springfield, IL, 62704.
The Dominican Sisters and family of Sister Anne Lawrence are served by Butler Funeral Home, 900 S. 6th St., Springfield. Please leave your condolences in the comments below or visit dignitymemorial.com/funeral-homes/butler.
