Sister Marianne's Services
Visitation: 4:00 p.m. to 5:15 p.m. on Monday, August 21, 2023, at Sacred Heart Convent Chapel, 1237 W. Monroe St., Springfield, IL 62704. Visitation will begin with a prayer service.
Funeral Mass: 6:30 p.m. on Monday, at Sacred Heart Convent Chapel, Father Joseph Molloy, celebrant.
Wake and Mass will be livestreamed.
Burial: 10:00 a.m., Tuesday, August 22, 2023, Roselawn Memorial Park Cemetery
Livestream Links
Springfield Dominican Sister Marianne Nolan, once known as Sister Anne Patrick, died August 12, 2023, at Sacred Heart Convent. She was born in 1929, in Oak Park, Ill., to Patrick and Anne (Nee McDonough) Nolan. She was baptized Marianne at St. Lucy Church, Chicago. She made her profession of vows in 1949 at Sacred Heart Convent.
During the early years of her religious life Sister Marianne taught primary grades in Northern Illinois including at Cary, Crystal Lake, and Chicago. She was one of the founding teachers at St. Lawrence O’Toole, Matteson, Ill., and then at St. Kevin, East Alton, Ill., where she was principal. In 1970 she completed a masters of religious education at Providence College before returning to Springfield. There, for 13 years, she oversaw the formation of women preparing for vowed religious life. After completing that influential role for the congregation, Sister Marianne entered a new period of ministry, providing religious education and evangelization for children and adults in Arcola, Sauk Village, Sainte Marie, and Decatur. During later years at Holy Family Parish, Decatur, she served as adult education coordinator and provided a ministry of care for those who were ill or confined to their homes in Decatur and Mt. Zion. She moved to Sacred Heart Convent in 2010, where she delighted in keeping up with the latest in theology and spirituality and staying engaged with community events.
Sister Marianne was preceded in death by her infant brother, John, her parents, and her brother Joseph. She is survived by her brother Robert (Martha), of Madison, Wisc., her beloved nieces, nephews, and cousins, their families, and her Dominican Sisters.
Visitors are welcome; Visitation: 4:00 p.m. to 5:15 p.m. on Monday, August 21, 2023, at Sacred Heart Convent Chapel, 1237 W. Monroe St., Springfield, IL 62704. Visitation will begin with a prayer service.
Funeral Mass: 6:30 p.m. on Monday, at Sacred Heart Convent Chapel, Father Joseph Molloy, celebrant.
Wake and Mass will be livestreamed here.
Burial 10:00 a.m. Tuesday, August 22, Roselawn Memorial Park Cemetery. Livestreamed on Facebook at @springfieldop.
Memorials to honor the memory of Sister Marianne may be made to the Dominican Sisters Retirement Fund, 1237 W. Monroe St., Springfield, IL, 62704.
The Dominican Sisters and family of Sister Marianne are served by Butler Funeral Home, 900 S. 6th St., Springfield. Please leave your condolences in the comments below or visit Butler Funeral Homes.
My very dear cousin – who I adored since I was a child, so many fond memories. 1st cousin to my father, 2nd cousin to me. You were the sweetest, coolest, most loving cousin I have ever known. I will miss you dearly. Go be with the Angels Sr. Marianne, and rest in eternal peace. I love you so very much.
Sr. Mariann was my spiritual mother in novitiate. She helped me through the stress of my fathers illness and the grief after his death; she was the one who had to tell me he had died. Her simple Irish humor was funny. If she thought our belts were to tight, she’d say we looked like “hot dogs tied around the middle.” Mariann would tell us of her own challenges, learning to deal with older novices who had lots of life experiences prior to novitiate and the counsel she received from Fr. Pisors and others. Through her, I met Jesus as a real Person for the first time. She introduced me to the living Word of Scripture and prayer. The spiritual foundation she laid 46 years ago remains with me today and has been shared with many others. I will always be grateful to her and to the community for the Dominican vision and charism they shared and in which I was formed. Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord. And let perpetual light shine upon her. May the goodness and graces of her labors go before her. May she rest in the peace of Christ whom she loved.
Our hearts were broken the day Sr. Marianne passed. She will be greatly missed by many! As one of her cousins, we have fond memories of her. She was right there at our wedding to give us a beautiful blessing! She was always there at whatever events we had and in turn we were at almost everything she had. We have great memories of her 50th Jubilee as a Dominican Sister. She had a wonderful long life! Her beautiful spirit will live on within us all. She is by far one of our Guardian Angels now watching from above and keeping us safe. The road has risen to meet her and the wind is at her back. The sun is warm and shining upon her face and we are sure God is holding her in the palm of his hand, until we meet again. Rest in peace our wonderful cousin! We love you!
We had the pleasure of meeting Sr. Marianne close to 25 years ago on the 50th anniversary of her taking her vows. We had been invited by our brother-in-law (and her cousin), Jim O’Connor, to attend her jubilee celebration. While the celebration included some commemorations by others, we heard her speak and we also had a chance to introduce ourselves and to speak to her in person.
This event had a very positive impact on us. Although we had just met her, she made us feel like we had known her all our lives, and she radiated a goodness that was infectious. We loved her!
Many years later, Nancy’s consulting job took her for some months to Springfield, and while there she had the chance, over a couple of lunches, to get to know Sr. Marianne a bit better. Then, the year before Covid hit, a road trip took the two of us through Springfield. We enjoyed having lunch with Sr. Marianne, and afterwards we were treated to a tour of the convent, meeting many of the sisters who were friends of her’s there.
It is hard to believe that someone who we only saw a few times could leave such a strong impression on us, but our encounters with Sr. Marianne are those that we will always remember. Her passing is a loss for those who knew her, but certainly her life was a life well lived!
We are grateful for having had the chance to meet Sr. Marianne, and we would like to express our condolences to her brother, Bob, and his wife, Martha, as well as to her other relatives and friends, and, especially, to her friends at the Dominican Sisters.
Sr. Marianne was my 9th grade CCD teacher. She was always full of joy. She encouraged me at an early age to be open to a priestly vocation. I will forever be indebted to her. May the good Lord let the Perpetual Light shine upon her and give her Eternal Peace and Joy. Fr. Allen Moran, OP
Sr. Anne Patrick taught me at St. Thomas in Crystal Lake. She left memories of kindness, care and acceptance for all, with me and my siblings. I thank the Lord for all she and the Dominican Sisters gave me. I was also taught, as a border, in 1962-64 at Sacred Heart Academy.
God’s Blessings
Dear Springfield Sisters,
I was very eager to honor you by joining you for the liturgical celebration of the sesquicentennial of your foundation on August 18, but when I finally realized that I could not be in Springfield that day, I resolved to join you virtually. I have seen many of the ways you have preached the Gospel virtually through your harnessing of technology, so I was confident you’d provide a way your friends-at-a-distance could be with you on-line.
And there was. However, upon opening your website, I must admit that I was stunned when the first item that attracted my attention was Sister Marianne’s picture and obituary! My dear friend, whom I had known since the days when she was known as Sister Anne Patrick, had slipped into Eternity! Weeks later, I still feel somewhat stunned.
I had tried to arrange a visit just several weeks earlier when I had occasion to drive through Springfield, but the gracious staff member who relayed our phone messages back and forth told me that although she enjoyed the idea of a visit, Sister felt too unwell to receive me that day.
I wanted to post something here, but told myself it would be better to take time to reflect over it before committing anything to a venue as permanent and public as this site. But it has made no difference. I find myself now writing exactly what I would have written at that moment when I first learned of Sister Marianne’s death: here was a woman whose very life preached the word “integrity.” I believe that many of my friends have been saints (your own Sister Ann Catherine among them) and each of those saints has represented a particular virtue or quality uniquely well. I cannot recall anyone who has spoken to me of integrity more clearly and consistently than Sister Marianne has. How I will miss her! My own attempts to live with integrity and to draw others into its practice as well will be my way of remaining faithful to my friendship with her. May she rest in peace. My condolences to the Springfield Sisters and to Sister Marianne’s family and friends.