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Love and Presence
Summer/Fall 2025
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A newsletter for and by Associates of the School Sisters of St. Francis
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Resolutions
By Associate Kathleen Kovatovic, Editor
We often make resolutions at the beginning of each year. I think I’m typical where this is concerned. Most often, I resolve to start different healthy habits. This might mean resolving to exercise more, cut down on sugar, give up alcohol, or get the right amount of sleep. If I am lucky, I keep some of these resolutions and I see tangible results.
I like to think of the Easter season as another time to make resolutions. In that case, it is my spiritual health that I want to improve. These resolutions are harder for me to make because, being spiritual, the results are less tangible.
I remember a homily my parish priest gave on the Feast of the Ascension. He suggested that the apostles had their fears when Christ talked about his return to the Father. Jesus assured them that the Holy Spirit would come and give them the power they required.
Bottom line, I think Jesus is telling us not to worry about how things will turn out. If we live each moment in the care of the Holy Spirit, we can know that things have already been worked out. Trust, confidence, joy and surrender should be the template, not control, power and worry.
I will continue to make my resolutions and keep trying to accomplish my goals on the Holy Spirit’s timeline. In the words of my parish priest, “Live a moment at a time, knowing that in Jesus, the valley of our tears becomes the mountain of glory.”
In this edition, we highlight associates Faye Schwelitz and Kathleen Laetsch, through whom, I’m sure we can all agree, the Holy Spirit is working today!
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Faye Schwelitz
Associate since 1981
My journey with the School Sisters of St. Francis has been a long one. I have been an Associate for nearly 45 years and before that, a member of the School Sisters of St. Francis community for 25 years. A deep inner prompting – not fully understood, but continual – eventually led me elsewhere.
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Kathleen Laetsch
Associate since 2014
In retirement, I found I needed something more in my life. My children were grown, and my husband had died of lung cancer. I love doing crafts, reading, babysitting, being with family, volunteering, and working at my church, but it just wasn’t enough.
| | Holly Spring Mission Trip | | From Sunday, March 23, to Saturday, March 29, a group of sisters, associates, friends and family spent time in Holly Springs, Mississippi, in community and service, meeting the needs of the time. | | |
In the Internal Embrace
by Mary Ellen Meyer
Ten years ago, through our writing ministry, we came to know Mr. Grissom on death row in Oklahoma. He was a humble, honest, prayerful man who regretted his past choices. With his ministry degree and his open heart, he was able to help others who reached out to him. He used sacred music, prayer, Bible reading, and his many connections with others outside of prison to sustain himself through his 20 years of a most difficult incarceration.
| | Watch the YouTube video of the Sisters and Associates Drop In where Mary Ellen shared her experience with Mr. Grissom. | |
In Memoriam
We remember and pray for our Lay Associates who went to home to God:
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Gwen Cashmore
Became an Associate 1990
Went Home April 2, 2025
Gwen Cashmore was born in Southall, England; educated at various schools in England; and felt called to the Church Missionary Society (CMS) in 1954. She spent many years working in Uganda in religious education and felt that her decades in Africa changed her life and grounded her faith. At that time, the CMS in Uganda was headed by the Rev. John V Taylor who later became Bishop on Winchester and a significant theologian.
Gwen was forced to leave Uganda during the time that country’s President Idi Amin was expelling Indian residents, whom Gwen was trying to help. Back in England, Gwen worked with the British Council of Churches and served on the staff of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Sub-Unit on Congregational Life and Renewal in the 1980s. She was pivotal in the worship life and hymnody of the Council, especially in preparing for the WCC’s sixth assembly, in Vancouver, Canada. In 2004, she was appointed by the WCC Executive Committee to be part of the 2006 WCC Assembly Worship Committee.
With Sister Joan Puls, Gwen co-authored the book Clearing the Way: En Route to an Ecumenical Spirituality. This work explores themes of Christian unity and spiritual practice across denominational lines. She also contributed to the Dictionary of the Ecumenical Movement, where she discussed the role of spirituality in ecumenism.
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Valerie Kerber
Became an Associate 1974
Went Home May 2, 2025
Valerie Kerber was raised in Kenosha, Wisconsin and at a very early age joined the School Sisters of St. Francis community. For 23 years, she taught in schools and ministered in parishes in Chicago and Waukegan, Illinois, and in St. Paul, Iowa.
During her years as a sister, Valerie’s father would occasionally come to stay at the convent and make little repairs around the place. According to one of the sisters who met him, “He was a very gentle man.”
Valerie said that after those years of community life and ministry, “there comes a time for all of us to re-evaluate our lives and what we can and cannot actually do anymore for others.”
On January 24, 1974, Valerie was received as an associate of the School Sisters of St. Francis along with her husband Walter (the first male associate), in Sarasota, Florida. Sisters Helen Murphy, Teresa Ajdrna, and Arnoldine Monville lived in Sarasota at the time and attended the ceremony, along with Sister Kate Brenner, representing the congregation.
Valerie shared her musical talents at Incarnation Parish, both at the church and in the school. She also played the organ at the Disney World Chapel for many celebrations.
Valerie and Walter were very generous in sharing their home, their time, and taking friends to various sites in Florida. Visitors came to Sarasota from Honduras, Central America, and Costa Rica. Many other guests, including sister musician friends, stayed with the family while on vacation, including Sisters Janet Shurr, Benedicta Fritz, Theophane Hytrek, Agnes Meysenberg, and Maria Terese Patterson. Other sisters who enjoyed short summer vacation visits included Jeannine Weidner, Mary Schmaderer, Clarissa Klass, Dorothy Sinibaldi, Fran Cunningham, and Barbaralie Stiefermann, along with many others. Eventually Sister Arnoldine came to live with Valerie and Walter due to her poor health.
After Walter died in 1991, Valerie’s brother, Donald Peters, came to live with her. When their home was destroyed by a car crashing into it, they moved to Manitowoc, Wisconsin, and lived there until Donald died in 2018. Valerie moved to Maria Linden Apartments in Milwaukee, where she again was close to some of her sister friends and associates. Most recently, she lived nearby at the Village at Manor Park in West Allis.
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BOOKS, VIDEOS, MOVIES AND PODCAST OF INTEREST
Leveling the Praying Field: Can the Church We Love, Love Us Back?
Author: Ansel Augustine
In Leveling the Praying Field, Ansel Augustine offers a personal and historical perspective on issues of race and inequality in the Church. In particular, he considers the challenges posed by the rise of Millennials and Gen Z, whose members increasingly consider racial equality to be one of the most important issues today. For the Church, which has normally been slow to respond to racism, to be a prophetic voice among these and future generations, it must change from doing "ministry as usual” from a Eurocentric perspective. Augustine points toward a way forward, to “level the praying field so that all have an equal opportunity in society, and we can truly be ‘one body of Christ.’”
The Lion Women of Tehran
Author: Marjan Kamali
An “evocative read and a powerful portrait of friendship, feminism, and political activism” (People) set against three transformative decades in Tehran, Iran.
In the Middle of Middle America (A Trilogy)
Author: David B. Lyons
A mosaic of seven regular townsfolk are going about their days, blissfully unaware their lives are about to interweave, interchange, and interact. They become entangled into such a messy web that, together – and unbeknownst to them – they end up etched in history forever.
Consecration to St. Joseph
Author: Donald H. Calloway
In the midst of crisis, confusion, and a world at war with the Church, it's time to come home again to our spiritual father, St. Joseph. In this richly researched and lovingly presented program of consecration to St. Joseph, Fr. Donald Calloway, MIC, brings to life the wonders, the power, and the ceaseless love of St. Joseph, whose titles include Universal Patron of the Church and the Terror of Demons.
My Name is Emilia Del Valle
Author: Isabel Allende
In this stunning and riveting historical novel, a young writer journeys to South America to uncover the truth about her father – and herself. A tale of self-discovery and love from one of the most masterful storytellers of our time, My Name is Emilia del Valle introduces a character who will never let go of your heart.
The Tears of Things
Author: Richard Rohr
In his first major work since The Universal Christ, one of our most prominent spiritual voices offers a wholehearted and hope-filled model for the world today, grounded in the timeless wisdom of the Hebrew prophets.
The Quilters (Documentary)
Availability: Netflix
The Quilters brings us one of the most unexpected stories of hope, transformation, and redemption inside a Level-5 maximum-security prison. Inmates at Missouri’s South Central Correctional Center, many serving life sentences, have found peace and purpose through quilting. But where are they now?
Holy Post (Podcast)
Production Company: Holy Post Media
Join VeggieTales and What's in the Bible? creator Phil Vischer and co-host Skye Jethani (author, speaker, pastor) for a fast-paced and often funny conversation about pop culture, media, theology, and the fun, fun, fun of living a thoughtful Christian life in an increasingly post-Christian culture.
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CLOSING
As I was putting this edition together, I was especially taken with Mary Ellen Meyer’s account of Wendell Grissom’s execution. It was clear what a role his faith played in his spiritual rebirth and preparation for death. Having just read Richard Rohr’s book Tears of Things, I remembered a passage I would like to share with you. It’s called the Canticle of Hezekiah and is found in the third part of the book of the prophet Isaiah (chapter 38, after the exile in Babylon):
From dawn to night, you surround me,
I cry aloud till the morning, like a lion you have
crushed all my bones…
I am twisting like a swallow or a crane, moaning
like a dove…
Lord, my heart will live for you,
my spirit will lie for you alone
You will cure me and give me life,
my suffering will turn to health.
It is you who have kept my soul
from the pit of nothingness
you have thrust all my sins
behind your back.
For Sheol does not praise you,
Death does not extol you…
The living, the living are the ones who praise you,
as I do today. (Isiah 38:12-14, 16-19)
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I would like to thank all of those individuals who contributed to this newsletter. I especially want to thank Mary Ellen and Jim Meyer for sharing Wendell’s story.
This is a platform for associates, and I welcome any ideas for upcoming editions. I am especially interested in your recommendations for associates I can feature in future editions! Please email all ideas and comments to me at kovatovic@gmail.com.
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