Our Tree of Life
June 26, 2015
A Beautiful Legacy
July 3, 2015
Sister Winifred died on July 2, 2015 at Rosary Care Center, her home for the last five years. Her funeral was July 9 in Queen of Peace Chapel. Sister Winifred, the daughter of Frank and Kathryn Templin, came to the convent from Gilman, Minnesota in 1941. She made her first profession of religious vows in 1945 and her final vows in 1948. Sister earned a B.A. in Education and Social Science from Mary Manse College, Toledo, Ohio and a M.A. in Education from St. Thomas College, St. Paul, Minnesota.
Sister Winifred is survived by many nieces and nephews who continued a close relationship with her.
Sister Winifred’s ministry of 42 years in education began with teaching at Guardian Angel Day School in Sylvania and continued on to SS. Peter and Paul, Toledo, Ohio; St. John the Baptist, New Brighton, Minnesota; St. Raphael, Garden City, Michigan; and St. Francis Xavier, Buffalo, Minnesota. She served as principal at St. Raphael, Garden City, Michigan; Blessed Sacrament, New Orleans, Louisiana; and St. Ann, Cincinnati, Ohio.
Sister was a member of the Leadership Council of the Sisters of St. Francis for one term. In 1989, she became a House Parent at Casa De Esperanza in Houston, Texas caring for children with AIDS. Sister Winifred was a Patient Visitor at Providence Hospital, Sandusky, Ohio and the Spiritual Care Coordinator at Trinity Care Center in Brenham, Texas. Her final years were spent in prayer ministry, first at the Trinity House of Prayer on the campus of the Sylvania Franciscans and later at Rosary Care Center. Sister Winifred was a very active Companion Sister in the Associates process.
To know Sister Winifred was to love her. Her warm smile, gracious personality, contagious sense of humor and spiritual presence were immediate and evident to all she met. She gave of herself generously whether it was caring for children in grade school, babies with AIDS or the elders in the hospital and nursing home. “Winnie” was loved by all and loved all the people she met. She will be dearly missed by her Sisters in Community and the many family members and friends she has touched along the way.
There was a Welcoming Home liturgy for Sister Winifred on July 8 in Queen of Peace Chapel and her funeral was July 9 with internment in Porta Coeli Cemetery on the Motherhouse grounds.
