November 28, 1936 — November 25, 2024
Sister Mary Josetta Prondzinski, 87, died in Mother of Good Counsel Convent in Chicago, Illinois, after 69 years in religious life.
Sister Mary Josetta was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, on November 28, 1936. She was the only child of Helen and Daniel Prondzinski. At
her Baptism in St. Paul Cathedral in St. Paul, Minnesota, she was given the name Phyllis. After her parents’ divorce, a single Mom raised Phyllis. Her early education was with the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, both in elementary and high school. This education with the Sisters attracted her to religious life. She initially chose the Sisters of St. Joseph because she was familiar with them. However, in her third year of high school, she had the opportunity to visit her cousin, Felician Sister, Sister Mary Chrysantha Rudnik, in Chicago, Illinois. Sister Chrysantha brought her to visit the Mother of Good Counsel Convent, where she met postulants and novices, and she considered becoming a Felician Sister instead. In her senior year then, she was torn between becoming a Sister of St. Joseph or a Felician Sister. She then visited the Sisters at St. Adalbert Convent in St. Paul, which was the only Felician-staffed parish she knew of in St. Paul at that time. She was so overwhelmed by the cheerfulness and hospitality of the Sisters there that she decided immediately to be a Sister Felician.
On July 2, 1955, after graduation from high school, she boarded a train to Chicago and the Felician postulancy. A year later, she received the Felician habit and white veil and was given the name Sister Mary Josetta. After a year, Novitiate was complete, and Sister Mary Josetta applied for teaching courses at Loyola University. She later transferred to De Paul University and graduated with a bachelor of arts in education. Her first teaching assignment was at St. Joseph Grade School in Chicago, where she taught sixty-three 4th graders and prepared them for First Holy Communion.
Sister Mary Josetta earned a master’s degree in Art education from the University of Minnesota during the summers and graduated in 1977. This degree allowed her to teach art at all levels. While teaching in Oglesby, Illinois, Sister Mary Josetta did indeed teach art at all levels. She also prepared art shows and held receptions for family members. During this time, she also found time to work with the Teens Encounter Christ Program, which she found to be a rewarding experience. Later, she taught art for several years at St. Joseph High School and Good Counsel High School in Chicago. At St. Joseph High School, she was required to teach mechanical drawing to the boys. She attended night and Saturday classes for mechanical and architectural drawing.
Sister Mary Josetta taught at all levels in elementary and secondary schools in Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Alabama. She taught art from Pre-K through senior citizens. She engaged in youth retreats, Cursillos, liturgical ministries, RCIA and Art Therapy. Sister Mary Josetta played the guitar and piano and was a member of the Sweet Adelines. She was also trained in Library Science and was part of the Felician Library services team.
In reflection upon her own life, Sister Mary Josetta said she would like to be remembered as an artist and art expressionist, integrating the artistic and therapeutic processes in her own life and the lives of others and as a patient listener with quiet, gentle, compassionate ways, and someone who loved being with children and the elderly. She enjoyed being in nature, being strengthened by the solitude she found there. And finally, Sister Mary Josetta said of herself, that she would also like to be thought of as resourceful, creative, independent, a lifelong learner – a person you would be comfortable to be with and a faithful friend.
Sister Mary Josetta died in the presence of her sisters on November 25, 2024. Friends and sisters in community attended her wake and Mass of Christian Burial celebrated by Reverend Anthony Cirignani, OFM, on November 30, 2024. Her body was taken for interment to St. Adalbert Cemetery in Niles, Illinois.
