January 30, 1953 — February 16, 2025
Sister Renee Marie Zinciuk, formerly Sister Luke Marie, was born on January 30, 1953, in Allentown, Pennsylvania, to George Zinciuk and Apolonia Wardenka. She was baptized on February 22, 1953, in Saint Peter and Paul Church, Allentown, and confirmed on April 16, 1964, in Saint Mary’s Church in Reading, Pennsylvania.
Sister Renee Marie attended St. Mary’s Elementary School in Reading staffed by the Felician Sisters. Sister enjoyed spending time with several of the sisters and it is most likely at this time that the seed was planted for her future vocation. She attended Central Catholic High School also in Reading.
Sister Renee entered the postulancy of the Felician Sisters, Immaculate Conception Convent, Lodi, New Jersey, on September 20, 1970. One year later she was invested in the Franciscan habit and received the name Sister Luke Marie. She requested to return to her baptismal name on January 1, 1990. She professed her first vows on August 5, 1973, and made her final profession on August 11, 1979.
Sister Renee received a B.A. in Social and Behavioral Sciences from Felician College Lodi, New Jersey. She later received an M.S.W. from Fordham University, New York City. In 1981, Sister Renee received a Certification in the Academy of Certified Social Workers from the National Association of Social Workers and held a Certification as a School Social Worker in the State of New Jersey.
Sister Renee began her ministry teaching at the junior high level in Delaware and New Jersey schools from 1974 through 1981. She then spent a year from 1981 to 1982 teaching social studies at Saint Anthony High School, Jersey City, New Jersey. From 1982 through 1989, Sister ministered at Covenant House Under 21 in New York City as an Activity Director and then
as a Team Leader. From 1989 through 1992, she was the Director of Social Sciences at the AIDS Resource Foundation in Newark, New Jersey. From 1992 through 2005, Sister Renee ministered as a Statistician at Faith Services Hoboken, New Jersey.
Sister Renee lived in the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus Convent, Wallington, New Jersey, from 2005 through 2015. While there, she was the Aide to the Provincial Secretary at the Immaculate Conception Convent in Lodi, from 2005 to 2006. In 2007, she volunteered for the American Red Cross in Fairfield, New Jersey, until 2012.
In 2015, she came to the Immaculate Conception Convent, Lodi, New Jersey, for Personal Care while also doing volunteer work at the convent. Her duties varied over the years as assistant to the local minister, driver, assistant to the local communicator, birthday/feast day dining room decorations, Mass intentions for the convent chapel, and setting up in the dining room for holidays.
While she stayed in all her ministries, Sister Renee lovingly cared for her mother until 2011, when her mother peacefully died in the Bergen Regional Medical Center, Paramus, New Jersey.
What was most notable about Sister Renee was her relentless personal therapy that enabled her to be active in all the years following her serious surgery for a brain tumor and later stroke in 1998. She willingly responded graciously to where there was a need.
On Sunday, February 16, 2025, in the early morning hours, Sister Renee peacefully went to her eternal reward with her God.
The funeral Mass took place Wednesday, February 18, 2025, at 11 a.m. in Our Lady of Lourdes Chapel in Lodi. Presider and homilist was The Very Rev. Canon Felix R. Marciniak. After the funeral, the body was taken for cremation and future burial in the convent cemetery in Lodi.
