April 7, 1924 — January 6, 2026
Irene Marcella Lachowski was born in 1924 in Joliet, Illinois to Marcel Lachowski and Clara Wawczak Lachowski. She had two brothers, Bernard and Christopher and one sister, Bernadette.
Growing up, Irene had great examples of living one’s faith, right within her family circle. Her father, a church usher, would come to Mass early and pray the rosary in the choir loft, and Irene, a teenager at the time, would accompany him. She also warmly described her mother as an admirable, special person with winning ways.
Irene Lachowski attended St. Jude Thaddeus Elementary School in Joliet. It was young Irene’s personal relationship with the Felician Sisters who had taught her there that sparked her desire to seek entrance into religious life. She mentions names like SM Irmina, SM Rosaria and SM Paschalisa, who were special in that regard. Her personal relationship with these sisters sparked a desire within her to also seek religious life. Irene then entered the aspirancy in Chicago in August of 1938, where she attended Good Counsel High School. She became a postulant in June of 1942 and was invested in August of 1943, and received the name, SM Lourdine. She then made her first profession in August of 1944 and her final profession in August of 1950. She would go on to celebrate her Silver Jubilee in 1967, her Golden Jubilee in May of 1992, her 60th in April of 2002, and even her 75th Jubilee in June of 2017!
Sister began her teaching profession in Chicago in 1942 at St. Helen Grade School. SM Lourdine eventually earned her Bachelor’s Degree in education at Loyola University in Chicago. She would go on to receive her Master’s degree in Theology from St. Xavier College in Oak Lawn, Illinois, in 1966. This education served her and her church well, as she taught for more than 60 years, from 1942 until 2004, at every level except first grade. Sister Lourdine taught primarily in the Chicago area, spending only three years in Milwaukee.
She was loved by her students, many of whom, when in their 50s and 60s, still came to visit her. Many also stayed in contact with her by mail. It had always been a dream of Sr. Lourdine’s, that someday, all the children whose lives she had touched and whose lives have touched her, would be reunited in heaven, where together they will sing praises to Jesus and Mary and love them for all eternity.
Upon her “retirement” to our Good Counsel Central Convent, Sister made phone calls of gratitude to the donors of Mercy Boys and Girls Home until Covid took over. She also oversaw the Sacred Heart Shrine Patron Enrollment until 2022.
On the lighter side, when Sr. Lourdine completed a congregational questionnaire a few years back, about hobbies and interests, she responded that she loved spending hours shopping and buying nothing, collecting PINK things, (pink being her favorite color as everyone knew), and she also was a self-proclaimed “people-observer,” because as she said, “people truly fascinated her.” Lulu, the nickname often lovingly used by our Sisters, was also a storyteller and rarely at a loss for words. Even in her later years, Sr. Lourdine was still blessed with a phenomenal memory. If she had recently read an item in the newspaper or heard it on the TV news, she would remember and be sure to tell you about it. And we also have it from numerous sources that she was a great Cook!
Sister was concerned about social issues as well. For years, she collected used hosiery, which she packaged and sent to a group in the southern part of the country, which then processed it for use in benches to enhance the environment. She re-cycled Christmas cards for the sick and elderly in nursing homes. She was always willing to sign a petition regarding an issue of equality, especially those impacting the poor.
SM Lourdine was deeply spiritual as was reflected in her truly profound personal piety and in her love of the rosary and our Blessed Mother…as well as in her devotion to the Sacred Heart. It poured out in her concern for and about others. She had spent 83 years living out the Gospel, the Franciscan Rule, her vows and the spirituality and life in common of a Felician Sister. In her last years she had become a true apostle and passionate promoter for the canonization of our Foundress, Blessed Mary Angela, praying for the miracle needed for this to become a reality.
Sister Mary Lourdine Lachowski went to her Lord on January 6, 2026, shortly after 10:00pm. May her legacy be that we all might, as did our Sister, allow our spiritual lives to be a driving force in the persons we are, the good that we do and the quality lives we lead. Amen.
