February 14, 1936 — March 30, 2026
In Chapter III of our Franciscan Rule, we read: “Everywhere and in each place and by every season and each day, the brothers and sisters are to have a true and humble faith. From the depths of their inner life, let them love, honor, adore, serve, praise, bless, and glorify our most high and eternal God who is Father and Son and Holy Spirit.”
Throughout her 90 years and her 71 years of religious life as a Felician Franciscan Sister, Sister Dolores Anne lived with a true and humble faith, glorifying the Holy Trinity until she breathed her final breath on the evening of March 30, 2026.
Born on February 14, 1936, in Webster, Massachusetts, to Sophie Michalski and Christian Ungerer, she was given the name Dolores. She had one younger brother, James. Reared in a loving Catholic home, she grew in the love of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. Her spiritual growth continued at Saint Joseph School in Webster, Massachusetts, under the direction of the Felician Sisters who staffed the school. Dolores admired the Felician Sisters.
After graduation, Dolores attended a public high school for one year. In this setting, she found it difficult to study. She was not used to her classmates’ frivolous chatter.
Realizing that Jesus was calling her to follow Him, she also realized that if she remained in the public-school setting, she would likely lose her religious vocation. Pleading with her father, who finally relented, she entered the Academy of Our Lady of the Angels, Enfield, Connecticut, where she continued her studies with the Felician Sisters. Here she learned of the spirit of Blessed Mary Angela and Saint Francis and was eager to become a Felician Sister.
On August 2, 1953, Dolores entered the postulancy and a year later, the novitiate of the Felician Sisters in Enfield, Connecticut. On August 5, 1954, she received the Felician Franciscan habit. Her first profession of vows occurred on August 6, 1955, and six years later, on August 6, 1961, she professed her final vows.
Because of the dearth of religious teaching sisters, Sister Dolores was surely destined for the educational ministry. She prepared for the ministry by earning a Bachelor of Arts degree from Fordham University in Bronx, New York, a Master of Science degree from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and a certificate in Administration from Manhattan College in Riverdale, New York.
For 55 years, she taught in schools staffed by the Felician Sisters in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York. When called to serve as a principal, she demonstrated her leadership skills in schools in Kingston, New York; the Bronx, New York; Staten Island, New York; and Hartford, Connecticut.
Known for her gentle, unassuming ways as a teacher, she enjoyed her students’ love because she first loved them. She possessed a special rapport with recalcitrant pupils who responded to her gentle discipline. She carried over this ability of reaching students with the love of Jesus during her many years as a principal. As a local minister, she guided the sisters in fulfilling their spiritual obligations mainly by her example.
Sister Dolores served her Felician Congregation by being elected as a delegate to four provincial chapters. She strove to exemplify the virtues of Blessed Mary Angela, especially by fulfilling God’s Will in all things. Saint Francis was also close to her heart as she embraced his joy-filled spirit, no matter the burdens or sorrows she carried.
In the last years of her life, Sister Dolores Anne accepted the challenge of leaving the former Enfield Province in Connecticut and moving to the former Lodi, New Jersey province. From 2011 to 2020, she was an assistant in the finance office of Our Lady of Lourdes Convent in Lodi, which later became Immaculate Conception Convent. During these years, she coped with many health issues, and the final years of her life saw her humbly accepting the Cross that Jesus gave her. How fitting it was that she concluded her life, her Way of the Cross, on Monday of Holy Week.
During her time of physical suffering, the Sisters often came to visit her and pray for her. Her dear friend Sister Mary Fides Milwicz, with whom she had worked in the convent finance office for many years, did not abandon her in her time of suffering. On the night of March 30, Sister Fides prayed for Sister Dolores Anne Mary and encouraged her to accept Jesus’ invitation to enter His Kingdom. A few minutes later, after this generous prayer offered by Sister Fides, Sister Dolores Anne entered eternity.
Funeral arrangements took place during Easter Week. With Alleluia’s, the Sisters sent Sister Dolores to the eternal Kingdom. The wake and Vesper service took place on April 7. The Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated by the Rev. John O’Neill on April 8 at 11:00 a.m. Interment took place in the Felician Sisters’ Cemetery in Lodi.
