Sister Jeanette Thelen, CSA

Sister
Jeanette Thelen, CSA, formerly known as Sister Francis Xavier, died peacefully
on September 3, 2014, at St. Francis Home, Fond du Lac, WI.

Jeanette was
born in West Allis, WI, on October 17, 1922, to John Bernard Thelen and Estella
Griffin Thelen.  She was one of four
children. Jeanette made her profession of vows, as Sister Francis Xavier, in
the Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes on August 15, 1942.  After graduating from St. Agnes School of
Nursing she became a registered nurse in 1945. 
In 1958 she received a BS in Nursing Education from Marian College, Fond
du Lac, WI.  She ministered as a nurse at
St. Agnes and St. Clare Hospitals in Wisconsin and at St. Thomas and St.
Anthony Hospitals in Kansas.  Sister
Jeanette served in a variety of roles and responsibilities for 42 years in
these hospitals, and later on staff at Nazareth Heights Infirmary and St. Agnes
Convent.  Sister’s love of music led her
to minister as organist for religious services in each of the hospitals where
she was assigned.

Sister
Jeanette was preceded in death by her parents John Bernard Thelen and Estella
Griffin Thelen and her sisters, Lenora Weber and Evelyn O’Connell.

Sister is survived
by her brother John A. Thelen, her loving niece Linda Miller, her nephews, other
relatives and friends, and by the Sisters of St. Agnes, with whom she lived,
prayed, and ministered.

Visitation
for Sister Jeanette will be on September 8, 2014, at 9:30 at Nazareth Court and
Center, 375 Gillett Street, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin.  A prayer service will be held at 11:00 a.m.,
at Nazareth Court.

A Mass of
Christian Burial will be celebrated at 2:00 p.m. on September 8, 2014,   at St. Francis Home Chapel, 33 Everett
Street, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin.   The presider will be Father Ken Smits,
Capuchin.  Burial will follow at St.
Joseph Springs Cemetery.

Memorials can
be directed to the Sisters of St. Agnes Development Office, 320 County Road K,
Fond du Lac, WI 54937.

The Sisters
of St. Agnes are grateful to the nurses and staff of Nazareth Court and
Center/St. Francis Home for their care of Sister Jeanette and, in her last days,
the staff of Hospice Hope.

Zacherl
Funeral Home is serving the Sisters of the Congregation of St. Agnes.