Sister Joseph McArdle, CSA

Sister Joseph McArdle, CSA, (baptized Mary Agnes Geraldine), died peacefully June 4, 2014, at St. Francis Home in Fond du Lac, WI.

Geraldine was born in Fond du Lac, WI, on April 23, 1922, to Joseph McArdle and Edith Balthazor McArdle.  She had one brother. Sister Joseph entered St. Agnes Convent in August 1944 and made her profession of vows in the Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes on August 15, 1947.  Having received a B.S. in Education from Marian College of Fond du Lac in 1948, Sister Joseph taught primary grades for twenty years in Wisconsin, Kansas, and Indiana.  She continued her education, earning an M.S. in Education Psychology at Fordham University in New York City. She also took workshops in Special Education and Religious Education.  Sister Joseph was a Special Education teacher for thirty-six years at St. Raymond’s Elementary School in Bronx, NY.  Sister was a member of the Board of Directors for BASE (Bronx Alternative Special Ed) for ten years while continuing to teach in this program.

Sister Joseph was preceded in death by her parents Joseph McArdle and Edith Balthazor McArdle and by her brother Leo McArdle.

Sister is survived by her sister-in-law Mary McArdle Lloyd, by her loving nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews, and by the Sisters of St. Agnes, with whom she lived, prayed and ministered.

Visitation will be held on June 9, 2014, at Nazareth Court and Center, 375 Gillett Street, Fond du Lac, WI at 9:30 a.m., followed by a Prayer Service at 11:00 a.m.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 2:00 p.m. on June 9, 2014, at St. Francis Home Chapel, 33 Everett Street, Fond du Lac, WI.   Father Ken Smits, Capuchin, will preside.  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 Joseph in her last years and also to the staff of Hospice Hope.

Zacherl Funeral Home & Crematory is serving the Sisters of the Congregation of St. Agnes. www.zacherlfuneralhome.com