Sister Mercedes McNeill, CSA,

Sister Mercedes McNeill, CSA, (formerly Sister Vergiline) passed into eternal life on December 25, 2012, at St. Francis Home in Fond du Lac, WI, following a brief illness.

Mercedes was born May 15, 1915, in Frontenac, KS, to Patrick and Ida Beseau McNeill. She had five brothers and three sisters.  Sister Mercedes made first profession of vows in the Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes on August 15, 1935.  She received a B.S. in Education and an M.S. in Education as well as certificates in religious education, pastoral ministry, and pastoral and religious counseling. Sister was a teacher for 42 years and a principal for 5 years.  Sister Mercedes also worked in pastoral ministry for 8 years.  She ministered in Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, New York, and Wisconsin.  In her later years she was a coordinator for the retired Sisters of St. Agnes at the Boyle Apostolic Center in Fond du Lac, an assistant librarian at St. Margaret Mary School in Milwaukee, and a volunteer in the Sisters Interacting with Seniors program (S.I.S.) in Milwaukee’s inner city. 

Sister Mercedes was preceded in death by: her parents Patrick McNeill, Sr., and Ida Beseau McNeill, her brothers Donald, Francis, Maurice, Henry, Patrick, and her sisters Alberta, Mildred, and Veronica.  She is survived by: two nephews, William McNeill and Patrick McNeill; a niece, Angela Eckensberger; a nephew by marriage, Dr. John Kazmierski; her many friends; and the Sisters of St. Agnes, with whom she lived, prayed, and ministered.

Visitation for Sister Mercedes will be held at Nazareth Court and Center on Friday, December 28, at 10:00 a.m. A prayer service will start at 11:00 a.m., also at Nazareth Court and Center, 375 Gillett St., Fond du Lac.

The service of Christian Burial will be at St. Francis Home Chapel, 33 Everett St., on December 28, at 1:30 p.m., with Fr. Pat Heppe presiding.  Burial will follow at St. Joseph Springs Cemetery.

Memorials may be directed to the Sisters of St. Agnes Development Office, 320 County Road K, Fond du Lac, WI 54937-8158.

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

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