Sister Grace Gianella, OP 1941-2022

Sister Grace Gianella, OP
                             1941-2022
                             I would like to be remembered as a person who was helpful, loved
                             life, and [was] a believer that “a good laugh is better than a dose
                             of medicine.”

                             That sentence wrapped up the life story of Sister Grace Gianella, and if
                             the memories shared by two family members at her wake service are
                             any indication, she lived up to her goal.

                             “My Auntie Grace was one of a kind. She was always a joy to be
                             around,” wrote her niece Michelle Gianella. “Anyone who crossed her
path was blessed with lots of laughter. She was always happy and very generous.”

“I have many memories of us laughing and sharing a good time together with my Mom and Grandpa,”
wrote her great-nephew Dylan Gianella.

Grace Marie Gianella was born June 29, 1941, in Jackson, Michigan, to Angelo and Sadie (Morell)
Gianella. She was the middle child of three, following Donna Jean, who was two years older, and
preceding Michael, born four years later.

Her childhood was a happy and busy one, with many gatherings with extended family, vacations, and
parties. Angelo worked as a truck driver and was often on the road, occasionally accompanied by
Grace. “I loved being with my father; those times were very special,” she said in her life story.

Sadie was a caring mother whose concern and thoughtfulness extended to neighbors and friends.
She loved to cook and often sent food to friends and family, and after the children were old enough to
be in school, she cooked for the priests at the parish rectory located across the street.

That parish was St. John, and the children attended the parish school, which was staffed by the
Immaculate Heart of Mary Sisters. With the school being so close to the Gianella home, Grace was
often asked to assist the Sisters in one way or another, and she enjoyed their company.

Whenever the topic of religious life came up, her reply was always that she wasn’t interested. “I was
having too much fun,” she said. But God apparently had other plans, and in her senior year she
began making inquiries about entering the convent. She was steered toward the Adrian Dominican
Sisters as a better fit for her and got acquainted with the Sisters who staffed Queen of the Miraculous
Medal School.

She graduated from St. John High School in June 1960 and arrived in Adrian for her postulancy later
that month. “I was very nervous and it seemed that that trip from Jackson was the longest ride of my
life,” she said. “But after arriving, things settled down and I became acclimated to my new life as a
postulant.” Her parents, although not thrilled by her choice at first, soon became very accepting and
visited often, bringing treats to be shared with the other postulants. Sadie even made a spaghetti
dinner once for all the postulants, novices, and Sisters.

Sister Grace received the habit and her religious name, Sister Susan Angela, in December 1960. She
completed her canonical novitiate year and was directed to remain in Adrian to study, so her first
teaching assignment did not come until the 1962-1963 school year when she was sent to St. Rita

School in Chicago. She would go on to complete her bachelor’s degree in history from Siena Heights
College (University) in 1968.

After five years at St. Rita School (1962-1967) and four years (1967-1971) at Santa Maria del Popolo
School in Mundelein, Illinois, she was missioned to St. Raphael School in Los Angeles. Her parents
had earlier moved to California and Angelo had died in 1970, so the move allowed her to be near her
mother.

Illness required her to cease teaching for a while and she went to live with her mother until she was
well enough to return to the classroom. She taught at St. Raphael School until 1984, when her mother
became ill, and Sister Grace returned to Sadie’s home to care for her.

In 1985, Sister Grace took a position at St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, California, allowing
her to continue caring for her mother as well as helping her sister, who had also become ill. At the
hospital, she ministered first as a pastoral associate and then, a year later, switched to being a billing
technician. Her work there saw her honored along the way with a Mission Spirit Award and the 1999
Compassion Award. She was also a finalist in 1999 for the Respect Award.

During her years at the hospital both her mother and her sister died, Sadie in 1991 and Donna in
2000. Also in 2000, Sister Grace found herself looking for another position because the hospital
merged with another medical system.

The result was a move to Grand Junction, Colorado, where she was a receptionist and taught religion
at Holy Family Catholic School. Her original ministry there lasted about four and a half years before
she stepped away for roughly a year. She returned to the school in early 2006, this time as a religion
and reading teacher, and then in late 2007 moved to Henderson, Nevada, to be a volunteer at St.
Rose Dominican Hospital.

Sister Grace returned to Adrian in 2014 and died at the Dominican Life Center on January 13, 2022,
at the age of eighty. She had been an Adrian Dominican Sister for sixty-one years.

Sister Judy Friedel, Holy Rosary Chapter Prioress, said of Sister Grace at the wake service:

       Sister Grace Gianella, you are remembered as a very helpful, kind, compassionate
       woman; loving daughter, sister, aunt, Adrian Dominican who brought such delight, joy,
       fun and laughter to others that they will never forget how blessed and enriched their
       lives have been because you were such a beautiful part of theirs.

       Your parents gave you the perfect name: Grace. “Grace” as we Christians understand it
       means “a spontaneous gift from God to people,” “a cherished blessing.” Countless are
       the people who would agree wholeheartedly with this description of who you are and
       who you continue to be for them from your heavenly home.

A number of remembrances were shared in addition to those quoted earlier from family members.
Sharon Carelli, a co-worker at St. Rose Dominican Hospital, wrote:

       I’m so saddened with the news that Grace died. Grace was so dear and full of grace.
       She was such a wonderful volunteer at St. Rose Dominican Hospital. She would always
       greet the visitors as they entered the main door. She would offer assistance to the
       visitors with her beautiful smile. We were all fortunate to have known and worked with
       Grace at St. Rose.

Sister Vicki Dalesandro, who ministered with Sister Grace both at St. Raphael School and at St Rose
Dominican Hospital, wrote:

      Grace was full of life, fun-loving, gregarious, prayerful, and a very caring, generous
      person. It was also a privilege to get to know and share life with her loving mother and
      her family.

      … Grace was a dedicated, hard-working, and loving elementary school teacher. She
      cared deeply for her students. They knew that and still ask about her to this day.

In fact, some of those former students shared their memories of her on the St. Raphael School alumni
Facebook page.

Sister Lorraine Brennan, who like Sister Vicki lived with Sister Grace for many years, provided a
number of memories from those years, including of the time she and Sister Grace accompanied a
Mercy Sister to the Mercy motherhouse in Vermont, followed by a trip by bus to Quebec and then a
train ride to Ontario. The two also spent much time visiting their respective families’ homes together.

“Grace was a fun traveling companion and a wonderful community person,” Sister Lorraine wrote.

Sister Grace’s funeral homily was written by Sister Geneal Kramer.

      I must say from the beginning that I always envied Grace her name. Grace is a holy
      name. It denotes the very presence of God. Its Latin meaning is goodness, generosity
      and charm. Most of us learned about grace early in our lives and prayed for grace.
      Hence, it struck me as a name that one would carry with love. And Grace did.

Sister Geneal went on to reflect on the readings Sister Grace had chosen – Revelation 14:13 and
Matthew 5:1-12 (the Beatitudes) – and said,

      Thank you, Grace, for the gift of these readings. They invite us to go deep into the
      mystery within each one of us and into the future God holds for us, our destiny. Your
      struggles to be the compassionate person God made you to be has found its fulfillment
      in the compassionate God.

Left: The Gianella family includes Angelo and Sadie, parents; Sister Grace; her brother Michael; and
                                       her sister Donna Jean.

Right: Sister Grace with her parents, Sadie and Angelo Gianella

Left: From left, Sisters Janice Scholl, Teresa Estrada, Grace Gianella, and Lorraine Brennan

Members of the 2010 Golden Jubilee Crowd are: back row, from left, Sisters Patricia Fischer, Joann
Plumpe, Barbara Jean Quincey, Joanne Wimmer, Anita Chiappetta, June Mary Deswysen, and Mary
Helen Smolbrook; middle row, from left, Sisters Diane Pitera, Patricia Benson, Joanne Peters, Mary
 Katherine Homan, Grace Gianella, Kathleen Erard, Catherine Ormond Olds, and Helen Faiver; and
  front row, from left, Sisters Mary Elizabeth Gaiss, Joan Lawrence Sustersic, Juliann Flynn, Susan
Marie Ouwerkerk, Maryetta Churches, Janet Marie Fulgenzi, Patricia Erickson, and Donna Markham
                                               (Prioress).