Sister Jo Anne Mary Jelinski
On June 21, at the Regina General hospital, Jo Anne Mary Jelinski embarked on the last steps of her earthly journey. She met death, surrounded by the love of her family, and her RNDM religious community.
Jo Anne was born at the Grey Nuns hospital in Regina where she entered the world alongside her identical twin, Mary Anne, on April 11, 1946. Her parents were happy to have two girls join their heretofore four-boy family. Jo Anne found joy in her early life, growing up in a loving family, going on family picnics, having a twin sister, and going to football games with her father and brothers.
Atending high school at Sacred Heart Academy, Jo Anne enjoyed taking part in the social activities of school life, as well as playing intramural sports, and cheering on basketball games. Her academic and spiritual foundations, as well as her musical grounding, were nurtured through her school years.
In 1966, Jo-Anne responded to a sense of call to religious life and entered the novitiate of the Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions (RNDM) at Sacred Heart College in Regina in 1966. She made her Perpetual Vows on June 21, 1975, at St. Mary’s church in Regina.
Jo Anne started taking music lessons at a young age and completed the various grades of the Royal Conservatory of Music. She received her certification as an Associate of The Royal Conservatory of Music (ARCT) and was awarded the Licentiate of Trinity College London (LTCL).
Alongside continuing to take music classes, Jo Anne began teaching music as well. She planted seeds of melody and harmony in many young hearts at St. Joseph’s convent in Saskatoon, Sacred Heart Academy in Regina, and St. Michael’s Academy in Brandon. From 1976-1989 she was the Director of the music department at St. Michael’s Academy.
Jo Anne also shared her musical gifts by playing the organ for various church and RNDM celebrations.
Subsequently, Jo Anne spent ten years in Spokane, Washington, returning to Brandon in 2000. In 2005, she moved to Winnipeg, where she was involved in the care of her RNDM Sisters. In 2010, Jo Anne took part in an international RNDM renewal session in Davao, Philippines, which she found very life-giving.
Jo Anne was a life-long fan of the Saskatchewan Roughriders, and no mater where she lived in the world, in football season she would dig out her green and cheer on her team. Living for many years in Manitoba, this was occasionally a courageous act!
Jo Anne returned to Regina in September 2021, to be closer to her family as she began Dialysis treatment for her long-term diabetes. At the end of May 2024, Jo Anne gathered with us for the annual Province Assembly in Regina, but became too weak to stay. Her dialysis treatments were becoming increasingly difficult, and on June 21, Jo Anne’s tired body could continue no longer.
In 2019, Joanne wrote a draft obituary for her file – in which she noted significant moments and experiences in her life, that were guideposts for her. She also noted songs that were significant for her. One of those songs was entitled: “Do You Remember the Call?”
Do you remember the call
When did you hear your name out loud
Can you remember the word that you heard
When the story began in you
The day Jo Anne died was the 49th anniversary of her perpetual vows as a Sister of Our Lady of the Missions. Considering the song-choice she made in that 2019 document, Jo Anne’s life and death came into a sharper focus. The day of her death was the day she most fully remembered the call to which she responded from the deepest level of her being.
Listen, remember, catch glimpses of winter
Touch new life in hiding and set it ablaze
and let it grow – Into fullness of life
In the name of Love!
We will miss Jo Anne’s enigmatic smile, her quick enthusiasm, and her sense of humour. We will miss her kindness, her tender-heartedness, and her endurance. The music of her life continues in memory and draws us forward … in the name of love.