Sister Maria Joanitha

Sister Maria Joanitha                       ND 5330                      PDF Download

Gertruda Elisabeth Peters

Maria Regina Province, Coesfeld (Tegelen)

Date and place of birth                    May 11, 1934            Helden, Netherlands
Date and place of profession         January 3, 1958       Tegelen, Netherlands
Date and place of death                  April 13, 2023           Tegelen, Netherlands
Date and place of funeral               April 19, 2023           Tegelen, Netherlands

“God has poured out his love into the hearts of people.”

Sister Maria Joanitha was the third child of Henricus Peters and Mathilde Ramakers. Their family counted eight children. As one of the oldest children, Sister Joanitha often had to help out in the household.

When the other children were older and could also help in the household, she started looking for a job. A friend told her that the Sisters in Maria Auxiliatrix were training girls for housekeeping and cooking. That sounded appealing to her.

This is how she came into contact with the Sisters of Notre Dame. Later she would say she had learned very much from the sisters and had had the opportunity to earn some money as well. It was here that her vocation for the religious life slowly matured.

On 25 March 1955, she took the plunge and entered the convent of the Sisters of Notre Dame in Tegelen.

After her profession, she obtained diplomas in care for the elderly and chiropody. These qualifications proved very useful in her later work.

Service and loving care were central to Sister Maria Joanitha’s life and work.

In her younger years, she was sent to the mission in Indonesia for seven years. After her return, she worked in care for the elderly for 22 years, bringing joy and happiness to many people.

When she ended her work for the elderly, she left for Rome to serve her fellow sisters there.

After 13 years she returned to the Tegelen community to enjoy her old age.

Sister Maria Joanitha was a strong woman. she was very independent and had a strong character. When she was struck with Parkinson’s disease, she felt the terrible disease as a very big burden. She knew only too well that this disease had a progressive course.

Yet she did not give up. She tried to remain independent from other people’s help for as long as possible and she was rightly proud of this.

Now that we have to miss her, we feel grateful for having had her among us.