ADRIAN, Mich.—This summer Adrian Dominican Sisters celebrated their jubilee years of service and dedication to their Church and the Congregation.
The 2016 Jubilee Class includes the following with ties to the Diocese of Rockford.
70 years
Sister Ann Romayne Fallon, OP
Sister Ann Romayne was born in Detroit and in 1946 entered the Adrian Dominicans, professing her final vows on Dec. 31, 1952. She holds a bachelor’s in home economics and a master’s in administration and supervision from Barry College (now University) in Miami, Fla., and completed post-graduate work through Loyola University of Chicago, the University of Dayton, and the International School of Education. Her first assignment brought her to St. Edward School in Rockford from 1948-1951. She then taught and served in administration at schools in Miami and the Detroit and Chicago areas, eventually serving as president of Regina Dominican High School north of Chicago. She later held positions in her congregation, at the Detroit Archdiocese, at high schools and a conference center. She was an educational consultant for five years in the Archdiocese of Anchorage as part of a congregation initiative.
Sister Ann Patrice Remkus, OP
Sister Ann Patrice is a native of Rockford and a graduate of Bishop Muldoon High School. She entered the Adrian Dominican Congregation in June 1946 from SS. Peter and Paul Parish in Rockford, and made her final profession on Dec. 31, 1952.
She spent her early years of ministry as a teacher in Michigan, Illinois, Iowa, Arizona and California before returning to the Diocese of Rockford in 1967 to teach at St. Edward Central Catholic High School in Elgin for a year. She then taught at Regina Dominican High School in Wilmette for three years, and returned to Rockford again for seven years (1971-1979) of teaching at Boylan Central Catholic High School in Rockford. Until 1998, she served in alumni and development and pastoral ministry in Illinois, then returned to the Motherhouse for service, retiring in 2005.
60 years
Sister Mary Catherine Gagliano, OP
Sister Mary Catherine (formerly known as Sister Ann Virginia) was born and raised in Rockford. She was a parishioner of St. Anthony of Padua and SS. Peter and Paul parishes. She attended Bishop Muldoon High School until her junior year when she entered the Adrian Dominican Congregation from SS. Peter and Paul Parish in Rockford in June 1956. She made her perpetual profession on Dec. 28, 1962.
Sister Mary Catherine served in the Diocese of Rockford as director of religious education at St. Mary Parish in DeKalb from 1981-1990 and was director of evangelization at Holy Angels Parish in Aurora from 1990-1991. She served as an elementary school teacher in the dioceses of Marquett and Lansing and the Archdiocese of Chicago from 1958-1979, and worked in various positions in Illinois from 1991-2010. Formally retired, she teaches English as a Second Language in the Chicago area. In October, Sister Mary Catherine will celebrate with her family, brother Frank Gagliano, sisters, Bridget Dangelo, and Virginia LaMarca and their spouses at Mercy Center Chapel in Chicago.
Sister Rosario Martin, OP
Sister Rosario (formerly Sister Rosarian Marie) is a native of Puerto Rico. She entered the Adrian Dominican Congregation on June 26, 1956, and professed her final vows on Dec. 28, 1962. She first taught in schools in the Archdiocese of Chicago. In the Diocese of Rockford, she taught Spanish at Bishop Muldoon High School in Rockford for the 1968-1969 school year before beginning years of ministry in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. In 1992, she moved to Adrian, Mich., to serve at the Catholic Family Counseling Center for six years. She was an interpreter at Dominican Hospital in Santa Cruz, Calif., from 2004-2006. She now resides at the Motherhouse in Adrian, Mich.
Sister Donna Joan Mehney, OP
Sister Joan (formerly Sister Joan Edward) is a Michigan native and entered the Adrians on June 26, 1956.
After teaching in elementary schools in Ohio and Illinois, she began serving in high schools in Illinois, including at Bishop Muldoon High School in Rockford, 1964-1966, and at Mount St. Mary Academy in St. Charles, 1969-1971. She continued to serve in Illinois including at Quigley Preparatory Seminary in Chicago. She retired in 2012, moving to Adrian in 2014.
Sister Pauline Opliger, OP
Sister Pauline (formerly Sister Paul Raymond) was born in Kansas. She earned a bachelor’s degree in art from Rockford College (University) in 1953 and entered the Adrian Dominican Congregation from St. Bridget Parish in Loves Park in June 1956. Sister Pauline professed final vows in December 1962. She taught in elementary and high schools in Michigan, New Mexico, California, Chicago and Wilmette. She retired to Adrian in 2002, where she continues with her oil painting, focusing on creating seasonal liturgical paintings for the entrance to St. Catherine Chapel. She also taught art classes at Gus Harrison Correctional Facility, a state prison in Adrian, from 2003 to 2005.