Obituary Archives
THE SISTERS OF ST. FRANCIS OF THE HOLY FAMILY
Mount St. Francis, Dubuque, Iowa
commend to your charity the soul of their beloved
SISTER LASALLE NANNEMANN
who was born February 24, 1917 and
who departed this life December 31, 2011
in the 74th year of her religious life.
Wake Service: January 3, 2012 at 7:00 p.m.
Mass of Christian Burial: January 4, 2012 at 1:00 p.m.
Presider: Father Ron Friedell
May she rest in peace!
Mechtild of Magdeburg defined the essence of hospitality when she wrote: “How should one live? Live welcoming to all.” She could have been writing about how Sr. LaSalle approached her ministry in food service.
Christine Ann was born on February 24, 1917 on the family farm in Wien, Missouri, the fifth child and first daughter of Fred and Bernardine Krumpelmann Nannemann. The birth of two brothers and four sisters followed; the family lost two of these little sisters shortly after birth.
The children attended Wien Catholic-State Parochial School where Christine was taught by Benedictine Sisters through 8th grade. She then helped with the farm and household tasks including caring for the younger children. Cooking and sewing were skills she learned early and loved throughout her life. At the age of 18 she left to work for a family with 8 children in Kansas City, Missouri, forming relationships with the family that brought her joy for years to come.
Although Christine had cousins who joined the Atchison Benedictines and Dubuque Franciscan Sisters Marie Celeste and Rene Nannemann and Margaret Lodder were also cousins, she was not attracted to religious life in her early years. This began to change during her time in St. Louis, and when she learned that her cousin Frances (Sr. Alonzo) was planning to join the Franciscans, Christine made up her mind and applied to Mount St. Francis. She and Frances entered together on August 24, 1937. At reception August 12, 1938, she received the name Sr. LaSalle.
Sr. LaSalle attended high school at Mount St. Francis and seemed destined to teach like most of the congregation. One day in novitiate as she filled in for an absent sister her skill at cooking was noted, and she became a homemaker, a happy match. (A sister friend noted that for Sr. LaSalle cooking was joy, not work.) She ministered with joy and enthusiasm at the convent homes of Ossian and Earlville, at Briar Cliff College, Sioux City, and Xavier Hospital, Dubuque, all in Iowa, and at St. Mary’s Hospital, Emporia, Kansas where she was to spend 22 years.
When the administration of St. Mary’s was transferred to another congregation, Sisters LaSalle and Joan Losey moved to Cortez, Colorado, where she worked for Social Services and helped with parish and Catholic Daughters of America activities. Then LaSalle and Joan moved to Clinton, Iowa for four years before returning to Cortez where LaSalle worked in home care and assisted at parish activities. The years in Colorado were a special joy with the welcoming climate and the beauties of nature all around.
LaSalle did not only prepare nourishing food, but also made sure that it was presented in an attractive manner, adding special little touches to lift the spirits and tempt the appetite of those she served. And her welcoming and engaging manner added to the enjoyment of the Sisters, patients, clients and friends she served throughout her life. Sometimes dinner guests would leave with a gift of food or an article she had sewn.
In 2001 LaSalle returned to Mount St Francis. Because of her failing eyesight she was in the assisted living area until 2009 when she moved to Holy Family Hall. Over the years she had to relinquish her favorite pastimes of sewing, reading, and watching travel shows because of increasing blindness. Throughout these trials she remembered her mother’s motto which she had adopted as her own “Accept what you can’t change, and go forward. Be grateful for what you have.”
On New Year’s Eve evening Sr. LaSalle answered he Lord’s call to come home. Our sister, who throughout her life welcomed others to the table of plenty, is now welcomed to the feast of eternal life.
Sister is survived by her brother, Alvin; her sister-in-law, Mildred; nieces, nephews, and her Franciscan sisters with whom she shared 73 years of her life.
Sister was preceded in death by her parents; her brothers: Tony, Joe (Marie), Leo (Margaret), Carl (Mildred), and Aloysius; her sisters: Clara (Robert) Norris, Laurine (Roy) Davis, Julia and Theresa; and her sister-in-law, Maxine.
Homily
Wake Reflection |
