Petronella Adriana Hermus

Female 1927 - 2014  (86 years)


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  • Name Petronella Adriana Hermus 
    Born 01 Apr 1927  Little Chute, Outagamie, Wisconsin Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Female 
    Graduation 1944  St John High School, Little Chute Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Occupation Wheaton Franciscan 
    Died 11 Feb 2014  Brookfield, Waukesha Co, Wisconsin Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Person ID I4359  Little Chute Genealogy
    Last Modified 13 Sep 2018 

    Father Rudolph Peter Joseph Hermus,   b. 15 Apr 1897, Zevenbergen, Noord Brabant, Netherlands Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 27 Mar 1986, Appleton, Outagamie, Wisconsin Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 88 years) 
    Mother Johanna Maria Cornelia VanderSanden,   b. 08 Jan 1900, Hoeven, Noord Brabant, Netherlands Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 05 Jan 1972  (Age 71 years) 
    Married 17 Sep 1923  St John Nepomucene Church, Little Chute, Outagamie, Wisconsin Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Photos
    240a.jpg
    240a.jpg
    Family ID F115  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Photos
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    4359d.jpg
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    4359c.jpg
    St John High School Yearbook 1954
    St John High School Yearbook 1954
    St John High School Yearbook 1944
    St John High School Yearbook 1944

  • Notes 
    • We, the FRANCISCAN SISTERS, Daughters of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary,
      of Wheaton, Illinois,
      recommend to your prayers
      Sister Jane (M. Rudolph) Hermus
      of St. Anthony
      who departed this life to enter into LIFE ETERNAL on February 11, 2014
      Sr. Jane, baptized Petronella, was born April 1, 1927, in Little Chute, Wisconsin, daughter of Johanna (Vander Sanden) and Rudolph Hermus. Petronella was one of six children in the Hermus family. She attended St. John Elementary and High School in Little Chute as did her siblings.
      After graduating from high school she worked for her aunt, Sr. M. Bernita Hermus, at St. Mary’s Hospital in Racine. She herself wrote of that time: “…help was very scarce. After putting in a full day’s work and visiting hours were over, the Sisters worked together at scrubbing and waxing the floors. In spite of long days and hard work, the Sisters could be heard laughing and enjoying themselves at recreation in the evening,..” When Sr. M. Bernita was hospitalized, Sr. M. Louise Boehmer briefly filled in and took Petronella under her wing. “I feel that Sister Louise’s loving concern together with the joy I saw among the Sisters both greatly influenced my decision to join the religious life.”
      In 1946, at age 19, Petronella entered the novitiate of the Franciscan Sisters in St. Louis, and completed her novitiate years in their new location in Wheaton, Illinois. After professing temporary vows in May of 1949, now known as Sr. M. Rudolph, she went back to St. Louis where she attended Fontbonne College and earned a Bachelor’s degree in Dietetics and Science. At the completion of her dietetics studies, she was missioned to St. Mary’s Hospital in Racine where she served as Dietitian and Director of the Dietary Department from 1953 to 1961. She fulfilled this same role from 1961 to 1964 at St. Anthony’s Hospital in St. Louis, and from 1964 to 1968 again at St. Mary’s Hospital in Racine. In 1968 she moved to St. Francis Hospital in Waterloo, Iowa, serving in the same capacity until her resignation there in 1995. In 1987 she assumed the additional role of Senior Nutritionist, and carried this for two years beyond her resignation as dietitian in 1995. In Racine and in Waterloo she served the Sisters as local directress.
      In 1997, Sr. Jane returned to the Motherhouse in Wheaton where she was local directress of the Sisters for one year. After that she began her well-earned retirement, remaining in the Motherhouse community until February 2010 when she was transferred to Franciscan Woods in Brookfield, Wisconsin.
      Sr. Jane offered her talents in other roles also, such as a member of the Covenant Foundation Board, Community Finance Team, Covenant Wages Committee, and 125th (Congregation) Anniversary Committee. Among her fond memories are several overseas trips. In 1975 she accompanied Sr. M. Norene Staeck who was attending a General Finance Commission meeting at the generalate in Rome. 1992 found her a member of the Pace e Bene Pilgrimage in Italy and provided her an occasion to visit the European provinces of our Sisters in Holland, Germany and France. In 1998 she again had the joy of visiting the Netherlands, homeland of earlier generations of her family. Among her leisure activities Sr. Jane has listed bowling, playing cards, yard work and bingo.
      Sr. Jane will be missed as a prayerful, loving and dedicated member of our Franciscan congregation.
      May God grant her great joy forever among our Sisters in heaven.