Sister Josephine Eva Winkerler

Persevered in difficulties, hard worker and concerned for the poor

After welcoming two sons, Henry and Sophie ( Jablonski) Winkeler of St. Louis happily greeted their daughter, Josephine Eva, on June 17, 1930. Another daughter completed the family two years later. Due to the scarcity of work, the family moved several times during the children’s early years. Later on, Josephine worked at a Woolworth Dime Store. One day, a young Sister of St. Joseph came in whom she [ Josephine] recognized as an older child from her neighborhood. She got reacquainted and began to consider whether she herself had a vocation.

Josephine entered the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet on September 15, 1949, and was received into the novitiate on March 19, 1950, as Sister John Michael. She earned a bachelor’s degree in education from Fontbonne College (1961) and a master’s degree in education from St. Louis University (1967).

From 1952 to 1957, Sister Josephine taught primary classes in Missouri: Saint Louis Cathedral, St. Louis; Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Kansas City; and Valle Grade School, Ste. Genevieve. In 1957, she moved to Chicago to teach at St. Bede the Venerable. Returning to St. Louis, she taught at Immacolata for a year (1963) before moving to Our Lady of Lourdes in Raytown, Missouri. At St. Mary’s in Bridgeton (1965), she began teaching intermediate grades, continuing the same at Saint Luke the Evangelist in St. Louis and also moving into junior high (1966).

In 1970, she began six years teaching junior high at Valle Grade School in Ste. Genevieve. Her teaching career took a new turn in 1976 when she became the principal at St. Patrick Grade School in Rolla, Missouri. S. Josephine then ministered as principal at St. Anthony of Padua in St. Louis (1984-95). After a year as principal at St. Andrew School (1996) in Lemay, Missouri, she spent her last three classroom years teaching junior high at Notre Dame Elementary in St. Louis.

In 2000, realizing the need for many sisters to have a little extra help with computers, S. Josephine spent the year assisting sisters whenever possible. She then volunteered in computer assistance at Nazareth Living Center until her retirement in 2016. A year later, S. Josephine moved to Nazareth Living Center, where she served in the mission of prayer and presence.

Sister Helene Gutchewsky, a dear friend of S. Josephine’s, describes her as kind and helpful. She remembers how much Jo missed her dog, how she loved old, classic westerns and musicals, which she played over and over, and how Jo always sent along her greetings whenever S. Helene visited her sister Judy, who has cerebral palsy.

She also recalled how dearly Jo loved Sister Jane Behlmann and how difficult it was for her when she passed away. She said Jo would comment, “It won’t be long, and I’ll be with her.”

“Jo was a wonderful person—a person I loved very much,” says S. Helene. “She often built up my feelings when they were down. She was a very sick person and did not want anyone to know it. She would say, ‘ Anything God wants from me.’ Thank you, Jo. I miss you.”

By Sister Helen Oates