Sister Teresa John Zilch

December 14, 1928 - February 15, 2020

Patient, loved children, good cook and seamstress, delightful smile

Irma Antonia Zilch, whose birth was preceded by five older sisters and two brothers, was born December 14, 1928, to parents August and Teresa (Wissel) Zilch of Peoria, Illinois. Her mother died when Emma was just three. Erma entered the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet in 1946 and was received into the novitiate in 1947. She earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Avila College in Kansas City, Missouri (1963), and a master’s degree in elementary education administration from the University of Notre Dame in Indiana (1971).

Sister Teresa John taught elementary students at Assumption, Kansas City, Missouri (1949); Sacred Heart, Muskogee, Oklahoma; St. Francis de Sales, Denver, Colorado and St. Mary Cathedral, Peoria, Illinois (1959).

In the 1960s, she taught at Saints Mary and Joseph in St. Louis; St. Mary in Bridgeton, Missouri; Our Lady of the Americas, Kansas City, Missouri, where she also served as principal, and at Most Holy Rosary, St. Louis.

Sister Teresa John and I became friends back in the 1960s and our friendship continued unto the end of her life. She was a very hard worker and well organized among her many gifts and talents ... She was also a good cook. I have many happy memories of the two of us in the kitchen, me peeling apples and Teresa John rolling out those delicious pie crusts as we prepared for many jubilee celebrations. —S. Teresa Maria Eagan

In the 1970s, she taught at St. Thomas the Apostle, Florissant, Missouri. Then she was principal at Holy Cross, Champaign, Illinois, and Sacred Heart, L’Anse, Michigan. In 1979, S. Teresa was active in various ministries, first at St. Joseph provincial house as data controller/processor and continuing at Carondelet as the provincialate secretary (1984). In 1988, she was an administrative assistant for the U.S.C.C. Commission on Certification and Accreditation in St. Louis. Next, she served as secretary at Mary Queen and Mother Center followed by the role of administrative secretary at Nazareth Living Center. In 1991, Sister
Teresa was an executive secretary at Carondelet Health Corporation, Kansas City, followed by time in pastoral care and clerical support at St. Joseph Hospital, Kansas City.

In the late 1990s, the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph in Missouri welcomed S. Teresa John as secretary and media clerk. Then, she was secretary at St. Joseph Institute for the Deaf in Overland Park, Kansas, a satellite location. Ward Parkway Presbyterian Church, Kansas City, Missouri, hired her as parish secretary until she returned to St. Joseph Institute. She retired in 1999. She volunteered at the Avila College library, Kansas City, until 2002 when she moved to Nazareth Living Center where she continued to carry out her ministry of prayer and presence.

Teresa John was a great seamstress and was always ready to sew, patch and keep us looking good. —S. Mary Ann Figlino.

I would frequently find her looking out the window facing east where you can see the JB Bridge. She showed me how you could stare at the bridge and it would appear to flip directions! It was an optical illusion but she, and now I, delighted in it. I am glad that she is now experiencing optimal delight in communion with the Divine. —A. Gerry Rauch

Sister was always positive and upbeat—she enjoyed and welcomed each new day as a Thanksgiving—and as a gift from God. —A. Patrick McDowell

Some time ago she began singing a daily ‘Happy Birthday’ over the phone to whoever had a birthday on the respective day ... It always came in the early morning and she began by singing and then she would ask the honoree to guess who it was singing. —S. Ida Berresheim

By Sister Helen Oates