Obituary of Joan Weber

To watch the livestream of the service, click this link:

https://saintannes.ca/saint-annes-parish-online/

The livestream will go live approximately 10 minutes before the service begins.

Sister Joan Weber, OSU

Sister Joan Weber, OSU (Prelate) passed away unexpectedly on April 7, 2023, after a brief illness.  She was 84 years old.  Daughter of Francis and Christina (Kraemer) Weber, she was born on Nov. 12, 1938 at Arcola, SK, the oldest of seven children.  She grew up, as she said, “to the work of the family farm which included a dairy herd.  We were the farm hands.”  She attended a small country school until Grade 10 and then completed her high school in Arcola after which she served as a study supervisor in the Manor public school in order to earn money to attend Teacher’s College in Moose Jaw.  She then taught for two years in Estevan and two years in Swift Current where she met the Ursuline Sisters.

Drawn to religious life, she entered the Ursuline community in 1963 after enjoying a ‘last fling’ - a holiday in the Caribbean.  She began her novitiate in 1964, taking the name Sister Simone, and made First Profession in 1966, after which she taught (usually Grade Four, her favorite grade) in Prelate, Richmound, Tramping Lake and Swift Current, then completed her B. Ed. degree at the University of Saskatchewan in 1973. After eight years of teaching in Yorkton, she attended Newman Theological College in Edmonton and obtained a Diploma in Theology.  After ten years of teaching in the Saskatoon Catholic School Division, she superannuated from 30 years as a classroom teacher.  In her life story she wrote that since her last five years at St. Philip School were among the best, “she retired with a good feeling for the classroom.”

Following a sabbatical year in South Carolina and San Antonio, Texas, plus an Angela Pilgrimage to Italy, she returned to Saskatoon and pursued her lifelong interest in painting.  Her inner struggles, especially after the death of her brother in a farm accident, found creative expression on canvas.  She took summer classes at Emma Lake and joined the Saskatoon Bridge City Artists, where she developed her artistic skills and many good friendships and also helped in coordinating many art shows.  In 2002 Sister Joan’s art was selected in an adjudicated competition by the Saskatchewan Arts Council to be displayed in various art galleries across the province.  Her art was featured at Collector’s Choice in Saskatoon as well as at numerous art shows as recently as at the Saskatchewan Blue Cross Gardenscape at Prairieland less than two weeks before her death.

A dedicated prairie girl, Sister Joan was a loyal member of the Saskatoon Nature Society with particular fondness for bird watching, and the Golden Eagles, a group of seniors with whom she enjoyed numerous short tours around the province.  Her appreciation of her Ursuline community was balanced with her big-sister care for her family and her loyalty to many friends.  She was grateful for her travels to Phoenix, Quebec, Vermont and Hawaii, to deepen her Ursuline identity and to spend time with family members.  The Sisters remember her warmly for her open-hearted forthrightness, her love of learning, her sensitivity to the beauty of creation and her self-deprecating sense of humor.

Sister Joan’s memory is cherished by her Ursuline community, her sisters Helene (Bryce) Seaman, Myrna (Richard) Brooks and Pat (George) Anderson and brothers Gerald (Barbara) and Richard (Lucille); sister-in-law Linda also her nieces and nephews and their families.  She was predeceased by her father, mother, infant siblings and brother Garry.

The livestreamed Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Thursday, April 13^th at 2:00 p.m. at St. Anne’s Church, 217 Lenore Drive, followed by refreshments and snacks.   Interment will take place at a later date in the family burial plot in Wordsworth, SK. 

In lieu of flowers, friends and relatives are invited to contribute to the Ursuline mission of Education by donating to St. Angela’s Academy Foundation at 305 Hilliard Street East, Saskatoon, SK  S7J 0E5.