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SisterEmma Kulhanek

“In stillness and in quiet confidence is my strength.”

I was born in Chesaning, Michigan to Wenz and Emma Nietling Kulhanek. There were six children in our family, three girls and three boys. I am the second oldest.

Through grade nine I attended Our Lady of Perpetual Help School in Chesaning taught by our Dominican Sisters. The next three years I spent at Marywood Academy as an Aspirant. In September of 1947 I entered the Postulancy and took my mother’s name, Emma.

For a number of years my ministry was Teacher and Principal of a number of large and small schools in Michigan. In some of these schools I taught the upper grades and helped coordinate the staff and curriculum. Work in inner-city was of special interest and rewarding to me. Some students came back to tell me that they were glad they were taught for the ‘future’ – not just for the moment.

My other ministries included pastoral care for the elderly in Northview Manor and volunteering on the Marywood Campus as a visitor: reading, listening, and assisting with letter writing. How rewarding this was for me.

I enjoy reading, walking, crocheting, card games, doing word search puzzles, and going places with my family. I have traveled to all parts of the United States and overseas to Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and I spent one week in Rome. How blessed I am.

 2022 – 74 Years a Sister

Prayer Ministry

Pray for the moral integrity of our country and our community

Sister Emma found and brought joy to the classroom and her students.

Later in life, she reflected on a level of brokenness of youth and young adults in society: “So many are consumed by materialism and excessive individualism; they fall to peer pressure and are looking for happiness in all the wrong places.”

Sister Emma teaching at St. Andrew’s School in 1995. “There are so many different ways you can preach,” said Sr. Emma.

In 2009, St. Andrew’s awarded Sister Emma and the Dominican Sisters the Faith in Humanity Award at the annual benefit of the Hugh Michael Beahan Foundation, which raises money for scholarships to help diversify the St. Andrew’s student body.

Grades 7 and 8 in 1994 at St. Andrew’s

Sister Theresa Bray and Emma pictured on the right celebrating 75 years of Dominican Sisters at St. Andrew’s School in 1964

Sr. Emma Kulhanek with the Class of 1947.

In ministry with Sister Emma Kulhanek, OP

A Jubilarian Shares Her Story: Sr. Emma Kulhanek, OP

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