Aquinas College

  • 2019 National SisterStory Project Captures Stories About Sisters by Aquinas College Students

    2019 National SisterStory Project Captures Stories About Sisters by Aquinas College Students

    May 28, 2019

    “One of the most important things I’ve learned from this project is that the differences between people don’t really matter as much as we think they do,” wrote Erin Dwan in the first of her essays for the 2019 SisterStory project. Her writings are based on the evolving relationship with Verona Wangler, a Dominican Sister […]

  • Sister Inspiration: Welcoming A Friend from Malawi

    Sister Inspiration: Welcoming A Friend from Malawi

    April 26, 2019

    A friend from afar joined the Dominican Sisters~Grand Rapids for Liturgy on Tuesday, April 23; he wrote and read the Petitions in St. Catherine of Siena Chapel at Aquinata Hall. Clement Chiwaya’s presence was a delight for so many Sisters. Sister Diane Dehn reflected: “I was fortunate to work with Clement as his academic advisor […]

  • National Catholic Sisters Week Service Projects Have Begun in Grand Rapids

    National Catholic Sisters Week Service Projects Have Begun in Grand Rapids

    March 8, 2019

    Each year during National Catholic Sisters Week we celebrate women religious. From March 8-14 we are encouraged to remember and discover the unwavering spirit of Sisters, experience their ministries, and affirm and honor these women who have meant so much to us. It is a time when the Dominican Sisters~Grand Rapids invite friends to join […]

  • Services for Sister Ann Thielen, OP

    Services for Sister Ann Thielen, OP

    January 7, 2019

    Sister Ann Thielen entered eternal life on January 5, 2019 at the age of 84 after 59 years of religious life. We commend Sister Ann to your prayers. Remembering Service: Tuesday, January 8 at 7:00 pm Dominican Chapel at Marywood Funeral Mass: Wednesday, January 9 at 11:00 am Dominican Chapel at Marywood Both nurse and […]

  • Sister Inspiration: Diane Dehn, OP

    Sister Inspiration: Diane Dehn, OP

    December 28, 2018

    As an academic advisor with students at Aquinas, I was often inspired by the dedication, determination, and drive of non-traditional students returning to the halls of education. Some students were returning to college to complete a degree or program that they had been unable to finish earlier in their lives. Others were just beginning college […]

  • Sister Inspiration: Rose Marie Martin, OP

    Sister Inspiration: Rose Marie Martin, OP

    November 16, 2018

    Long before the first desktop or laptop computer, it was the calm, composed librarian who welcomed the avid and the anxious into the land of books with the question: “How may I help you?” Understanding library etiquette, the card catalog, and book handling rules was first and foremost. From there, the sky was the limit […]

  • Sister Inspiration: Alice Wittenbach, OP

    Sister Inspiration: Alice Wittenbach, OP

    November 13, 2018

    “At Aquinas I met the Dominican Sisters for the first time. I loved their joy and the delight they seemed to bring to each other,” says Sister Alice Wittenbach. “At the end of my Freshman year, I went to the Priest to tell him I thought I should go to the Convent, with the hope […]

  • A Jubilarian Shares Her Story: Sr. Pat Kennedy, OP

    A Jubilarian Shares Her Story: Sr. Pat Kennedy, OP

    October 26, 2018

    “My decision to become a Sister wasn’t a quick one; there was lots of questioning on my part.” As a young girl, Pat Kennedy dreamed of being a wife and mother. Yet, at the same time, she says, there was a persistent tug to vowed life. She lovingly recalls parents who were devout Catholics, loving, […]

  • A Jubilarian Shares Her Story: Sr. Catherine Williams, OP

    A Jubilarian Shares Her Story: Sr. Catherine Williams, OP

    October 12, 2018

    The path has twisted and turned during these 60 years, from a community of Williams on a small farm in Byron Center,… … to a community of Dominican Sisters who share their lives of simplicity and prayer, laughter and song,… … as we walk the road together toward, “the fullness of joy in God’s presence”. […]

  • Sister Inspiration: Marie Michael Jacobs, OP

    Sister Inspiration: Marie Michael Jacobs, OP

    September 7, 2018

    Sister Marie Michael Jacobs once wanted to be a missionary nurse, improv­ing the lot of others in far-off lands. It was the grace of God, she figures, that led her to another sort of mission in the heart of Grand Rapids: administering education to the children of St. Andrew’s School. In her 18th year at […]