A remembering service at 1:15 PM followed by the Mass of Christian Burial.
Maryann Engelhardt, daughter of Joseph and Frances (Barbian) Engelhardt, was born on July 9, 1934, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Archdiocese of Milwaukee. She was the oldest of four children with two brothers and one sister. After graduating from St. Michael’s elementary school, Maryann became a student in one of the first classes of Divine Savior HighContinue Reading
Maryann Engelhardt, daughter of Joseph and Frances (Barbian) Engelhardt, was born on July 9, 1934, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Archdiocese of Milwaukee. She was the oldest of four children with two brothers and one sister.
After graduating from St. Michael’s elementary school, Maryann became a student in one of the first classes of Divine Savior High School at the St. Mary’s Convent site in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where she found herself attending classes with the SDS women candidates.
On August 28, 1950, Maryann entered the Congregation. She was invested as a novice August 12, 1952, receiving the name, Sister Joseph Marie. After Vatican II, she returned to her baptismal name, Maryann. She made First Vows August 13, 1953, and Final Vows August 13, 1959, both in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Following graduation and profession, Sister Maryann began her nursing studies at St. Mary’s School of Nursing, Wausau, Wisconsin, graduating and receiving her RN degree in 1956. From 1956-1957 she was a nurse at St. Mary’s Hospital in Wausau, and at Divine Savior Hospital in Portage from 1957- 1960. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing from St. Louis University in 1962. Following the completion of her bachelor’s degree, she was an instructor at St. Mary’s School of Nursing in Wausau, and from 1963-1970 she served as the supervisor of nursing services at St. Mary’s Hospital in Wausau. She also served on the hospital’s first Board of Directors.
In 1971, Sister Maryann received a Federal grant to Arizona State University in Tempe, to study psychiatric nursing. In 1975, while finishing her master’s research project, she worked at St. Joseph hospital in Phoenix on the psychiatric unit. She received her master’s degree in 1975, and served at St. Joseph Hospital, St. Luke Hospital, Maricopa County General Hospital, and Maricopa County Outreach Services. During her years serving the mentally ill in Arizona, a member of the speaker’s bureau of the Arizona Nurses Association said of her, “It was apparent that you knew your topic well, and perhaps even more important, that you enjoy and care very deeply about these people who are now striving to fit back into our communities.”
During her years in Arizona, she found the time to take courses in massage therapy and Reike and became a Master Teacher in Reike. She had faith in the healing power of God and each person; beliefs that brought her to explore holistic, integrative medicine during the course of her varied health care related ministries. She said, “I find the area of alternative medicine fascinating. With my medical background, I also need facts and research. Ancient cultures understood the connection between our minds and bodies, and these therapies complement traditional medical practices.”
She accepted a two-year appointment as an adjunct faculty member at Arizona State University College of Nursing in 1989. The appointment was cut short when she was elected to the Provincial Team in 1990. It was also necessary for her to resign her position at the Maricopa County Department of Health services as psychiatric nurse, a ministry she loved. She served in leadership for six years and was on the Board of Directors of the Divine Savior Hospital and Nursing Home.
Upon completing her leadership service, Sister Maryann returned to Arizona where she practiced both massage therapy and Reike as a traveling therapist, going to the homes of her clients, until 2001, when she again relocated to Milwaukee. Her readiness to help others was evident when she accompanied Sisters to medical appointments, supported them when they were hospitalized, and gently walked with them in the dying process. She also served on the Board of Directors of St. Anne’s Salvatorian Campus and volunteered at CORE/El Centro in Milwaukee, an alternative medicine clinic for low-income clients.
Most of all, Sister Maryann will be remembered for “her compassionate concern for the whole person,” noted Sister Carol Thresher at Sister Maryann’s 60th Jubilee celebration, “always ready to listen, always on tap to seek out an alternative solution, and always ready to entertain a novel approach to a difficult situation. Many a difficult situation has been defused or even averted by her gentle and caring insight. Hers is a special gift.”
Sister Maryann moved to Salvatorian Sisters residence in 2016 and then moved to St. Anne’s Salvatorian Campus in 2023. She was 90 years old and professed for 71 years.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Joseph and Frances (Barbian) Englehardt, her brother John Engelhardt and her sister Audrey Berg. She is survived by her brother Joseph (Judy) Engelhardt, several nieces, nephews and grandnieces and grandnephews along with her sisters and brothers in the Salvatorian Family.
Visitation and Mass of Christian Burial
Monday, February 3, 2025
St. Anne’s Salvatorian Campus Chapel • 3800 North 92 Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Visitation begins at 12:45 PM.
A remembering service at 1:15 PM followed by the Mass of Christian Burial
Father Paul Portland, SDS – Presider
Burial: Holy Cross Cemetery, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
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