Sister Carol Frances Jegen, BVM
Sister Carol Frances Jegen, BVM died Tuesday, July 7, 2020, at Marian Hall in Dubuque, Iowa.
Sharing of Memories, Visitation and Funeral Services were Wednesday, July 15, 2020. Burial is in the Mount Carmel Cemetery.
Sister Carol Frances ministered as a teacher at Holy Family Elementary School in Mason City, Iowa, as well as in St. Louis and Milwaukee. She was a professor at Mundelein College and Loyola University in Chicago.
She was born on Oct. 11, 1925, in Chicago to Julian and Evelyn (Bostelmann) Jegen. She entered the BVM congregation Sept. 8, 1944, from St. Robert Bellarmine Parish, Chicago. She professed first vows on March 19, 1947, and final vows on Aug. 15, 1952.
She was preceded in death by her parents; a sister Sister Mary Evelyn Jegen, SND; a brother Richard Jegen; and brother-in-law Robert Belke. She is survived by sisters Carol Belke, West Bloomfield, Mich., and Sister Evelyn Jegen, RC, Chicago; sister-in-law Genevieve Jegen, Chicago; nieces; nephews; and the Sisters of Charity, BVM, with whom she shared life for 75 years.
Memorials may be given to Sisters of Charity, BVM Support Fund, 1100 Carmel Drive, Dubuque, IA 52003 or online at https://www.bvmsisters.org/support_donate.cfm.
Carol Frances Jegen eulogyView Sharing of Memories, Virtual Visitation, and Funeral
Carol Frances Jegen Sharing of MemoriesRead the Chicago Catholic: “Pioneering Sr. Carol Frances Jegen Dies”
Sister Carol Frances was a hero of mine when I took theology classes from her in the 1960s. I still remember key points she made in her lessons that have become a deep part of my faith journey. She was a beautiful soul who will be deeply missed.
I met Sister in 1962. It was my freshman year at Mundelein. She was head of Sodality. She was a loving caring person. Her spirit of kindness affected us all. May she look down from heaven and help us through these trying times. She was there for us in the 60’s to give us support and I know she will not let us down.
I had Carol Frances as my freshman homeroom teacher and religion teacher at Holy Angels in Milwaukee. Already then she was filled with the messages and how-to of peace and social justice. She made a lasting impression on me in both my spiritual and intellectual life. Only to be recharged at the Scholasticate. A great woman. I am, in part, who I am today because of her. RIP
Mary Eileen Donovan Sorenson (HA, 1957) (S. Laurence Mary, BVM)
I am heartbroken by her passing. She took me under her wings when I was in her theology class and helped me tremendously. I was questioning religion and being Catholic or Christian, the significance of the mass ritual, etc. She was amazing. We started meeting to discuss religion just the two of us and discussed the various philosophers. I was inspired by her and never forgot her. She was a compassionate, engaging and extremely bright. I visited her when I was there. May God welcome her with opened hands and give her the peace.
I was drawn to Mundelein College in 1970 with the encouragement of teachers who were graduates, in great part to study theology in a department built and guided by Carol Frances. Who she was, and who had gathered around her as BVM instructors and professors, and their lay fellow partakers in the journey changed me irrevocably and set me on a course that continues to this day, some almost 50 years later. The deepest inisghts of the relationship between the community of scholarship and the community of faith, the prophetic call of the gospel to justice, and the abiding presence of God in all, with all — of these we drank deeply in an atmosphere of prayer, of challenge and of love. Carol Frances was more than a professor of theology and a pioneer — she was a true formator of the heart, mind and spirit, extending grace, and bringing us so close to the touch of our graceful God. May we continue becoming in the path marked out.
I had Sr. Mary Carol Frances for classes during my freshman year at Holy Angels Academy In Milwaukee. She assigned me to take an opposing side in a debate, leading me to find credibility from a differing perspective. I deeply admired her intelligence and sense of social justice. We became friends many years later when I was working in Chicago and she was living at Wright Hall. We enjoyed having lunch with Sisters. Grace Andrea and Thomas Katherine. Carol Frances and I continued our correspondence after we both moved. She will always have a very special place in my heart.
Sister Carol Francis was an unforgettable teacher, not only in her presentations but also in relating to each student. As a high school freshman, Holy Angels Academy, Milwaukee, I gained confidence and respect for learning as Sister brought each of us to higher goals. I remember her with great affection and gratitude.