Sister Suzanne (Frances Carol) Effinger, BVM

Sister Suzanne (Frances Carol) Effinger, BVM, 92, of Mount Carmel Bluffs, 1160 Carmel Drive, Dubuque, Iowa, died Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024.

Funeral services were held on Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024, in the Mary Frances Clarke Chapel at Mount Carmel Bluffs. All services may be viewed livestream at https://stream.prestosports.com/bvmsisters.

Suzanne ministered as an elementary teacher and principal in Chicago; Round Lake, Ill.; and Kansas City, Mo. She also served as assistant principal in Waukegan, Ill., and as an elementary teacher in St. Louis and Glendale, Calif. She was an adult literacy instructor and a hospice volunteer in Milwaukee.

She was born on June 24, 1932, in Milwaukee to Frank and Frances (Reichert) Effinger. She entered the BVM congregation on Sept. 8, 1950, from St. Sebastian Parish, Milwaukee. She professed first vows on March 19, 1953, and final vows on July 16, 1958.

“In 1994, Sue joined Helen Gourlay and Barbara Kutchera as a literacy instructor at the Adult Learning Center . . . in Milwaukee. Her teaching skills transferred easily to adult students. While the content was different from teaching first graders to read, the concepts were the same. She loved the look of wonder that her first graders had when they first learned to read. Now she saw that same look on the faces of her adult students who had had little opportunity for education earlier in life.” (Eulogy.)

She was preceded in death by her parents, brothers James (Randi), Thomas (Vi), David (Marion) and John (Mickey) Effinger; sisters Janet (Bob) Eiff and Mary Ann Effinger. She is survived by nieces and nephews and the Sisters of Charity, BVM, with whom she shared life for 74 years.