Age 85
Sister Mary Joan Klein (formerly Sister Mary Martina) was a Sister of Mercy for 67 years. She attended Saint Monica and Saint Brigid Elementary Schools and then went on to Mount Mercy Academy, all in Buffalo, New York. These schools were under the administration and guidance of the Sisters of Mercy.
After prayerful discernment, Sister Mary Joan entered the Mercy Community on February 2, 1955. In addition to spiritual formation classes at Mount Mercy Convent, Sister Mary Joan studied at Niagara University. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Arts in Teaching in English. In preparation for a second career in business administration, Sister Mary Joan attended the University of Notre Dame, graduating with a Master of Science in Business Administration.
As a junior high instructor, Sister Mary Joan gave her students a solid academic foundation to build high school success. She was a faculty member at the following South Buffalo, New York schools: Holy Family, St. Teresa, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Ambrose, St. Brigid, and St. Bonaventure. Her teaching ministry also took her to St. Mary of the Cataract, Niagara Falls, and St. Joseph School, Batavia.
Sister Mary Joan further developed her administrative and business skills as Principal of Our Lady of Mercy School in Orchard Park and St. Ambrose School.
In 1983, Sister Mary Joan was asked by the Leadership Team of the Sisters of Mercy to accept the position of Treasurer General and Director for the Support Staff for Financial Services. She served the Mercy Community well for the next twenty-six years.
Sister Mary Joan’s Profession ring bears the motto she lived by throughout her life, “In His, Will is our Peace.”