FRANCISCAN SISTERS OF CHICAGO

Sr. Joseph Marie Zenda was born on August 16, 1937, in Cleveland, Ohio. She entered religious life on July 16, 1955, and professed her vows on August 12, 1958. Sister was assigned to the ministry of education. Her first teaching assignment was at St. Stanislaus Bishop and Martyr in Chicago where she taught first grade from 1955-1956. As a novice, Sr. Joseph Marie became a student at St. John College in Cleveland, Ohio, where she received her Bachelor of Science in Education. She then taught second grade at Sacred Heart in Gary, Indiana (1958-1960), multiple grades at St. Leo in Cleveland, Ohio (1960-1967), and seventh and eighth grade at St. Joseph in Campbell, Ohio (1967-1968).

In 1968, Sr. Joseph Marie was assigned to teach religion and serve as assistant principal at Madonna High School in Chicago. This would be the start of her long connection to the high school which was started and administered by the Franciscan Sisters of Chicago until 2001. In 1970, Sister was promoted to principal of Madonna High School and served in that position until 1983. She also received her Master of Arts in Administration from John Carroll University in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, In 1970.

Sister Joseph Marie was elected General Minister of the Franciscan Sisters of Chicago in 1983. During her ten-year term (she was reelected in 1988), the Franciscan Sisters of Chicago established FSCSC (Franciscan Sisters of Chicago Service Corporation, later renamed Franciscan Ministries). FSCSC united all the communities and ministries sponsored by the Franciscan Sisters of Chicago and placed them under one corporate umbrella. Sr. Joseph Marie was the first President and CEO of FSCSC and held that position from 1989 to 1993.

During this time, besides leading the congregation, Sr. Joseph Marie served on the board of directors of many entities the Franciscan Sisters of Chicago sponsored: St. Anthony Medical Center and St. Anthony Home in Crown Point, Indiana, Guardian Angel Daycare, St. Joseph Home, Madonna High School (all in Chicago), Mother Theresa Home in Lemont, Illinois, and Mount Alverna Home and Annex in Parma, Ohio. She also helped establish Franciscan Village in Lemont and St. Jude House in Crown Point, Indiana, in 1988.

After her term ended as General Minister, Sr. Joseph Marie continued to be very active in many aspects of the congregation. She served as President and Chairman of the Board of Franciscan Village and was the Executive Director there from 1993 to 2000. She also served in leadership again as a General Councilor for the Franciscan Sisters of Chicago from 1993 to 1998. In 2000, Sister returned home to the Cleveland area and served at Mount Alverna Village as the Regional Vice President of the Ohio Elder Care Region. In 2009, she served as the Director of Philanthropy & Planned Giving at Mount Alverna Village, a position she held for several years. Sr. Joseph Marie lives and now ministers as a Sister Representative at Mount Alverna Village. We congratulate Sr. Joseph Marie Zenda on 70 years of religious life!