Sister Mary Jo Stoffel, SDS
“I Believe in the Life”

For thirty-one years, Sister Mary Jo Stoffel, SDS, entered elementary classrooms with great energy and enthusiasm. She remembers the light in the first and second grade students’ eyes when they “got the lesson.”

Their sheer joy of life, great parental cooperation and wonderful colleagues all make for wonderful memories. So much so, that each class list she ever had is on Sister Mary Jo’s nightstand and she remembers the students every night in prayer.

She recalled the split class sessions in Maryland when 55 students would be in the morning group; the teachers would take a 15 minute break and then 53 students would come for an extended afternoon session that was concluded at 4:30 p.m..

“We (teachers) were all young and supported one another. We shared ideas and challenges. I loved teaching and really missed it, but wanted to leave while I had the patience necessary to do the job well and still loving the profession. Two of my students still write every Christmas,” she said.

Sister Mary Jo taught at Mother of Good Counsel, Milwaukee; St. Therese in Schofield; St. Pius X, Wauwatosa; Holy Ghost, Dickeyville, St. Mark’s, Rothschild; and Notre Dame, Chippewa Falls, all in Wisconsin. She also taught at grade schools in Lakeville and Sauk Rapids, both in Minnesota, and Landover Hills, Maryland.

Sister Mary Jo was asked to serve for several months as the secretary to the 1983 General Chapter in Rome, Italy. Later, she ministered in the Salvatorian Sisters’ finance office, the Divine Savior Holy Angels High School finance office, both in Milwaukee; and for the School Sisters of Notre Dame’s Provincial finance office, Elm Grove, Wisconsin. Sister Mary Jo also ministered to her family for a year and one-half. Today, she is a member of the Salvatorian Sisters Provincial Archives Department. At each ministry, she brought competence, a team attitude, and sense of humor.

Her vocation to religious life was fostered by her parents’ strong faith values and the Salvatorian Sisters who taught her in her home parish, St. Paul’s, in Bloomer, Wisconsin. “I wanted to help others and love God in a special way, and the Salvatorians did that with such joy,” she explained. “My Dad wanted me to wait to enter but I did feel called. I remember thinking of being a Sister when I was very young. Our novitiate class was close and we literally grew up together. One of our novitiate teachers encouraged us to remain faithful to prayer throughout our lives.”

Today, Sister Mary Jo also typifies the joy of a happy woman religious and would encourage religious life as a vocational choice. “For fifty years, my vocation has been life-giving for me and life-giving for those I serve. Grounded in prayer and community support, it is a loving and challenging way of life and service to others. I believe in the life and want to do what God asks and make a difference.”

And if there is a day you need prayers, perhaps you will feel those coming from this Jubilarian’s prayer list which encompasses family, friends, students and colleagues.