Sister Jeanette Schutte, PHJC, passed away on June 3, 2013 at St. Francis Hospital, Cape Girardeau, Missouri. She was born to Walter and Bertha Schutte in Quincy, IL on February 9, 1924. She entered the Poor Handmaid of Jesus Christ community and professed her first vows on June 25, 1945.

Sister Jeanette touched the lives of many people throughout her life. Between 1945 and 1962 she taught school in Chicago and East Chicago and Gary, Indiana.

In 1962 she became the Postulant Director for the Poor Handmaids. In 1969 she returned to teaching and was principal for the next four years in schools in Carlyle and Mt. Carmel, Illinois.

From 1973 – 1979 Sister Jeanette was a Provincial Team Member and served the Poor Handmaid community. From 1979 to 1997 she ministered in Richmond Minnesota, and at St. Mary’s School and St. Boniface in Edwardsville, Illinois. Since 1997, Sr. Jeanette has served the poor and hungry in Cairo, Illinois at The Kitchen Table, a soup kitchen run by the Belleville Diocese.

Sister Jeanette had said, “Through all my ministries, my mission has been the same; namely, to receive and to share God’s love and compassion. Many, many persons I have met on my journey have shown me the face of Christ by their steadfast faith and by the joy of their daily lives.”

May Sister Jeanette rest in peace!

Memorial contributions may be made to the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ, PO Box 1, Donaldson, IN 46513.

Sr. Mary Carolyn and Sr. Jeanette sitting on the front steps of their house.