Stories & News
Meet some of the women and men who benefit from the Retirement Fund for Religious.
Sister Joan Ann Springman, 81, Ursulines of the Central Province
“My vocation came from God and a special love of Mary, influenced by my mother,” says Sister Joan Ann Springman, a member of the Ursulines of the Central Province. “My mother valued the religious life so much that she promised her simple gold wedding ring to the daughter whom God might call to this life.”
Sister Joan Ann knew that she wanted to be a religious sister in second grade. After graduating high school, however, she was uncertain which community to enter. “Contemplation is my chief love, but I asked God to use me as he wanted,” says Sister Joan Ann. “At age 19, God drew me to the Ursulines, a religious congregation that is contemplative and then goes out in ministry.”
Her ministry included service in numerous parishes and schools in Illinois, Louisiana, Minnesota, and Missouri. Sister Joan Ann, who began studying piano at age 6, holds a bachelor’s degree in voice and a master’s degree in liturgical music with a concentration in pipe organ. In parishes, she not only played the organ but also trained organists and directed choirs and congregational singing. On the educational side, she taught music classes, gave private piano and voice lessons, and directed a high school chorus.
Despite her musical gifts and many years of service, however, Sister Joan Ann’s life has had one primary focus. “For me, religious life is about my personal relationship with Christ,” she says.
“My life is centered on the liturgy and the celebration of the Eucharist,” says Precious Blood Sister Ann Hipp, 95. “It’s part of who we are as a community.”
At an early age, Sister Ann felt drawn to the Sisters of the Most Precious Blood of O’Fallon, Missouri. She left her parents and seven brothers and sisters to attend high school with the sisters and entered the community after graduation. “I always felt there was something unique about the Precious Blood Sisters,” she says. “My love of the liturgy began way back then.”
Sister Ann made her first profession at age 20 and started teaching shortly thereafter. “I had 40 students in four grades,” she recalls. “It was only by the grace of God I got through that year.” Sister Ann went on to teach for 50 years, primarily at the high school level. Along the way, she obtained undergraduate and advanced degrees in history. At age 66, she traveled to Helsinki, Finland, to teach at The English School, which was founded by her community, and greatly enjoyed interacting with students from many different cultures and backgrounds.
In 1990, she returned to O’Fallon, where she traded in her chalk for a sewing needle. For the last 25 years, she has worked in her community’s ecclesiastical art department, which designs and produces altar cloths and vestments. “I still spend a couple hours a day there,” says Sister Ann. When asked the key to a long life, she responds, “Enjoy life. Have a few laughs, and always know the Lord is there for you.”