Racine, Wisconsin

Sister Marie Anna Stelmach, OP, died April 8, 2026, at the Racine Dominican Motherhouse, Racine, Wis. Her Funeral Mass will be held at 2:30 p.m. Friday, April 17 at Stair Crest Senior Living Community’s Faith and Fellowship Hall, Muskego, Wis. Casey-McNett Funeral Home is handling arrangements.

She was born July 10, 1945, to John and Jean (Kaczmarczyk) Stelmach in Baltimore, Md. Her home parish was St. Rose of Lima, Baltimore. She made profession as a Dominican Sister of Sinsinawa in 1965 and received the religious name Sister Rose de Lima. She earned a BA in math and theology from Rosary College (now Dominican University), River Forest, Ill.; a Master of Divinity from Immaculate Conception Seminary, Mahwah, N.J.; an MA in in theology from Seton Hall University, South Orange, N.J.; and an RN from Bon Secours Memorial School of Nursing, Richmond, Va.

Her ministry was dedicated to teaching, pastoral care, missionary work, and health care. She taught at Visitation School, Chicago, Ill.; All Saints School, Los Angeles, Calif.; St. Clement School, Sheboygan, Wis.; and Our Lady of Refuge School, Bronx, N.Y. She served as a missionary in the Diocese of Santa Cruz, Bolivia, and in the Archdiocese of Port of Spain, Trinidad. Sister Marie Anna served as director of religious education at St. Patrick Parish, Rockford, Ill.; Sacred Heart Parish, Washington, D.C.; and as director of religious education for the Archdiocese of New Orleans, La. She ministered as a CPE resident at Queen’s Medical Center, Honolulu, Hawaii; was a chaplain at St. John’s Medical Center, Longview, Wash.; and was director of chaplaincy at St. Mary’s Medical Center, Knoxville, Tenn. She then worked for the United States Department of Justice Federal Bureau of Prisons in both the medical center in Lexington, Ky., and the camp in Morgantown, W.V., as chaplain and as director of the department. Sr. Marie Anna then worked in parish ministry at St. Jane de Chantal Church, Bethesda, Md.; was director of prison ministry at Paulist National Catholic Evangelization Association, Washington, D.C.; and was a medical/surgical/hospice RN with Bon Secours Health System, Richmond, Va. She served the Sinsinawa Dominican Congregation as an RN at the motherhouse, Sinsinawa, Wis. She volunteered as an RN for the Dominican Sisters at Stair Crest in Muskego, Wis.

Sister Marie Anna was preceded in death by her parents. She is survived by two sisters, Helen Wyczalek and Jean (Mike) Huether; nieces; and her Dominican Sisters. Memorials may be made to the Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa, 585 County Road Z, Sinsinawa, Wis., or given online at www.sinsinawa.org/donate.