Dear Friends,

Please pray for me. I am crushed, heart-broken, totally devastated. The Sister I live with, my very best friend in the entire world, passed away unexpectedly on Friday morning. I performed CPR, but to no avail.

I'm having a tremendously hard time and don't know how I'll get through the week, let alone the days ahead. Sister Joan brought me into the Church, into the SSJs, was my mom-best friend-mentor-teacher-sister. I knew her my entire adult life and we lived together for ten years (my entire time in the convent). I can't stop crying.

Pray for strength, and please say a special pray for me.

She always enjoyed my kilts and music.

I will invite you, all around the world, to do me a very special favor; raise a glass to Sister Joan…a truly amazing woman

God bless us all; Sister Joan, pray for us.

With love,

Sister Heidi…pipesndrumsnun

I wrote the following:


Sister Joan Marie May of St. Mark’s in Goodrich entered into eternal life on Friday January 16, 2009 after a sudden and unexpected heart attack. Sister Joan was the thirteenth child of thirteen born to William and Anna (Bohr) May, coming into the world on March 7, 1941 in Portland, Michigan. She entered the Sisters of St. Joseph of Nazareth, Michigan on September 1, 1959, and was preparing to celebrate her Golden Jubilee marking fifty years as a religious Sister. Sister Joan was a classroom teacher in many Catholic elementary schools throughout Michigan for sixteen years, followed by eleven years as principal at St. Joseph’s School in St. Johns, Michigan. In June of 1989, Sister Joan was appointed Pastoral Coordinator of St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church in Goodrich by Bishop Kenneth Povish of the Diocese of Lansing; she offered twenty years of loving and dedicated service to the family of St. Mark’s.

Mourning her loss and celebrating her life are: best friends Sister Heidi King and Sister Rita Schafer; all of the Sisters of St. Joseph; all of the people of St. Mark’s; countless friends and family members whose lives she touched, including sister Laurine Spitzley of Mulliken, MI and brother and sister-in-law Leon and Jeri May of Portland, MI; sisters-in-law Marie May, Germaine May, Germaine P. May, and brother-in-law Don Spitzley, and many nieces nephews, godchildren, and friends near and far.

Sister Joan was preceded in death by: her parents, sisters Elizabeth, Ruth, Mary Ann, Katherine, and Dorothy, and brothers Bill, Harold, Robert, Carl, and Fred, dear friend and mentor Sister Marie Celine Allen, and many friends and loved ones.

Visitation will be held at Swartz Funeral Home 1225 W. Hill Road, Flint, MI on Sunday from 10am to 12 noon and 2 to 6pm, with a prayer service at 7pm. Visitation at St. Mark’s 7296 Gale Road 9:30-11am with funeral Mass celebrated by Bishop Earl Boyea at 11am. Sister will be welcomed home to Nazareth 3427 Gull Road Nazareth (Kalamazoo), MI 49074 at 4pm Tuesday with prayer service at 7pm, and Funeral Mass on Wednesday at 10:30am.

In addition to her many duties as Pastoral Coordinator at St. Mark’s, Sister Joan was very active in the greater Goodrich area, serving on the Board of Directors of Outreach East in Davison, and the Goodrich Ministerial Association. She served on numerous Diocesan committees, such as the Pastoral Council, Education Committee, Diocesan Coordinating Committee, and the Deacon Formation Committee, as well as committees inside of her religious community, such as the Sisters of Saint Joseph Vocation Vision Committee, and the Chapter Elections Committee, and was a trustee of St. Joseph Health System, Tawas. As a sign of their great love for Sister Joan, the people of St. Mark’s named the parish center (built under Sister’s leadership) in her honor. “The Sister Joan M. May, SSJ Parish Center” received its name during the yearlong festivities celebrating St. Mark’s twenty-fifth anniversary as a parish in 2003.

All who knew Sister Joan loved her deeply, and she them. We sorely grieve her loss yet rejoice with her in the fact that this magnificent woman, “our shining star” is, without a doubt, dancing and singing in Heaven with Jesus and all of the family members, Sisters, and friends who went before her. Join us in saying a prayer and raising a glass to our beloved Sister Joan; surely the celebration in Heaven is grand. “Well Done, My Good and Faithful Servant”. God Bless. We love you.