CONCORDIA — Sister Jeanette Wasinger, 76, died Oct. 22, at Nazareth Motherhouse in Concordia.  She was a Sister of St. Joseph for 56 years. Born in Hays on June 3, 1938, she was the daughter of Nick and Catherine (Stecklein) Wasinger, the younger of two children, and was baptized Jeanette Mae. She entered the Sisters of St. Joseph, Concordia, on Sept. 8, 1957. On March 18, 1958, Jeanette received the habit of the Sisters of St. Joseph and was given the name Sister Joseph Andre. Changes in religious life gave her the opportunity to return to her baptismal name Jeanette. She pronounced first vows on March 19, 1959, and final vows on March 19, 1962.
 Sister Jeanette began her religious life as an elementary teacher in Chicago, Ill. After two years of teaching she served as treasurer of Marymount College of Salina, while taking classes. She earned her BA in Economics and Business Administration in 1965. In 1969, she earned a MHA degree from St. Louis University in Hospital Administration. This embarked her on several administrative ministries in her life, initially as vice-president of St. John’s Hospital, Salina, followed by years of administrative ministries in the Congregation:  Regional Coordinator for the community, 1983-1987 and Vice President, 1987-1991. She served as staff member with the Dominican Sisters at the Heartland Center for Spirituality in Great Bend, until her parents’ illnesses in 1998 led her to care for them until their deaths in Hays in December/January of 1999-2000. After a sabbatical, she served as the Nazareth Motherhouse Administrator in Concordia, until she moved to Orange, Calif., serving as a Pastoral Care Associate for the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange. She returned to Concordia in 2009 with a diagnosis of lung cancer.  
 Sister Jeanette was preceded in death by her parents, Nick and Katie Wasinger and her only brother, Donald. She is survived by her sister-in-law, Virginia; many nieces and nephews; and great nieces and nephews.  
The Mass of Christian Burial will be at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday in the Motherhouse Chapel with the Rev. James Hoover presiding. Burial will be in the Nazareth Motherhouse Cemetery. Visitation will be in the Motherhouse Auditorium from Thursday, until the vigil on Friday at 7:00 p.m.  Sister Marcia Allen is eulogist.  Guests desiring to come may park in the East parking lot and enter the East door by the Auditorium. Memorials for Sister Jeanette Wasinger may be given to the Sisters of St. Joseph Health Care/Retirement Fund or the Apostolic Works of the Sisters; P.O Box 279, Concordia, KS  66901.  For online condolences, visit www.chaputbuoy.com.  

Funeral arrangments provided by
Chaput-Buoy Funeral Home**
325 W. 6th St.
Concordia, KS, 66901
Great Bend (Kan) Tribune, Oct. 23, 2014