Trenton native featured on Hospital Sisters’ website

A Trenton native is the focus of the December “Story of the Month” on www.hospitalsisters.org, the website of the Hospital Sisters of St. Francis.

The Hospital Sisters are sponsors of Hospital Sisters Health System which sponsors 13 Illinois and Wisconsin hospitals. Illinois HSHS hospitals include St. Joseph-Breese, St. Joseph-Highland, St. Elizabeth-Belleville and St. John-Springfield.

Featured is Sister Joan Winkler, the daughter of Raymond and Anna Margarete (Cope) Winkler of Trenton, who entered the Hospital Sisters as a high school junior. She now serves in People Services (formerly Human Resources) at St. John’s in Springfield.

Sister, who was born at St. Joseph’s in Breese, attended St. Mary’s Grade School in Trenton then enrolled at St. Francis Preparatory School on the Hospital Sisters’ campus in northeast Springfield.

“I had been to St. Francis Convent as a child and since all three of my older sisters attended the Prep School for a year or two and my sister Fran (Sister Francis Winkler) had entered the community, I decided to enroll,” she said. “Something clicked and I realized this was the place I belonged.”

Sister made her First Profession Oct. 4, 1953, then earned a bachelors degree in dietetics from Fontbonne College in St. Louis, Mo. She served as a dietitian at St. Joseph-Highland and St. John-Springfield before joining the St. Elizabeth-Belleville staff as Director of Dietary, a position she held from 1958 to 1965.

After a brief stint as the Assistant Novice Mistress at the Motherhouse, she was assigned to another HSHS facility, Sacred Heart-Eau Claire, Wis., where she was Director of Dietary, then Assistant Administrator and finally Executive Director and Administrator, a position she held until August, 1974.

Her superiors suggested she pursue a master’s degree in health care administration and she graduated in 1976 from the University of Wisconsin (Madison). Sister remained in Madison for 10 years, serving, among other positions, as president of the Catholic Health Association of Wisconsin.

She later moved to Chicago, earning a master’s degree in pastoral studies from Loyola University and a certificate in Spirituality from the Institute of Spiritual Leadership, then served as Program Director at the Franciscan Apostolic Center at the Motherhouse until 1992.

More recently, Sister Joan served as Provincial Councilor from 1995 to 1999 and Provincial Superior of the American Province from 1999 to 2007 before assuming the position at St. John-Springfield.

“The choice of a life of commitment is a decision that must be made over and over again as you face life’s realities,” Sister said. “You need to remind yourself that you are being called to a deeper place within yourself where you can experience the presence of God.”

For the complete article, visit www.hospitalsisters.org and click on “Share Our Story.” After December, the feature will continue to be available under Archives.