Jansen, SSND, Sr. Miriam (Irene), 86, Baptized into the Hope of Christ’s Resurrection on Wednesday June 25, 2025.
Twin girls were born in St. Ann’s Hospital. St. Louis, MO on May 9, 1939, and baptized on June 1, 1939. Irene and Alice spent the first months of their lives at the Catholic Children’s Home in Alton, IL. While the chaplain looked for a permanent home for the twins. He was determined to keep them together. At the age of nine months, on Easter Sunday, they went home with their new parents, Victor and Rose Mary (Vonnhamen) Jansen.
Irene and Alice had a very happy childhood and did everything together. While their parents could tell them apart, their teachers rarely caught on to their pranks. They attended St. Mary’s Grade School staffed by the School Sisters of Notre Dame and Marquette High School staffed by the Ursuline Sisters. Their parents made many sacrifices to insure they received a Catholic education.
Their father died when the twins were juniors in high school. Following graduation, Irene asked her mother to enter SSND. Her mother found this difficult to accept but supported and encouraged by her twin, Alice, Irene entered the candidature at Sancta Maria in Ripa on August 29, 1957. She was received into the novitiate on July 29,1958 and given the name Miriam Victor in memory of her father. At her reception, her mother expressed her happiness about Irene’s decision. Her mother passed away just four months later after a brief illness. Sister Miriam was professed on July 30,1959 with her twin, Alice, the only family member present. She professed final vows on July 30, 1965.
Sister Miriam began her long educational career by teaching primary children at Holy Rosary School, Houma, LA and Sacred Heart, Rich Fountain, MO. She taught intermediate grades at St. Martin, Jefferson City, MO; St. Augustine, Breese, IL and Immaculate Conception, West Alton, MO. In 1972, she was appointed superintendent of schools in the Jefferson City, MO diocese – the first woman appointed to this position.
In 1979, she was elected provincial leader of the former St. Louis Province and served until 1987. During that time the General Council asked her to co-lead a two-year international seminar focused on the congregation’s ministry directed toward education.
In 1988 following a year of study at Harvard University, she was a consultant for Global Education Associates in New York. From 1989-92 she served as curriculum director for the newly established Sister Thea Bowman Catholic School in East St. Louis, IL. In 1992, she became director of international programs at the College of Notre Dame of Maryland (now Notre Dame of Maryland University) in Baltimore, MD. She served in this position for 19 years.
After leaving higher education she continued educational consulting work, within and beyond SSND, including as a presenter at the SSND Global Education Commission gathering in Rome in early 2025. She participated in developing new models for ministry sponsorship for the Central Pacific and Atlantic Midwest SSND provinces and mentored leaders of SSND educational ministries. After thirty-two years of ministry in the Atlantic-Midwest Province, Sister Miriam moved “home” to the Midwest in August of 2024.
Sister Miriam received a bachelor’s degree in speech from the former Notre Dame College, St. Louis, MO in 1962; a master’s degree in education from Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana, in 1974 and a master’s degree focusing on global education from Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1989.
The evening of June 12, 2025, she was admitted to SSM St. Louis University Hospital suffering from pneumonia. She passed away peacefully the morning of June 25, 2025, with her faithful friend, Ann Scholz, SSND, at her side.
Sister Miriam was an outstanding educator, leader, organizer and deeply committed to Catholic education. She touched lives around the world and inspired many by her kindness and gentle strength, her love for her twin and family, her SSND family and her international students and colleagues.
May she now rest in the arms of the God she served so faithfully for 66 years.
Sister Miriam is survived by her twin sister Alice (Bob) Reinecke. Dear aunt to Ann (Chris) Munier, Bill (Gari) Reed, Mary (Paul) Rickard, Barb (Dave) Kupiec, Patrick (Mayrisa) Reed, and Jenny Reed (John) Berglund, seven great nieces and one great nephew and her sisters in the international SSND community.
Services: Family, friends, and her sisters in community will gather at Sancta Maria in Ripa Chapel, 320 East Ripa Ave, St. Louis, MO 63125 on Wednesday, July 23 at 10 with sharing of memories at 10:30 followed by a mass of Resurrection at 11:15 The celebration will be livestreamed at https://www.ssndcp.org/live/smr. Interment Sancta Maria Cemetery. Contributions in her memory may be made to School Sisters of Notre Dame.
Truly dedicated her life to Christ, His teaching and teaching children in the Catholic faith…for decades. God Grant her Eternal Rest and Peace!
(From a friend at Notre Dame of Maryland University)
There have been many chapters in our university’s existence, we each get our own glimpse into them. I have been blessed to know and learn from so many spectacular women who happened to be School Sisters of Notre Dame, during my time here at CND/NDMU. Experiencing those chapters of our storied and revered institution is a singular experience for each of us. A grace I wish you all could have known is Sr. Miriam Jansen, SSND. She was a twin adopted at birth and raised by a loving mom and dad, who followed a busy and circuitous route to our campus in 1992 when she became the director of International Programs at CND—our earlier name. Her impact here was immediate and tremendous and she graced us with her devotion, wisdom and presence for 19 years. Forgive me, Sr. Miriam, for being unable to list your many real accomplishments. I know our international population grew dramatically under her leadership and ELI came into its own. What I treasure most were the many opportunities I had to work collaboratively with her on committees and task forces where she never lost sight of where our community had come from, where it was, what it could become, and her role in taking us there.
She is a beloved friend who graced this campus and countless individuals with her wisdom, compassion, quiet strength and a great sense of humor that never lost its youthful and impish vigor. She was not only deeply devoted to God, she nurtured hearts and minds and she built communities large and small. I would give anything to see her stifle a laugh at an inappropriate time or at some comment I made just one more time.
For those of you who never had the pleasure of knowing Sr. Miriam, she was one of those people who took up the mantle of all who had gone before and placed it on her shoulders and without saying a word said follow me into the future. I will treasure your memory dear heart.
Sr. Miriam was a strong guiding force in my life as an international student at the college of Notre Dame in Maryland. Always gentle, but firm. May her soul rest peacefully in the bossom of the Lord!!
Sister Miriam was my wonderful M.A.T. internship supervisor at Notre Dame. She had a positive influence on me by helping me establish myself professionally in my lifelong calling of teaching immigrants English. She provided me with important feedback when she observed me teaching children, and she was an important reference for me. God bless her and all the sisters at Notre Dame. I continue to encourage students to study at Notre Dame. I pray God’s comfort for everyone that is grieving her passing. Truly, she is in a better place now with our Lord and Savior!
Sister Miriam and I overlapped at Notre Dame for about six years, starting in 2005 when Notre Dame hired me to run their Language Learning Center. My office was just down the hall from Sister Miriam, on the other side of the International Center. She set a formidable example for all of us, no matter our role: student, faculty, staff, white collar, blue collar, no collar…it was of no matter. Sister Miriam had a quiet strength that was easily perceived. That strength could be brought to bear in a manner that was kind, gentle, and persuasive all at the same time. Coupled with her thoroughly genuine nature, it’s not a mystery as to how she made the International Center such a wonderful place, earning the love and respect of so many people who walked those halls during her time there. I have very fond memories of my early days there, and those memories were only possible because of her extraordinary leadership. Truly, the International Center was a different place after she left. No one came close to replacing her, and the programs in the International Center certainly suffered as a result.
I have one particularly fond memory of Sister Miriam that made me smile whenever I would recall it years later, and did so again when I learned of her passing:
One summer morning, when things were especially slow, I decided to bring one of my dogs (Goose) to work one morning. I’m almost certain that it was “Bring Your Dog to Work” day or something along those lines. Goose was a beautiful blend of Newfoundland and Belgian sheepdog. She was tall, weighed around 90-95 pounds, had a black coat, and had a giant head and enormous paws. I wouldn’t have brought her to the office if she weren’t a truly docile creature, but she could be intimidating just based on her size/build alone. At a glance, she looked like a real brute, but she had a gentle soul.
Sister Miriam couldn’t believe that I brought “a horse!” to work. She was tickled, equal parts smiling/laughing as Goose walked around chairs, people, tables, etc., but she kept her distance from the Clydesdale who stomping circles just outside of her office! Still, Sister Miriam was eager to see if the giant really was gentle, and eventually worked her way up to petting Goose a couple of times before enough was enough!
Goose was gentle, of course. Quiet and strong as well. Just like Sister Miriam.
Sr. Miriam was one of the kindest people I have ever known. She was always so gracious, thoughtful, and considerate. I came to know her when I was hired to assist with the career center and service-learning at CND (later NDMU). She was so supportive and frank in her comments as she guided me. I missed her so much when she left. She had a sterling career in education and International leadership. I did not know she was a twin and that her adoptive parents passed when she and her sister were so young. I am glad to learn that she had so many nieces and nephews. I send my deepest sympathy to her dear sister Alice, her good friend, Sr. Ann and her entire family. Sr. Miriam was a rare and special person full of joy and hope. May she rest in peace.
For me it was truly an honor, a privilege and a blessing ministering with Miriam at NDMU and living with her in our Charlesgate Community. She was heart and soul of the English Language Institute at NDMU with her warm hospitality, her gentle strength and her clear, deep vision and her humor!. She was one of the truest daughters of Theresa and Caroline I have ever known. Miriam, I love you and thank you for being part of my life.
My deepest and heartfelt condolences. So was lucky to see Sr. Miriam in NYC last summer. That was a memorable visit where we got to reminisce about our time at College of Notre Dame (Notre Dame of Maryland University). I arrived from Sierra Leone to CND where I met Sr. Miriam, who was in charge of the International Student Center. She was loving and caring, and without her guidance many of us would have been lost and homesick. She was so kind, and she was family- home away from home. I was honored to know her and may she rest in peace.
I appreciated reading all these caring tributes to Miriam, truly an accomplished educator, organizer, and community leader. I am grateful to have known Miriam through her devoted friend Ann, and I shared happy hours as one of the SSND/OSF foursome in Maryland. I sorely missed Miriam and Ann when they returned “home” to St. Louis. In addition to all her more scholarly accomplishments, she made the best hummus and the best brownies! Miriam and I shared a love of books and exchanged some of our best reads. Thank you, Miriam, for many shared happy hours. Your sister and family, Ann, and many friends, including your Franciscan friends, sorely miss you. We count on your love and prayers as we continue our Earth journey. With love and gratitude, Marie and Maria, OSF.
Sister Miriam was a force. Though in my experience, that’s a pre-requisite for being a School Sister of Notre Dame.
I first came to know Sister Miriam as a student at then College of Notre Dame, mostly through a classmate and close friend of mine, Carolyn. Carolyn took a plane from Belfast, Ireland to Baltimore and, like most students studying abroad, soon found herself in a long hallway of an unfamiliar school, tears welling up and slipping down her face as she tried to make sense of this new place, an ocean away from everyone she knew and loved. Then, as if on cue, Sister Miriam came upon Carolyn. She walked Carolyn to her office, let her dial the number to her mother in Belfast, closed the door, and let Carolyn and her mother talk privately for as long as they needed. I’m certain this was an ordinary interaction for Sister Miriam and it’s quite possible that Carolyn was just one in a long line of home sick international students who had called their mother from Sister Miriam’s office that day, but over twenty years later, Carolyn still recalls this moment of kindness. To look at someone who is far from home and offer them a bit of humanity. What a lesson for our times.
I came to know Sister Miriam more closely during my time as a staff member at Notre Dame. If you’ve ever worked for an institution that is full of heart and simultaneously dotted with century old pipes that burst without warning, you’ll know there is no shortage of moments of absurdity in such places. Sister Miriam was exactly the colleague you wanted in such a place. I can still see her putting her hand to head, shaking her head as if to say “what are we going to do?”, letting out a laugh, and then getting to work. And of course, not without expressing her gratitude to have you as a colleague.
After leaving the College to take another job, I continued to stay in touch with Sister Miriam who by that point was a friend, mentor, and confidante. I will remember sharing tea on the balcony of her apartment, long phone conversations during the early days of COVID, and the last letter she wrote to me after she and Sister Ann moved to St. Louis. Sister Miriam always listened…REALLY listened. Whether I was kvetching about trivial matters at work, updating her on the number of cats I had acquired, or sharing my experience of being a caregiver to multiple family members, some with terminal illnesses, Sister Miriam always heard every word. She would meet me with a tender nod of the head, an affirmation, a sigh of comradery.
I feel so fortunate to have had her in my life. There is so much of her that I will always carry with me. In particular, her gentle voice of reason. The one that I turn to when the dizzying din of traffic in my head makes it hard to think clearly. Sister Miriam’s words were always able to lead me to still waters. Years ago she sent me the following words by email and they have been embedded in my heart and mind ever since. She said,
“Be gentle with yourself.
Give yourself permission
to shed a little guilt
and do at least one or two new things each week for yourself.
I’m here for you.
Let’s plan a walk once in awhile.
It would be good for both of us.”
Sister Miriam Jansen was my boss and mentor for eight years while we both worked together at Notre Dame of Maryland University. You cannot imagine the impact that this woman had on me as well as hundreds and hundreds of international students who came through the doors of the international center.
Her sly sense of humor, quiet leadership, impeccable judgment, and grace endeared her to staff and students alike. She guided us, she inspired us, and she supported us through many challenges, always making time no matter how busy she was. She was an exceptional human being and was admired and respected by so many.
More than my boss, sister Miriam became a very close friend. She liked to use the phrase “true and dear” and that is what she was to me. Though I miss her terribly, I hear her voice guiding me. Her gift lives on and so must we, taking her lessons and doing our part to carry her spirit forth.