Sister Clarice Gierzak, OSM

Sister Clarice (Mary Dolorosa) Gierzak, OSM, 94, died peacefully on January 25, 2025 at Cerenity Marian in St. Paul, MN.

 Born in Detroit, MI, on Sept. 29, 1930, to Walter and Mary (née Spesak) Gierzak, she grew up in Washburn, WI. She left home at age 14 to join the Servants of Mary in Ladysmith, where she graduated from Our Lady of Sorrows High School in June 1948 and became a postulant the following September. 

 She received the white veil of a novice along with the religious name Sister Mary Dolorosa on August 14, 1949. She professed first vows on August 16, 1950 and final vows on August 18, 1956.

 Sister Clarice earned a bachelor of arts in education from Mount Senario College, a master of arts in educational leadership and administration from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, and an educational specialist degree from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul.

 For forty-seven years, Sister Clarice ministered as a teacher and principal in various Catholic elementary schools in Wisconsin, West Virginia, New Jersey, Illinois, and Minnesota. 

 She served for twenty-eight years as principal of St. Jerome School in Maplewood, MN, where she initiated a marketing program; started a fund for needy children; updated the curriculum; expanded the faculty; added a kindergarten, daycare, and preschool; and secured accreditation for the school by the Minnesota Non-Public School Accrediting Association (MNSAA). 

 Her outstanding leadership in education earned her awards from prestigious organizations such as the National Catholic Educational Association, the United States Department of Education, and the Elementary School Principals Association.

 She was elected to a three-year term on the Servants of Mary leadership team in 1996 and served as pastoral minister at St. Jerome Parish in Maplewood from 1997 to 2002. She spent her retirement years engaged in volunteer work, most notably as beloved spiritual assistant to the Confraternity of Our Lady of Sorrows in Maplewood.

 Sister Clarice is survived by her sister, Janet “Meg” Puig; sister-in-law, Karen Gierzak; many nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends; and the Servite Sisters, with whom she shared life for 80 years.

 She was preceded in death by her parents, Walter and Mary Gierzak; and siblings, Dorothy Volak, Walter Gierzak, Jr., Gerald Gierzak, Richard Gierzak, Lois Williamson, Lucille Tetzner, and Charles Gierzak. 

 Mass of Christian Burial 11 AM Monday, Feburary 3 at The Church of St. Jerome, 380 E Roselawn Avenue. Visitation 10-11 AM at church. Interment Riverside Cemetery in Ladysmith, WI. 

 Memorials may be sent to Servants of Mary, PO Box 389, Ladysmith, WI 54848.