Kallus

Sister Mary Agnes Kallus, OSB, 93, of Lisle, Ill. was welcomed peacefully into her Savior’s arms the morning of Wednesday, April 10, 2019.

She was born in Hostyn on Nov. 19, 1925, the daughter of Robert F. and Cecilia (Janda) Kallus. Her baptismal name was Annie.

She was one of twelve children, and in 1942 entered the Benedictine Sisters of Sacred Heart Monastery in Lisle. Four other siblings, two deceased and two living, are members of the same Sacred Heart Monastery community.

Having obtained her Bachelor’s Degree from DePaul University in Chicago, she was an educator her entire career. Sister Mary Agnes served at St. Joseph Orphanage and was “dorm mother” to orphans from 1945 to its closure in 1956. She taught at St. Joan of Arc in Lisle, and schools in Texas and Ohio before moving to Joliet, IL in 1970 where she taught at St. Bernard, St. Cyril and Methodius, and in 1980 moved to St. Joseph’s School teaching fourth grade until her retirement in 2009 when she returned to the monastery.

While in Joliet, she ministered to the parishioners at St. Cyril and Methodius on weekends as the religious education coordinator, helped prepare students for First Eucharist and Confirmation, served as sacristan and Eucharistic minister in the Church, and brought communion to the homebound. Sister Mary Agnes was an active member of her parish working hard to ensure success and fun at parish events, and was a member of the Altar and Rosary Society and the Parish Council. Any spare time was spent visiting nursing homes and providing clothing and food to those in need in Joliet.

Sister Mary Agnes kept busy with duties at the monastery and was active up until the night before she died. She would have celebrated her 75th anniversary of monastic profession in the fall of 2019.

She is survived by brother, Robert B. Kallus and wife Lillian of Hostyn; two sisters, Sister Josephine Kallus, O.S.B. and Sister Virginia Kallus, O.S.B. of Lisle, IL, and many nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents; siblings: Cyrill R. Kallus and wife Liola, Lawrence Kallus and wife Bernice, Betty Stavinoha and husband Edmund, Cecilia Kruppa and husband Edwin, all of La Grange; Mary Stavinoha and husband Jerome of Houston, Marcy Pircher and husband Reinhold of San Antonio, Sister Andrea Kallus, O.S.B. and Sister Angelica Kallus, O.S.B. of Lisle, IL.

Funeral Mass was held at 11 a.m. on Monday, April 15, 2019 in the Sacred Heart Monastery Chapel with interment in the monastery’s St. Scholastica’s Cemetery.