Sister Michael Marie Laux, SSND
(née Mary Jane Laux)

First Profession
Motherhouse
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Beloved sister of Sister Marie LeClerc Laux, SSND; Father Donald Laux; & Brother Michael Laux, OSB.

Sister Michael Marie, the youngest of the Laux family, was born in Menasha,
Wisconsin, on November 6, 1930. Her parents, Alex and Apolonia Hardt
Laux, named her Mary Jane. It must have been quite a religious family since
four of the children went on to religious life. Harold (Harry), the first born,
married Rita, and had nine children. Next was Donald who became a priest
in the Green Bay Diocese, then Gloria Mae (Sister Marie LeClerc) left home
to also become a School Sister of Notre Dame (SSND). The fourth one, Bob,
became a Benedictine Brother named Michael. Her mother died when Sister
Michael Marie was on her first mission and her father eventually married her
mother's sister. She, too, died long before he did.

Her school years were at St. Mary, Menasha, Wisconsin, for grades one to 12.
She entered the convent the summer of her graduation and went on to get a
Bachelor's Degree in English, and eventually got a Master's Degree in Guidance
and Counseling while serving in Guam.

Sister Michael Marie's assignments were in various aspects of teaching. She
began with middle school teaching at Holy Trinity School in Milwaukee, for
five years and then Holy Name School, Sheboygan, Michigan, for six years.
Then she was assigned to Columbus High School in Marshfield, Wisconsin,
teaching English for just one year when she was asked to go to Guam and work
as a missionary. She had hoped to do that one day and was glad to serve in that
capacity. She worked at various schools, in Guam, as secondary teacher for 11
years. During that time, she and another Guamanian sister toured other islands
in the Carolinas. This was the first time the community looked beyond Guam
for missionary work. She returned to Wisconsin and was assigned to teach at
Lourdes High School in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, where she taught for six years.
Then she responded to a request for sisters to work in Alaska. She reached out
eagerly and was missioned to Alakunak for three years and then to Emmonak
for five years working as a director of religious education. She said that it was
subsistence living with the Eskimos and birthing the Church in the area.

At 59 years of age, she answered the call to go to Kenya where she served for 16
years. She started in the diocese of Kisumu as secondary teacher for four years.
Then came her biggest challenge, she was to start a residence school for girls
in Kisii. That meant building the school and hiring people to do the work. She
says, "None of us had ever done this before and so, we just started."

She returned to the states at the age of 75. She was still ready to give more
so, she was invited by Mount Mary University in Milwaukee, to tutor in the
Student Success Center. This meant her working one-on-one with struggling
students. She did this for 13 years.

Sister Michael Marie was not only a dedicated teacher, but she was also a
committed community member. Life was not only a serious function, but she
balanced it with a very good sense of humor. She knew how to bond with
others as they lived out a life of prayer and joy, supporting others who needed
her. She had just celebrated 90 years of a life well-lived for the sake of the
mission when she received her final call home. Survived by her sister, Sister
Marie Le Clerc, nieces, nephews, cousins, friends and the SSND community.
Preceded in death by her parents Alex And Apolonia; her brothers, Brother
Michael OSB, Reverend Donald and Harold. The funeral for Sister Michael
Marie was December 30, at Notre Dame of Elm Grove followed by burial in the
Elm Grove cemetery.

(School Sisters of Notre Dame, Central Pacific Province)

Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord!