Summary
Sister Denise Schwarz, ASC, passed to eternal life late Saturday morning, March 18, 2023, at Via Christi Sr. Francis Hospital in Wichita after a brief illness following surgery for a broken hip. Sister Denise was 87 years old and a professed member of the Adorers of the Blood of Christ for 66 years.
Through your kindly ways, let it be evident that everything
is in order and that you are committed to the school.
Let silence, prayer and the salvation of souls have top propriety.
(St. Maria DeMattias)
March 22, 2023
Sister Denise Schwarz, ASC, passed to eternal life late Saturday morning, March 18, 2023, at Via Christi Sr. Francis Hospital in Wichita after a brief illness following surgery for a broken hip. Sister Denise was 87 years old and a professed member of the Adorers of the Blood of Christ for 66 years.
Sister Denise was born in Okarche, OK, on April 6, 1935, to Frank and Mary (Grellner) Schwarz and was given the name Mary Jane. She was the third child and first daughter of what would be a family of 10 children.
She enjoyed reading on topics of substance and doing word puzzles. She enjoyed evening card games with close sister friends, playing with focused attention and quiet enthusiasm.
Eventually health issues led to diminished energy and necessitated moving to Caritas. For the last year or so, Sr. Denise lived with a heart condition and the knowledge that God might call her home any day.
Preceding Sr. Denise in death were her parents, Frank and Mary, her brothers, Arnold, Robert, Richard, and her sisters, Agnes Ann Schwarz and Rose James. She is survived by brothers, Steve and Deacon Max, and sisters, Helen Bice and Joan Anderson, in-laws, nieces and nephews, and members of the Adorers of the Blood of Christ. Two of her mother’s sisters were Adorers, Srs. Mary Ann and Zenona Grellner.
Sr. Denise will be welcomed home to the Wichita Center on Monday, March 27 at 9:30 a.m. The wake will be at 10:00 a.m., followed by the Mass of Christian Burial at 11:00 a.m. Fr. Joe Schwarz, a nephew, will be presider and homilist. Interment will be in the convent cemetery.
Sister Denise, God did call you home with a suddenness that gave us just a day to prepare our hearts for your absence among us. You left us as you lived among us, quietly and with no pretension. Yet we rejoice that God welcomes you home, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
Adorers of the Blood of Christ, United States Region
Donations in memory of Sr. Denise may be sent to the Adorers at 4233 Sulphur Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63109, or made online at www.adorers.org