Sister David Ennis, CSA

30 October 1926 - 12 January 2010

Sister David Ennis was principal at my elementary school beginning in 1991. I began pre-school in the fall of 1993. She ended her time there at the end of my sixth grade year in the spring of 2001. She has left a permanent impression on my life, the growth of my faith, and my devotion.

Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon her. May her soul and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

Sister David (Norma) Ennis, 83, died on Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2010, at Nazareth Center where she resided.

In Beloit, Wis., the day before Halloween, Oct. 30, 1926, James "Arthur" and Vera Ennis, along with their son, Patrick, welcomed a daughter into the world and named her Norma.

Her childhood years were spent in Beloit where she attended Brother Dutton School, and first met the Sisters of St. Agnes, her teachers. After her graduation from Brother Dutton in 1941, the Ennis family moved to Detroit, Mich. But Norma had been impressed by her teachers and returned to her Wisconsin roots by entering the Congregation in Fond du Lac in 1944.

Later, her brother Pat's family would join her, working with the Sisters on the farm east of town.

On Aug. 15, 1947, Norma made her first profession of vows as Sister David, the name she had received as a novice.

Assigned as a teacher in the tiny town of Nanty Glo, Pa., she began what would be more than a half-century as an educator and principal in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Illinois, and New York. Over the years, she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in education from Marian College (now Marian University) of Fond du Lac; a Bachelor of Science degree in library science from St. Catherine's College in St. Paul, Minn.; and a Master of Education degree in administration and supervision from Siena Heights in Adrian, Mich. Sister David successfully taught every grade from three through eight, but said she was "most comfortable" with seventh and eighth-graders.

Nearly 25 years of teaching were followed by more than 25 years as principal, the majority of those years in Fond du Lac where she served as principal in all the Catholic elementary schools except St. Louis. In 1991, 40 years after her graduation from Brother Dutton, Sister David returned to Beloit as principal of St. Peter's School. When she needed to lighten her load, she remained in education by serving as librarian at St. John the Baptist School in Jefferson, Wis.

Firm and competent as a teacher and efficient as an administrator, she leaves a lasting legacy on many of those students and colleagues who knew her over the last half of the 20th Century. Whatever her accomplishments, Sister David credited the Congregation with her success because of the many opportunities provided for spiritual and intellectual growth.

Although her ministry was education, Sister David was first, last, and always a woman religious.

Her loyalty as a member of the Congregation is equaled by the loyal and close friends she has made. For her family to whom she has remained close, she is an inspiration and a mentor to many. Her younger sister, who followed her into religious life though in a different community, found in her a model from whom she learned integrity, honesty, faithfulness, and fairness over the years. Sister David was a woman of principle and integrity; strong in the face of challenges, she faced her final illnesses in the past five years with courage, determination and dignity — and always with gratitude for any act of kindness shown her. A woman who often laughed at herself and joked with her friends about wanting to be always in control of herself and of situations, Sister David finally and peacefully gave over that control to the God who called her home last Tuesday.

Sister David is survived by a sister, Sister Mary Ann Ennis, OP, of Jefferson, Wis.; a sister-in-law, Eva Ennis of Fond du Lac; many nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews; and the Sisters of St. Agnes with whom she lived, prayed, and ministered.

Preceding her in death were her parents, James "Arthur" and Vera Noonan Ennis; two brothers: James (Jr.) Ennis, who died as an infant, and James "Pat" Ennis; and one sister: Rosemary Ennis, who also died as an infant.


•Visitation: Visitation for Sister David will be held on Friday, Jan. 15, 2010, from 8:30 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. at Nazareth Court and Center, 375 Gillett St. Fond du Lac. A prayer service will be held there at 11 a.m.


•Services: A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Jan. 15 at 1:30 p.m. in the St. Francis Home Chapel, 33 Everett St., Fond du Lac. Father Tom Coyle will preside. Burial will follow at St. Joseph Springs Cemetery.

Memorials can be directed to the Sisters of St. Agnes Development Office, 320 County Road K, Fond du Lac, WI, 54935.

The Sisters of St. Agnes are grateful to the nurses and staff of Nazareth Court and Center and of Hospice Hope for their care of Sister David in her retirement years.

Zacherl Funeral Home of Fond du Lac is serving the Sisters of the Congregation of St. Agnes. Additional information is available at www.zacherlfuneralhome.com.


FIRC: Office for the Dead, 15 January 2010