Sister Jeanne Anne Collis, a Sister of St. Joseph of Carondelet who paved new paths for women and religious in the Diocese of Honolulu, died March 6 at the congregation’s St. Joseph Provincial House in Latham, N.Y. She was 93 and a Sister of St. Joseph for 68 years. She served the church in Hawaii for 32 years.
Sister Claudia Wong, the director of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet in Hawaii, called her sister religious “a giant to many in Hawaii — children, families, the clergy and bishop, and all the religious.”
Sister Jeanne Anne came to Hawaii in the 1960s, first serving as a teacher and principal of St. Anthony School in Kailua. She then worked in a variety of administrative roles for the Diocese of Honolulu.
Sister Jeanne Anne was born on June 10, 1921, in Utica, to Leon and Ella Bevans Collis.
After graduating from high school, she was employed for six years for Utica Mutual Insurance Company and also served in the Red Cross during the Second World War.
She entered the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet in Troy, N.Y., on March 19, 1947, professing her final vows on the same day, the feast of St. Joseph, two years later.
She received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education from The College of Saint Rose, Albany, and later pursued postgraduate studies in contemporary theology at the University of Hawaii.
Sister Jeanne Anne taught for 22 years in schools of the dioceses of Albany, Syracuse and Honolulu.
During her more than three decades in Hawaii, she served as administrative assistant to Msgr. Daniel Dever, the superintendent of schools.
Under the administration of Bishop Joseph A. Ferrario, she was also the first woman in the diocese to be appointed vicar for religious, the liaison between Hawaii’s religious congregations and the bishop; assistant diocesan chancellor; and associate director of the permanent diaconate program with the late Father Bartholomew O’Leary.
In 1995, she returned to her congregation’s provincial house in Latham, N.Y., where she served as pastoral-care coordinator, and later, in various volunteer positions.
Sister Jeanne Anne was described as a gracious, vibrant woman whose joy in living overflowed into her every action. A Sister of St. Joseph to the core of her being, she gave the full expression of her many gifts to bring God’s unifying, reconciling love to all whom she met.
She maintained a fondness for the Islands, its people, culture and natural beauty, returning for special events as long as she was physically able. She infused warmth, wisdom, humor and love into every endeavor.
Sister Jeanne Anne is survived by her sisters Marjorie Cahill and Dorothy Lawless, both of Utica; her brother, Richard Collis of Annandale, Va.; 120 nieces and nephews through four generations; and the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet.
Her funeral was scheduled for March 12 in the chapel of St. Joseph’s Provincial House in Latham. She was to be buried in Our Lady Queen of Virgins Cemetery on the provincial house grounds.
