Sister Norberta Hunnewinkel (Courtesy photo)
Hawaii Catholic Herald
Sister of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities Noberta Hunnewinkel, a teacher and social worker who was honored for her work with the less fortunate in New Jersey before she arrived in Hawaii 12 years ago, died July 9 in Honolulu at age 83.
Sister Hunnewinkel was born Judith Ann Hunnewinkel in Evanston, Illinois, on Feb. 10, 1941. She moved often with her family, which included an adopted sister, due to her father’s work.
In high school she was a boarder at St. Francis Convent School in Syracuse, New York, where the joy expressed by the Sisters of
St. Francis inspired her to enter the congregation at age 16.
Sister Hunnewinkel went on to become a teacher in inner-city Camden, New Jersey, and at St. Joseph’s School in Hoboken, New Jersey, where many of her students were the children of recent immigrants.
According to the reflection Sister Hunnewinkel wrote for the Hawaii Catholic Herald to mark her 60th jubilee of religious life, she spent 19 years teaching before working for several years in Peru.
Upon her return, she earned her master’s degree in social work and was key to the founding of The Hoboken Center, which was established to help people displaced as turmoil roiled the city.
Sister Hunnewinkel was director of the shelter for 25 years and served on Hoboken’s rent control board. During this time she also became the foster mother of siblings Lingie Chu-Hopf and Cambridge Chu. According to an obituary released by the Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities, “having them as her chosen children was one of the greatest joys of her life.”
Sister Hunnewinkel’s honors include being named a Jersey Journal woman of achievement in 1987; receiving the Peacemaker Award from the Franciscan Federation in 2002; and being honored with a proclamation of gratitude from the mayor of Hoboken in 2011.
In 2012 she arrived in Hawaii and ministered across the St. Francis Healthcare System. After her retirement she remained with St. Francis as a volunteer.
Sister Hunnewinkel’s celebration of life will be held at St. Ann Church in Kaneohe on Aug. 20. In lieu of flowers, donations can be given to the Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities.