Karen Anne JACKSON

28 JUN 1938 - 13 MAR 2023

• BIRTH: 28 JUN 1938, Detroit, Wayne County, MI
• DEATH: 13 MAR 2023, St Marys Convent, Notre Dame, IN

INDEX

[N34764] Sister Karen Anne Jackson, CSC
(Sister M. John Bosco)
June 28, 1938 - March 13, 2023

Entered the Sisters of the Holy Cross from Detroit, Michigan, on August 1, 1956Initial Profession of Vows on February 2, 1959 Sister Karen Anne Jackson lived as a consecrated woman religious for 64 years as a Sister of the Holy Cross. When she died in the first minutes of the midnight hour of March 13, 2023, at Saint Mary’s Convent, Notre Dame, Indiana, she had already turned her will and her life over to the care of God. Karen Anne Jackson was born on June 28, 1938, in Detroit, Michigan. Her parents, William and Mary Catherine (Horgan) Jackson, were New York natives who moved to Detroit within a few years of the birth of Karen’s only sibling, Mary Lou, in 1934. Karen attended elementary and secondary school at St. Mary’s of Redford School, Detroit, where she was taught by the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. While in high school, she was co-captain of the girls’ basketball team. In the two years leading up to her senior year, Karen devoted herself to serious prayer and discernment of her vocation to the religious life. On August 1, 1956, a few months after graduating high school, Karen entered the Sisters of the Holy Cross, Notre Dame, Indiana. When applying to the novitiate, she wrote that she wished “to do God’s Holy Will.” After receiving the holy habit six months later, she became Sister Mary John Bosco. Sister John Bosco was an elementary school teacher for 22 years. She taught first through eighth grades at Holy Cross sponsored schools in Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan, from 1959 to 1981. In 1967, the same year she returned to her baptismal name, she graduated from Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Indiana, with a bachelor's degree in elementary education. During Sister Karen Anne’s assignment to Most Holy Redeemer School, Evergreen Park, from 1977 to 1981, she also volunteered in neighboring Park Ridge, Illinois at Lutheran General Hospital where patients could be treated for addictions. Her experience at the hospital led to a long ministry in mental health and rehabilitation services. As a woman religious, she also found great satisfaction in directing retreats for women suffering with addictions. After completing a training program at Lutheran General Hospital in 1984, Sister Karen Anne served as a counselor and coordinator at Parkside Lodge of Mundelein, Mundelein, Illinois, and Lutheran General Hospital for six years. From 1990 to 1999, she continued ministering at Lutheran General Hospital and other centers offering therapeutic care and counseling. In 1999, she took a leave of absence from ministry to care for family members and her own health. In 2000, Sister Karen Anne returned to teaching with an assignment to Shepherd’s Flock, an intergenerational childcare center in Arlington Heights, Illinois. She taught toddlers aged 15 to 26 months old, encouraging the development of each child’s spiritual, emotional, physical, and cognitive skills. While she found this ministry to be challenging, she once said that working with the children “kept my spirit young and my body moving to the varied routines that toddlers need each day.” In 2014, Sister Karen Anne transitioned to volunteering at Niles Family Services, Niles, Illinois, where she assisted the staff in developing new services to meet the needs of the multicultural residents, including daylong retreats she directed for women. Sister Karen Anne’s honest and bold personality enabled her to lead and facilitate retreats for women in addiction for over 30 years. She described these retreats as a blessing for herself and the women she inspired. She and others sought ongoing spiritual renewal to be essential for their health and well-being. An aggressive illness led Sister Karen Anne to move to Saint Mary’s Convent, in December 2022. Her extended family, friends, and Holy Cross sisters accompanied her in her last steps in this life. At the end of 84 winters, the Creator in whom she trusted, has now restored her to full health in the Risen Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Sister Karen Anne requested a green burial, which was scheduled for March 14, 2023, in Our Lady of Peace Cemetery. A memorial Mass will be celebrated at a later date.
-Written by Madisen Toth and Sister Catherine Osimo, CSC
Sisters of the Holy Cross Archives and Records