Johanna Treml is a sister who has spent her life feeding the hungry. She was born in 1938 on a farm in West Kewaunee Wisconsin. She was the oldest of ten children, three of whom died young. The family lived with their grandparents until Johanna’s paternal grandfather bought them a farm of their own. Johanna was seven years old when a fire broke out on the farm. She remembers their efforts to get the animals away from the fire.
As a child, Johanna thought about being a homemaker. She watched her mother cook and bake and grew to think that her mother had the right idea. Johanna attended St. Mary School in nearby Luxemburg, where she met the School Sisters of St. Francis and sang in the choir.
In eighth grade, Johanna was asked if she wanted to be a nun; this seemed to be a foregone conclusion. Johanna was received in 1955. She asked Mother Corona if she could be a homemaker, and Mother agreed. Because she had asked to be a homemaker, the community decided that she did not need to attend high school. She was sent out to various missions to cook for the sisters during the school year and studied during the summer. She remembers taking art, history, and math, among other subjects.
The five years that Johanna spent at the newly opened Santa Maria Addolorata Parish on Chicago’s near northwest side were some of the best and happiest years of her life. Sister Mirella, the superior there, said, “I need a cook who is cheerful and happy with her work.” Johanna was ready. From 1960 to 1965, the sisters were a hardworking and joyous group.
In addition to cooking for the sisters, Johanna also attended the Chicago National Bakers School, where she earned a diploma as a baker. It was difficult to get to the school, so Johanna was allowed to do the baking at home and send samples of her results to the teachers. The rule of the convent was that lights went off at 9:00 p.m., but Johanna stayed up later to study for her final exam, which she passed with honors.
Johanna had been taking high school classes at the convent school, but still did not have her high school diploma. In 1965, to graduate from high school, she went to live at St. Benedict Parish in Chicago and spent her senior year at Alvernia High School. She earned her high school diploma, and Sisters Helena Steffensmeier and JoAnn Miller were two of her favorite teachers.
As it happened, Alvernia needed a homemaker, and Johanna, again, was ready. Did she want to work with the girls in the school or would she rather work in the convent with the sisters? She chose the girls, and for the next 24 years, Johanna ministered at Alvernia until the school closed in 1983.
After Alvernia closed, Johanna stayed on, working with the new owners of the building, Search Developmental Center, an organization that served individuals with disabilities. Eventually, the company found a new home in Northbrook and Johanna followed them there. After a time, she decided to retire and began managing the food pantry at St. Celestine Parish in Elmwood Park. Johanna was still a homemaker, of a different sort.
In 2024, Johanna became ill with blood clots in her lungs. After recovering in the hospital, she went into rehab at Sacred Heart in Milwaukee, and then healed with her family in Luxemburg. Now she is back at St. Celestine and ready, again, to get back to managing the pantry, making and giving food to people who are hungry.
Pantry visitors are not the only ones that are hungry. When Johanna appears at the Pax Area Community meetings, the group is very excited. They know that she will be carrying some of “Sister Almerida’s” cookies. Not only can each person have one, but she can also take some home for later!
Thank you, Johanna, for being a homemaker and for being ready to go wherever God wanted you to go through your life.