Sister Joan, the youngest of seven children, was born to Matthew and Marie Kaepplinger in Chicago on January 21, 1929. Her mother wanted her to be named after St. John the Baptist, the precursor of the Lord. Perhaps this was an early indication of the life Joan would try to live.

Of her four brothers and two sisters, Joan was not only close in age but in friendship to her sister, Patsy. Joan remembers being told, “You were born on our marriage bed, but also with a ball in your mouth!” She loved tennis, skating, and bowling with Patsy.

Having received a scholarship to Alvernia High School from St. Pascal’s Parish, Joan said, “I lived and loved Alvernia.” She participated in the Athletic Association, Literary Club, and belonged to the Christian Art Club, but she also attended lectures on social awareness and visited the city jail. Inspired by a deep calling, she entered the School Sister community after her junior year.

Joan said that her reception name, De Alverno, was a symbol that mountains would be significant in her life, as well as providing further rooting in her Franciscan, incarnational spirituality. Joan believed that the academic foundation provided at Alverno College was the impetus for her further studies at Marquette University and the University of Missouri, where she delved into literature, photography, art, and journalism. She incorporated all these skills into her many, multi-level teaching positions.

In 1982, Joan was invited to join the staff at Misericordia Home in Chicago where she ministered for the next 31 years. She said “looking back, it was all gift!  I loved those people.” Using her “common sense of the heart,” Joan could share all her talents, adding work in public relations and fundraising. Joan said, “They were so welcoming and taught me so much. We all formed a precious body, one people all in relationship like everything else.” 

During this time, she also included trips to Japan, Ireland, India and the southern California mountains, which deepened her evolutionary spirituality and the reality of Oneness. Joan believed in living in the now, the present moment. She said, “It is where our Great God lives. It is where we are to be for one another.” That is where her heart was grounded.

Experiencing very poor vision, Joan retired in 2013 and moved to Sacred Heart in 2020. She lived to experience stillness in silence. She held resolutely to the adage, “Attune yourself to the Divine Guest within your being, and the rest you will see with new eyes.”

Joan, we thank you for sharing your liveliness, sense of delight, openness, insights, and creativity.  We rejoice that you now clearly see your Beloved in All.