Sr. OP

Mitchell, Sister Elaine, OP, baptized Elaine Genevieve Mitchell in Tomahawk, WI, died on January 9, 2016. She was 95 years old and a Dominican Sister for 76 years. Sister Elaine was the third of fifteen children. Inspired by the Dominican Sisters in elementary school in Marinette WI, she encountered the Sisters again in high school at St. Mary, Muskegon, and entered the Congregation in 1938. Sister Elaine's first ministry was education, in which she was supported by a B.A. from Aquinas College. She taught the elementary grades at St. John, Essexville; St. Joseph, Wright; Visitation, North Dorr; St. Michael, Suttons Bay; St. Joseph, Weare; Sacred Heart, Mt. Pleasant; Marywood Academy; and St. Mary, Muskegon. She was especially happy to prepare children for First Communion. After 25 years in the classroom Sister Elaine turned to a new ministry: food service. She received a Dietary Certificate from Boston Food Service Management. This ministry took her to Sacred Heart, Merrill; St. Andrew, Grand Rapids; St. Joseph Seminary, Grand Rapids; St. Mary, Kingsley; St. Mary, Lake Leelanau; Aquinata Hall; St. Alphonsus, Grand Rapids; and Marywood. Always ready to serve, Sister Elaine also ministered as executive housekeeper at the Congregation's House of Studies; assistant pastoral minister at Holy Trinity, Bay City; receptionist at Marywood; and then coordinator of personal needs at Aquinata Hall. Overcoming childhood polio and later living with profound hearing loss, Sister Elaine had a heart for persons with special needs. In 1982 she earned a certificate in Religious Education for Deaf Persons and served as a signer at televised Masses, and studied Braille in order to assist persons with limited eyesight. She was a poet and received recognition from the Catholic Poetry Association and others. She loved to write poems, walk, read, sew, crochet and bake bread. Sister Elaine is survived by her sisters Bernadette Rose Jacobson, Ringwood, IL; Benita Veronica (William) Mikesell, Muskegon, MI; Mary Elizabeth (Francis) Lanciaux, Hesperia, MI; and sisters-in-law Jo An Mitchell, Morley, MI and Mary Jane Mitchell, Muskegon; nieces, nephews, many friends, and members of her Dominican Sisters~Grand Rapids Community Sister Elaine will repose at Dominican Chapel/Marywood, 2025 Fulton Street East, with visitation on Monday, January 11 from 4:00-7:00 pm and a Remembering Service at 7:00 pm. A Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 4:00 pm on Tuesday, January 12 at Dominican Chapel/Marywood. Burial will be at Resurrection Cemetery. Memorials in Sister Elaine Mitchell's name may be made to the Grand Rapids Dominican Sisters Health Care Fund. To send flowers or a memorial gift to the family of Sr. Elaine Genevieve Mitchell OP please visit our Sympathy Store.