Sr. Alice Trebatoski

Sister Alice Trebatoski, age 93, a Sister of St. Joseph of the Third Order of St. Francis for 75 years, died on June 26, 2023 at Marymount Village Care Facility in Garfield Heights, OH.  Sister Alice was born on July 17, 1929, to the late Regina (nee Szymanski) and Thomas Trzebiatowski.

Sister Alice entered the community from St. Adalbert Parish in Milwaukee, WI, and invested as a novice on August 10, 1948, taking the name of Sister Gabriel.  She pronounced her Perpetual Vows on August 10, 1955.

Sister Alice's journey began in education, specifically teaching and studying science.  She earned her bachelor's degree in education from Alverno College in Milwaukee and her master's and Ph.D. degree from the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, IN., with financial help from the National Science Foundation and NASA in the 1960s. Sister taught at both the high school and college level for several years.  At the end of the Second Vatican Council and following the call from the church for religious communities to "return to their roots," Sister Alice helped to form the St. Francis Region of the SSJTOSF congregation and move out of the traditional ministry of teaching to experience living and working among the poor in New York City.  She later moved back to the mid-west, first settling in Chicago, IL, creating an  alternative high school, called Prologue; and then to Milwaukee, WI, where she ministered as Development Director for Centro de la Communidad Unida, a Hispanic not-for-profit.  Sister Alice also served on the Central Board of the Congregation for several years before returning into volunteer ministry in hospitals and other organizations.

In 2008, Sister Alice retired to St. Joseph Motherhouse in Stevens Point, WI and later moved to Marymount Village Care Facility in Garfield Heights, OH in the summer of 2021.  A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated for Sister Alice on July 11, 2023, at Marymount Village Care Facility.

Sister Alice is survived by nephews and nieces and grand nephews and nieces, and by the Sisters of St. Jospeh of the Third Order of St. Francis.  Brother, Myron (Audrey) and sister Grace (Ernie) preceded her in death.

A special farewell prayer service will be held on September 11, 2023, at Pisarski Funeral Home with a gathering of family, sisters, and friends to share memories from 9:30-10:30 a.m.  A short prayer service of farewell will follow with burial of cremains in the Sisters' Cemetery.

Donations in Sister Alice Trebatoski's memory can be made to the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Third Order of St. Francis.  P.O. Box 305.  Stevens Point, WI  54481-0305.