Sister Diane Ris (formerly Sister Martin Therese)

The beginning of this commentary from the funeral Mass was written by Sister Diane Ris, who died Feb. 20, 2013.

“I have come so that they may have life and have it to the full.”
(John 10:10)

“This is a very special day. I’m so glad to have you all here with me. I have often thought of this time and what it would be like for me and you. We have shared so much in these 80 years. Sharing my life with you has been a wonderful gift.

I have asked Sister Mary Montgomery to sing a song that says so much about that wonderful homecoming with God. It is ‘Fill the World with Love’ by Petula Clark.

In the morning of my life I shall look to the sunrise.
At a moment in my life when the world is new.
And the blessing I shall ask is that God will grant me,
To be brave and strong and true,
And to fill the world with love my whole life through

(Chorus)
And to fill the world with love
And to fill the world with love
And to fill the world with love my whole life through

In the noontime of my life I shall look to the sunshine,
At a moment in my life when the sky is blue.
And the blessing I shall ask shall remain unchanging,
To be brave and strong and true
And to fill the world with love my whole life through

(Chorus)
In the evening of my life I shall look to the sunset,
At a moment in my life when the night is due,
And the question I shall ask only I can answer.
Was I brave and strong and true?
Did I fill the world with love my whole life through?

“I loved life and am loving life NOW!” Sister Diane wrote.

Sister Mary Montgomery continued on with the commentary, “Sister Diane, you exhibited great bravery, strength, truth, abundant love and so much more in your life with us. You had a passion to love God, and love God totally, and love others. You savored your special encounters with God, communion in word and sacrament, in nature, in people, in yourself and so many life experiences.”

Sister Diane was born on July 16, 1932 to Esther Johnstone and Irving S. Ris in Port Chester, N.Y. She attended elementary school in New Rochelle, N.Y., junior high school in Hyattsville, Md. and Dunblane, Wash D.C.; high school at Immaculata, Wash, D.C., Providence Juniorate at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods and Holy Trinity, Georgetown, where she received the “Babe Ruth Award” for her outstanding softball ability.

Diane experienced great love and great loss as a child. She was loved abundantly by her family. And she suffered the great sorrows of her dad leaving when she was 3 and her mother dying when she was 7. Her grandmother, Elizabeth Johnstone, known as Gram, raised Diane with love over-flowing and passed on her deep faith, hope, values and a big dose of her Irish wit and wisdom. Gram lived to be 102 and one of her many sayings was, “you never get old until you have wrinkles in your heart.”

Diane entered the Sisters of Providence on July 21, 1951; received the habit on Jan. 23, 1952 and professed vows on Jan. 23, 1954. She taught primary grades for 20 years in Sacred Heart, Evansville; Our Lady of Sorrows, Chicago; St. Suzanna, Plainfield, Ind.; St. Clement, Landsdowne, Md.; Our Lady of Mercy, Chicago; St. Patrick, Fort Wayne, Ind. and St. Patrick, Indianapolis.

While at Our Lady of Sorrows she received a huge gift through Providence which she calls her “Miracle.” Through the work of the missing person’s bureau of the Chicago Police Department, she found her father in 1955. She discovered she had a step-mother and 6 sisters. How delighted she was to get acquainted with her dad and her new family. Sister Diane was preceded in death by four sisters. Her sisters Linda Vandenberg and Peggy Joneas survive.

Sister Mary continued, “I had the great joy and privilege of student teaching with Diane at St. Patrick, Indianapolis in 1971 where she had initiated the open classroom/non-graded method of education. What an amazing, creative, learning environment. I don’t know how she kept up with all the activity, but she did. Diane went to a class reunion with that particular class in recent years. While there she pulled ‘The Giving Tree’ book out of her bag and asked if anyone remembered it. Of course they did and wanted her to read it to them again and to their children. Diane was like a ‘giving tree.’”

Sister Diane loved teaching primary grades but Providence had another plan for her. Through very painful circumstances, she moved on from that ministry, taught a semester at IUPUI and began work toward a Ph.D. in elementary education from Ball State University.

She taught at Morehead State University in Kentucky for 20 years. During these years Sister Diane also served as Provincial of the St. Gabriel Province from 1986 – 1990. While at Morehead State she received the Distinguished Teacher award, the university’s highest faculty honor, in 1989.

Sister Diane was elected General Superior of the Sisters of Providence in 1996 for a five-year term. Three months into the term, she received a call from Rome that Mother Theodore Guerin, the Congregation’s beloved Foundress, would be beatified. The Church bells rang out with the announcement. Lots of joy, gratitude, prayer, planning, conversation and challenge followed, concluding in magnificent liturgical celebrations in October 1998 in Rome and in the Church of the Immaculate Conception at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods.

Shortly after the Beatification, Sister Diane represented the congregation in France for the dedication of Mother Theodore’s birth home which had been reconstructed by the parishioners in Etables sur Mer. During that pilgrimage, Nov. 9-15, 1998, Sr. Diane sent hand-written letters back to the sisters. She was sharing some of the wonderful details of the journey, her reflections, her union with us and affection for us. For example, “This afternoon Sister Henri Dominique and I spent several hours at La Petite Providence, talking by the fire, praying aloud and silently. We asked God to bless each of our Communities and to keep us faithful to our charism. We felt a great unity as we prayed. You were with us there. Those hours will live on in my spirit always. Something important took place during that time of prayer together. Of this, I am certain… Tomorrow I head for Etables. I am longing to walk on the shore of the ocean where Mother Theodore spent so much time…. Know that I take you with me to all these holy places. I will see you soon! My love to you.”

“I personally recognize these letters as sacred, intimate documents expressing our Sister Diane’s deep faith in Providence and in Saint Mother Theodore, hope for the future and abiding love for each of us then, and now,” Sister Mary said.

Sister Diane and her council also initiated planning for and later the building of a new health care facility wing, Mother Theodore Hall. This was a major undertaking with wide-congregation participation in the early stages. At that time in the health care facility, Sister Diane was known as “the eagle” among some of the staff. Their signal when one of them spotted her was “the eagle has landed,” and the word spread. I don’t know how she got that nickname, but I know the eagle for Sister Diane was a very special symbol of the Spirit of God, a protector. She had many other winged creatures that were favorites, also messengers of God. A cardinal whom she named Buddy would visit her at the living room window daily for almost a year as she recovered from terrible leg wounds in 2005.

During her administration Sister Diane received healing from intense back pain through God and a practitioner of Reiki. She thus felt called to train in and use her gifts through Reiki prayer. She assisted many sisters and others through this healing ministry. Sister Diane also shared a very sacred ministry of prayer and blessing by sharing Saint Mother Theodore Guerin’s relic which she carried with her. “She desired to be a healing, loving, Christ presence with all whom she encountered,” Sister Mary said.

With pleasure and enthusiasm, Diane accepted the invitation to complete the latest biography of Saint Mother Theodore, begun by Sister Joseph Eleanor Ryan who died in 1991. Sister Diane loved working on this book. Her small writing room was a sanctuary, a place of discovery and communing with her beloved friend and confidant, Ma Mere, as she lovingly called Mother Theodore, and communing with God. The book was published in August 2011.

“I found this quote among retreat notes of Diane. It was important to her these last few years. ‘Your life is a sacred journey. And it is about to change: growth, discovery, movement, transformation, continuously expanding your vision of what is possible, stretching your soul, learning to see clearly and deeply, listening to your intuition, taking courageous challenges, at every step along the way. You are on the path … exactly where you are meant to be right now… And from here, you can only go forward, shaping your life story into a magnificent tale of triumph, of healing, of courage, of beauty, of wisdom, of power, of dignity and of love.’

Diane, thank you for living your life to the full, that others might live! Thank you for ‘filling the world with love your whole life through!’” Sister Mary concluded.

Sister Diane Ris was 80 years old, having lived 61 years as a Sister of Providence. The Mass of Christian burial for Sister Diane was celebrated Feb. 26, 2013 in the Church of the Immaculate Conception at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods.