Sister Rosemary Schmalz (formerly Sister Mary Ida)
Sister Rosemary Schmalz, formerly Sister Mary Ida, passed away on Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026, at Providence Health Care. She was 85-years-old and had been a Sister of Providence for 68 years.
Commentary
By Sister Denise Wilkinson, SP
(Sister Lisa Stallings pointed out to me that Sister Rosemary must be delighted we are celebrating her life today – an addition day).
9 + 17 = 26. 9th month – 17th day – 26th year.
In describing Sister Rosemary Schmalz, Sister Regina Marie (McIntyre) texted: “Rosemary was a jigsaw puzzle lover – 1,000 pieces and beautiful picture.”
Perhaps we can think of Sister Rosemary herself as a 1,000 jigsaw puzzle. If so, the picture will not be realistic in style. Rosemary’s art ran more to the abstract. The colors will be bold, pastel, muted, and blended and sometimes textured. A myriad of techniques will be evident.
Every puzzle has a border — a container.
Pieces of Rosemary’s border …
Rosemary was born in Evansville, Indiana, to Robert Schmalz and Mary Ann Feeney Schmalz. She and her much loved “big sister” Ann shared and will continue to share a strong bond. This loving bond has existed between them and our faith tells us that bond will remain.
A unique piece in this border came from Ann. Ann described her sister as a “fraidy cat,” when she was small, with good reason. Rosemary was blind in one eye. She had a close encounter with a streak of lightening and a big dog. The dog literally blindsided her and knocked her down – all for the sake of getting her ice cream cone.
Obviously Rosemary grew out of being a “fraidy cat.” Ann credits “the nuns for the change.” The nuns credit Sister Rosemary’s growing into courage as an outcome of her faithful following of the surprising path Providence marked out for her.
A reminder – we’re still on the border pieces.
Rosemary attended St. Benedict grade school and Reitz Memorial High School in Evansville.
She entered the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods in 1958 and professed first vows in 1961 and final vows in 1966.
Her educational credentials are many: A bachelor’s degree in math from Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College; a master’s in mathematics from the University of Illinois; her doctorate in math education from Florida State University.
Rosemary earned two more master’s degrees — one in Culture and Creation Spirituality from Holy Names College and one in Pastoral Theology from Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College.
Her teaching and study experiences took her to Indiana, Illinois, Florida, Texas, England, Russia, Sri Lanka and Uganda.
Sister Rosemary’s path also included serving as the Congregation’s General Secretary, a meticulous Coordinator of the Office of Records and a volunteer in the Linden Leaf Gift Shop. For a short time, she worked for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as a statistician. Her final ministry was “Prayer and Work for Justice and Peace.” Our Rosemary was no slacker!
Now to separate the 1,000 puzzle pieces into like colors, hints of shapes that might fit together. Rosemary’s method was to have the “painters, journal keepers” choose a paint brush and then brush the colors across the paper with nothing in mind.
That accomplished, She’d ask – for example, “where do you see Jesus in the painting?” Or “where do you see beauty?” or simply “what do you see in the painting?” Sister Rosemary would then instruct her students to journal — what feelings, thoughts arose as they studied their painting? What insights emerged? Her workshops were not about learning how to paint.
They were about how art and spirituality connected.
More pieces to fit together to see the mystery that was Rosemary. Certain characteristics emerged in the way sisters, friends, co-workers remember Rosemary. Imagine the shapes and colors that might go with these descriptions: She never spent an extra dime on anything. Shopped at Goodwill. A great baker who generously delivered loaves of homemade banana bread to the four kitchenettes in Providence Hall, always “healthy cookies” — not much sugar. Quirky. Direct in speech. Focused. Frugal with everything but her time. Generous to a fault. Loved singing in parts — especially the hymns from her early years in community. Skilled card player — especially bridge. Loyal friend. Great and patient teacher. Each of these tributes came with a great sense of gratitude and appreciation for Sister Rosemary. An important piece – from Rosemary herself: “I am often very crabby.”
Now comes the hard part — fitting all the pieces together to make the whole.
In one way of thinking, Rosemary had distinct stages in her life: Her lifelong love of learning and adventure; teaching math and computer; art and spirituality.
Yet, long before her assigned ministry was “prayer and work for justice,” Rosemary lived that with a passion. Prayer and work for justice was the foundation of her spirituality and her ministry, her daily life. Justice work mixed and mingled and blended with all of Sister Rosemary’s prayer, ministry and daily living.
If justice is defined as “right relationship,” Rosemary worked hard to bring that value to fruition in her life.
She was a prolific writer of Letters to the Editor. Sister Rosemary was a persistent voice in the Terre Haute Tribune-Star’s editorial page. For example, she weighed in more than once on a debate about building a new jail in Terre Haute and about busing students from rural colleges to polling places to insure they could vote.
From her experience of teaching math to college students, Sister Rosemary was very familiar with students’ high anxiety levels regarding success in any math classes. She believed that the anxiety stemmed from their math experiences at the grade school level.
Her hypothesis: Math was taught only to the head. If students could be taught math concepts in an experiential way, they’d learn the concepts through their experience, So, Rosemary developed a method of teaching that used “props” like cards, dice, beads to get the basic concepts across. She was awarded a Lilly Foundation Fellowship to test her theory. An amusing anecdote: In the letter accepting her proposal, Lilly’s Vice President for Education wrote this: “Your award will carry the stipend of $10,000. The panel of judges concluded that your budget was too frugal, hence the award is larger than your request!”
Back at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College, Rosemary’s empathy for those with “math anxiety” showed itself in a series of workshops titled, “Overcoming Math Anxiety: You Can Do It.”
A letter from a former student of Rosemary’s testifies to the effectiveness of Rosemary’s theory – mathematics taught with empathy makes a difference. I quote: “The teacher who made a huge impact on my life was Sister Rosemary Schmalz … Math never made any sense to me so I just fumbled along, holding my breath every time I had to do something mathematical. I felt the same way heading into math methods for el ed but then appeared Sister Rosemary. She was funny and fun and by the end of the semester, she had me seeing patterns I had never noticed before.”
Art and Spirituality – a hallmark of Rosemary’s adult life just as she did in opening a path to anxious math students, Rosemary opened a path for those desiring to enrich their spiritual lives. Her outreach included well received workshops on art and journaling at Providence Spirituality & Conference Center and other retreat centers across the country. Rosemary explained its purpose as “a way to get in touch with our feelings and the root causes of those feelings. … Incorporating art into journaling helps focus the soul on issues.”
Always – empathy and technique to touch person’s heart and minds.
Is our puzzle completed? Maybe or maybe not. But if we look at the puzzle we’ve each imagined, if we see swaths of multiple colors, multiple textures, discordant and compatible colors – then if step back and look at it and say “where is Rosemary in this?” – we’ve done what she hoped we’d do – look deeper.
As we look deeper, we will probably see Rosemary in every color, every shape, every texture, every color – we’ll see the Rosemary whose life’s work was “Prayer and work for Justice.” Justice as in right relationship.
Where is Rosemary in this portrait we’ve painted?
We see a Rosemary who faithfully followed the path marked out for her – a path sometimes smooth, sometimes rough, always challenging.
We see a woman for whom “prayer and work for justice” consistently directed her life choices and deepened her authenticity.
We see a woman, a faithful Sister of Providence, whose life mirrors this reading from the Book of Daniel the prophet.
“ … the wise shall shine brightly like the splendor of the firmament and those who lead the many to justice shall shine like the stars forever.”
Funeral Information
Funeral services for Sister Rosemary took place on Thursday, September 17, and Friday, September 18, in the Church of the Immaculate Conception at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods.
A Wake took place from 3:30-4:30 p.m., Thursday, September 17, followed by Vesper Services at 4:30 p.m.
An additional Wake was from 10-11 a.m., Friday, September 18. Mass of Christian Burial was at 11 a.m.
Memorial contributions may be made in honor of Sistern Rosemary to the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods.
We welcome you to share your comments on Sister Rosemary in the comment section below.
Sister Rosemary Schmalz (formerly Sister Mary Ida)
Complete Ministry
In Indiana: Teacher, St. Philip Neri, Indianapolis (1963-64)’ Teacher, Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College (1972-78); Professor, Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College (1979-81); Research Assistant NCAA, Indianapolis (2002-06); General Secretary, Sisters of Providence, Saint Mary-of-the-Woods (2006-13); Coordinator, Office of Records, Sisters of Providence, Saint Mary-of-the-Woods (2013-2025); ESL Teacher, Colombo, Sri Lanka (2014-15); Volunteer, Linden Leaf Gifts (2015-21); Prayer, Sisters of Providence, Saint Mary-of-the-Woods (2025-26).
In Texas: Teacher, St. John High School, Robstown (1964-68).
In Illinois: Teacher, Peoria (1978-79); Associate Professor, Mathemathics, Eastern Illinois University (1987-93, 1994-2001).
In Pennsylvania: Teacher, University of Scranton, Scranton (1981-87).
My dear Sr Rosemary has been good and faithful friend for near 20 years We talked art, we planned art, we did art. She was always there for a good talk or afternoon chat. I was bringing her one last gift when I wrote that text if I could visit for a short while, as I had before. Alas there were other plans for her. God bless and may she rest in peace.
Rosemary, from novitiate on, was always open and welcoming to anyone she met. Interested in so many areas of pursuit, she always brought animated conversation and endeavors. God bless her for her kindness and loving spirit.
Having her as a companion in novitiate so long ago was a blessing.
Rosemary and I were classmates all through elementary school. As a close neighbor, visits with her were fun, and we usually ended up playing cards. Later on in life, as a Sister of Providence, we reconnected through visits at the University of Illinois and in Scranton, PA, where we had a delightful time touring Boston. She humbly shared her spirituality through art and enjoyed helping others through her art workshops. We continued emails and visits at St. Mary-of-the-Woods. Then, her decision to stop treatments. Thank you, Rosemary, for sharing your journey with me and all of us over the years. Rest now in the arms of Our Lord.
I recently read of S Rosemary’s acceptance of her illness. I marveled at her bravery and honesty, surely her attitude would fortify others sharing her path.
S Rosemary and I met in Fall of 1973 when I was a freshman at the College. She always welcomed alums at Reunion Weekend and enjoyed sharing memories of our College days.