Janice Hinsdale, IHM Associate, died Nov. 9, 2020 at age 97. When the IHM Sisters opened Immaculate Heart of Mary High School in Westchester, Ill., 1960, she handled publicity for the new school and learned about the congregation. While raising the 11 children she shared with her husband, Benjamin (including IHM Sister Mary Ann Hinsdale), she volunteered at both the high school and Divine Infant Parish, where she served as a religious education teacher; inaugurated a religious education class for preschoolers; and established three centers of religious education for those with mental challenges. She was elected to a three-year term on the board of directors of the Proviso Association for Retarded Citizens in Westchester.
Janice returned to school at age 52 and earned a bachelor’s degree in religious studies from De Paul University, Chicago. She became a religion teacher at IHM High School and remained active in her parish. For several years before her death, she lived at the IHM Sisters’ Motherhouse in Monroe, Mich.
She became an IHM Associate in 1982, saying at the time, “The IHM Sisters have helped me and my family members in ways too numerous to mention. …Becoming an associate member … would make official the association that began some time ago.”