Sister Ann Wittman
Ann Marie Wittman was born and raised in Merrill, WI, the daughter of Walter and Mabel (Downie) Wittman. “Even though Merrill is a small town, I think it provided me with the experience of diversity of people. There was no “Catholic ghetto.” My mother and father had Protestant and Jewish friends as well as Catholic ones, who were often guests in our house, and I, too, played with and later dated and mixed with non-Catholic and Catholic ones,” Sister said. She realized as her ministry grew beyond conventional teaching in a Catholic school, that her comfort with all kinds of people from different backgrounds was truly a gift.
She also credits the Dominican Sisters of Racine, WI, for inspiring her and in subtle ways nurturing her religious vocation. They were her teachers through grade school and in music until she left for college. “I believe it was closeness with them that helped me see religious life as an attractive way of life,” according to Sister Ann.
So what drew Ann Marie to the Holy Cross Sisters? “I went to high school to the Holy Cross Sisters but, although I knew I wanted to be a sister, rejected the idea of becoming one of them because the order was known to be exceptionally strict. It was only after I met Ruth Lukeman at St. Francis College in Joliet and began talking with her about “joining the convent” that Holy Cross became a possibility. She wanted to be a medical technician and I knew no sisters involved in hospital work, so I began telling her about the Holy Cross Sisters who did everything,” Sister Ann said. The rest of the story is history except for one incident which Sister Ann only learned when she was a postulant. “Sister Sebastia, a very saintly older sister, told me that when I was born at Holy Cross Hospital she had taken care of me and before my mother took me home, she had taken me to the chapel and asked the Blessed Mother to bring me back!”
Sister Ann made her First Profession on July 2, 1949. Sixty years later she feels that her lifelong varied and rich ministries have been the catalyst for spiritual, psychological, and intellectual growth. From teaching high school girls to workshops for adults and all the projects in between, she feels continually challenged, and grateful for the people and the tasks that have stretched her. “Even in retirement I find that study groups, involvement in Pax Christi and the broader peace movement, working with associates, giving talks to various organizations, and currently adapting the Life Directions program to women in the Oneida County Jail in Wisconsin give me a continual zest for life.”
Sister Ann Wittman can be reached at PO Box 1414, Minocqua, WI 54548.