Louise Johanna Honings

Obituary Louise Johanna Honings, 82 years old, passed on to be with her Lord and Savior on Monday, January 3, 2011 at the Marino Home in University Place, WA. She was born September 28, 1928 in Chicago, Illinois to Vincent and Henrietta Schrey Honings. She spent her life doing God's work on earth both with her hands and spirit. She served as the spiritual mother to all that she encountered. A rosary will be said for her at Gaffney's Funeral Home on Wednesday, January 5 at 7pm. Her funeral mass will be held at St. Charles Borromeo on Thursday, January 6 at 9am followed by a reception and interment at Gethsemane Catholic Cemetery. Louise's full story can be found on line at www.GaffneyCares.com Louise entered a Benedictine Religious Community, at age 15 in 1943, and completed high school at Mount Marty High School in Yankton, South Dakota, graduating in 1945 with business and secretarial skills. Not happy doing clerical work, she requested to go to nursing school and was sent to St. Vincent Hospital, where she received her nursing diploma in 1950. She went on to St. Xavier College, Chicago, Illinois, where she graduated with a BA in nursing, theology and philosophy in 1959. She attended Marquette University and studied toward a Masters degree in Theology. At the request of her superior and beloved mentor, Monica Black (1901-1994) she moved to Madison, Wisconsin in 1953 to pioneer a Motherhouse. This community continues as Benedictine Women of Madison. For over 25 years Louise Honings was known as Sister Mary Gerard. Louise never believed that she was called to depart from religious life, but the community to which she had given so much changed, becoming a place she and the founding Mother Superior no longer could consider suitable. These founding members left the community. The convent changed, and one of the biggest disappointments of Louise's life was to leave the life of a committed religious. Although physically she left the convent, she never left it spiritually. She was always looking for a community of sisters and found them as a Benedictine Oblate at St Martin's University and with her Sacramentor sisters at St. Charles Borromeo. These women had formed with Louise a loving and spiritual community in the last years of her life. Louise worked as a staff nurse, nurse manager, and nurse executive in a variety of settings. She really enjoyed nursing administration and supervision. She had a gift for organizing and leading by example. Her resume stated her personal philosophy as "Every human being deserves respect and the opportunity to prove himself. I am here to teach and help other people, but it is very important to me that in the process I find a growth experience." She kept her nursing license until her 80th birthday. Her real joy was helping others. She became the spiritual mother to countless others. After living in Illinois, South Dakota, Iowa, Wisconsin, California, and Oregon, she eventually made the Puget Sound area her home for most of the time from 1972 until her death in 2011. During that time span she resided with her nephew in Las Vegas for a short time, but the heat bothered her so she returned to Tacoma. Church was the center of her life. She was active at Visitation, Holy Cross, and St Charles Borromeo Parishes in Tacoma. Her second greatest achievement would be the founding of the motherhouse in Madison Wisconsin. Leaving it and the religious community was her greatest disappointment. Her greatest achievement is the love that she has spread to all who know her and the prayers that she will continue to pray on our behalf as Saint Therese spending her heaven doing good upon earth. Louise loved to laugh and had a sense of mischief about her. She would laugh and tell the story about her sister complaining to her saintly mother that that "damn brat is going to burn the house down," referring to Louise's habit of lighting vigil candles and keeping them burning all night long. "Yes, when a soul has allowed herself to be captivated by the inebriating fragrance of Thy perfumes, she could not run alone, all the souls whom she loves are drawn after her; this is a natural consequence of her attractions towards Thee." • Survived by • Sister-in-law, Harriet Honings of Nevada • Nephew, Ron Honings and his wife Renee of Nevada • Niece, Sandra Sapaugh of Texas • Cousins, Albert and Nellie Tieken of Illinois and Alida Drawert of Minnesota • Her beloved friends: Delores Kollasch of Iowa , Cathy Zedric, Diane Ward, Barb Cathcart, Frank and Ann Vetere, Father Justin McCready, the Benedictine Oblates, all the daily mass attendees at Holy Cross and St. Charles Borromeo, and her Sacramentor Sisters (and their families)-Wilma Campbell, Rebekah Cargill, Lucy Diaz, Cheri Dusek, Valerie Furness, Kendra Keller, Lonnie Lai, Patsy Maloney, Linda Moran, and Debra Page. • Her pet cat, Ginger. • Predeceased by • 5 siblings-Pierre, Catherine (Teena), Leone (Lee), Vincent, and Gerard (Jerry) (all deceased). She is survived by her brother Pierre's wife, Harriet and their son, Ron Honings of Las Vegas, Nevada as well as her sister Teena's daughter, Sandra of Texas. • Her former husband Gerard (Jerry) Johnson, a merchant marine. Their marriage (1971-1978) ended in divorce. • Her beloved friend and mentor, Monica Black. • SERVICE • Vigil rosary on Wednesday, January 5 at 7pm at Gaffney's Funeral Home • Funeral Mass at St. Charles Borromeo on Thursday, January 6 at 9 am followed by a reception. • Internment will be at Gethsemane Catholic Cemetery in Federal Way, Washington. • THANKS • A special thanks to the Marino Home care givers who became Louise's family-Jim, Janie, & Shawna. She loved them all so much. • Dr. Richard Coe, her beloved physician • Multicare Hospice-Tina, Nancy, & Jana • Louise lived faith, love, and service. She was the spiritual mother for all that she befriended. We will never forget her. She is an example of the power of the soul who loves God. She loved the story of St. Scholastica and her brother, St. Benedict. [Benedict's] sister, whose name was Scholastica, had been dedicated to the almighty Lord since her very infancy. She used to come to see Benedict once a year and the man of God would come down to meet her at a property belonging to the monastery not far from the gate. Now one day she came as usual, and her venerable brother came down to meet her with his disciples. They spent the whole day praising God and in holy conversation, and when night's darkness fell, they ate a meal together. While they were seated at table, talking of holy matters, it began to get rather late and so this nun, Benedict's sister, made the following request: "I beg you not to leave me tonight, so that we might talk until morning about the joys of heavenly life." Benedict answered, "What are you saying, sister? I certainly cannot stay away from my monastery." The sky was so clear at the time that there was not a cloud to be seen. When the nun heard the words of her brother's refusal, she put her hands together on the table and bent her head in her hands to pray the almighty Lord. When she lifted her head from the table, such violent lightning and thunder burst forth, together with a great downpour of rain, that neither the venerable Benedict nor the brothers who were with him could set foot outside the door of the place where they were sitting. For the nun, as she bent her head in her hands, had poured forth rivers of tears on to the table, by means of which she had turned the clear sky to rain. That downpour began just as her prayer finished - in fact, the coincidence between the prayer and the downpour was so precise that she lifted her head from the table at the very moment when the thunder sounded and the rain came down exactly the same moment that she raised her head. Then the man of God realized that he could not return to his monastery in the midst of the thunder and lightning and the heavy downpour of rain. This upset him and he began to complain, saying, "May the almighty God forgive you, sister. What have you done?" To which she replied, "Look, I asked you and you refused to listen to me. I asked my Lord and He heard me. Go now, if you can. Leave me behind and return to your monastery." But being unable to leave the building, he had to remain there against his will, since he refused to stay there voluntarily. And so they spent the whole night awake, satisfying each other's hunger for holy conversation about the spiritual life.