Visitation, Mass Set For Sr. JoAnn Persch, Beloved Sister Of Mercy, Immigrant Advocate

CHICAGO — As recently as a few weeks ago, Sr. JoAnn Persch was protesting outside the Broadview ICE facility, hoping to give holy communion to the detainees inside. The elderly nun also helped a homeless Venezuelan family find housing after they were found living in their car.

A tireless fighter for immigrants, unhoused women and children, lonely and abandoned seniors, the incarcerated, and other marginalized communities, Sr. JoAnn Persch, RSM, died unexpectedly at on Nov. 14. She was 91.

Alongside her lifelong companion, Sr. Pat Murphy, who died at age 96 in July, Sr. JoAnn spent a lifetime helping asylum-seeking immigrants land on their feet in the United States. The pair founded Catherine’s Caring Cause, named for Sisters of Mercy foundress, Catherine McAuley, to help Venezuelan families being bussed to Chicago arrange housing, get their papers in order and put them on the path to U.S. citizenship.

Sr. JoAnn was born in the 1934, the only child of Evelyn (Nolan) and Bernard Persch, in Milwaukee, Wis. She knew in eighth grade that she wanted to be a nun. Across the street from her Milwaukee grammar school was the School Sisters of St. Francis Mother House.

Sr. JoAnn Persch was a Sister of Mercy for 73 years.

“I loved them. I spent a lot of time there. They had a high school program for girls to join the order,” Sr. JoAnn told Patch in 2024.

Wanting to be certain their daughter was serious about joining religious life, her parents told her to wait and enjoy high school.

Instead of joining the order, Sr. JoAnn joined the high school drum and bugle corps.

“I’m very grateful that they did,” she said. “I had a great time, but I still wanted to be a nun.”

Immediately after graduating from high school in 1952, Sr. JoAnn joined the Sisters of Mercy. She became a teacher, serving parochial schools in Wisconsin and Illinois. Her friend, Sr. Pat, who grew up in Skokie, had joined the religious order in 1947.

Together, the two women made a formidable team, living out their passion for social justice and compassionate care. They signed petitions and lobbied. They were arrested several times, including for singing hymns and saying the rosary under the marble rotunda of the U.S. Capitol, while holding photographs of children who died in the custody of U.S. immigration agents. Their tenacity drew international media attention. A priest friend of both women nicknamed them “Rabble” and “Rouser.”

As Mercy Sisters, the women took a vow of service to the poor, sick and uneducated. Their work in immigration rights began over 40 years ago. They joined the Su Casa Catholic Worker House in Back of the Yards in 1990, to assist arriving Salvadoran and Guatemalan refugees who made the dangerous trek across Mexico, where they clandestinely crossed the U.S. southern border. (Read more of Sr. JoAnn's obituary.)

A statement by Catherine’s Caring Cause, said Sr. JoAnn’s “vision, leadership and ability to mobilize resources made a direct impact on the lives of countless people in need.”

Visitation for Sr. JoAnn Persch will take place from 2 to 7 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 23, at Mercy Hall, Illinois Room, 10044 S. Central Park Ave., Chicago, with a prayer service starting at 3 p.m.

A funeral Mass is set for 10 a.m. Monday, Nov. 24, at St. Barnabas Catholic Church, 10134 S. Longwood Drive, which will also be streamed live. Arrangements are by Thompson & Kuenster Funeral Home in Oak Lawn.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Catherine’s Caring Cause or the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, both located at 10024 S Central Park Ave. Chicago, IL 60655.