Sister Mary Perpetuella Rakoczy
Born to earthly life: July 8, 1912
Religious profession: August 6, 1936
Entered eternal life: February 23, 2010
Cunigunda Rakoczy was born July 8, 1912, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She was one of five children of Valentine and Mary Rakoczy. Her father died when she was young and her mother worked to provide for the children. Cunigunda attended Sacred Heart School where the School Sisters of Notre Dame taught. She helped the sisters after school whenever needed.
She attended the public Union High School and went to work as an usher in the Strand Theater, a job she held until she entered the candidature in 1933. “My devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus was the high point of my vocation. I never missed First Fridays,” she wrote in her autobiography. Sister Perpetuella was professed on August 6, 1936.
She served as homemaker and general helper in several convents in Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Of all her missions, she loved Holy Childhood and the Native American children in Harbor Springs, Michigan, the best. When she got there, the other Sisters thought her name was too long so they called her “Petchie.” Some of the children heard it and said, “Sister belongs to the Apache tribe.” “That’s when I became one with them,” Sister wrote. Her stay at Harbor Springs lasted twenty years.
Her next mission was St. Peter in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, where she did various jobs, her favorite being visiting the elderly in their homes and bringing them the Holy Eucharist. The pastor, Father Edward Wieland, commented in the church bulletin announcing her retirement:
“Sister has served in many capacities in the eight years she has been in Beaver Dam. Along with caring for the household and cooking duties at the convent, Sister assisted in the cafeteria for school lunch, worked as a tutor with the children, and was often available to help with a class when a regular staff member was not available. You don’t replace Sister with another person, but with a small army.”
She retired to community service at Visitation, Elm Grove, in 1985, and to full retirement in 1987 after an illness. Her cheerful greeting and warm smile brightened the day of everyone she’d meet. Sister died February 23, 2010, due to complications of a serious fall. We all will miss that amazing little ray of sunshine.
– Jean Paul Zagorski, SSND
Sister Perpetuella professed her first vows in 1936. She served as a homemaker and general helper for almost 50 years.
Her ministry locations included:
- St. Mary, Fort Wayne, Ind.
- St. Anthony, Detroit, Mich.
- St. Peter, Fort Wayne, Ind.
- St. Louis, Besancon, Ind.
- St. St. Joachim, Pittsville, Wis.
- St. John Nepomuk, Milwaukee, Wis.
- St. Hyacinth, Fort Wayne, Ind.
- St. Stanislaus, Milwaukee, Wis.
- Our Lady of Lourdes, Rice Lake, Wis.
- Holy Childhood, Harbor Springs, Mich.
- St. Peter, Beaver Dam, Wis.
- Notre Dame of Elm Grove, Elm Grove, Wis.
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