September 2, 1930 – April 12, 2024
Sister Joanne Wagner, SSJ, a teacher who led retreats and guided many into deeper spirituality, passed away Friday at the Sisters of St. Joseph in Clarence after months of declining health. Passed away. She was 93 years old.
Born in Buffalo, she was one of three children and only daughter of Matthias L. and Marion Meyer Wagner. Her father worked at the Smith & Clody beverage bottling plant.
She spent her early years on a farm in Alden, attended school at St. Joseph’s College, and graduated from Mount St. Joseph Academy.
Inspired by her teachers at Mount St. Joseph and her three great-aunts who were Sisters of St. I swore an oath.
Sister Joanne attended Mount St. Joseph Teachers College and then Medaille College, earning a bachelor’s degree in education in 1961 and a master’s degree in 1963.
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She also earned a master’s degree in education from the University at Buffalo in 1966 and a master’s degree in theology from the University of Notre Dame in 1973. She also took drama courses at the State University of New York at Fredonia.
She taught elementary school classes for several years at Mount St. Joseph Academy in Dunkirk, St. Mary’s School for the Deaf, and St. Joseph School for Excellent Children. She also taught at Canisius College, where she was an instructor in theology and spirituality for 18 years at Christ the King Seminary in East Aurora, where she later served as a professor.
She began devoting herself to the study and teaching of spirituality and meditation in 1974 and was widely known throughout the Northeast for her work in religious retreats, holistic living, prayer, and teaching spiritual theology.
She directed the Anawim Retreat House in Olcott and taught courses at the Consolata Mission Center in Amherst. In 1988, she joined the retreat team at Stellar Niagara Center of Renewal in Lewiston, where she directed retreats and special programs. She also led retreats in Rochester, Syracuse, Allegany, and Erie, Pennsylvania.
She was co-founder and director of the St. Joseph Center for Spirituality at Christ the King Seminary in 1993. The facility, which was a training center for clergy and laity to lead people in a spiritual direction, moved to the Sisters of St. Joseph in Clarence, where she remained active in its programs until 2018. .
She told Buffalo News reporter Paula Voel in 2003 that people turn to spirituality for a variety of reasons.
“They may come in their 20s, rebellious and rebellious,” she says.
“There is a recognition that God is present in all life, even the mundane.”
She also researched the local congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph and published a book on its history. Many other of her SSJ congregations and other religious organizations across the country have invited her to share her insights.
She enjoyed music, writing poetry, and gardening.
Survivors include two brothers, Robert Wagner and Warren Wagner, and nieces and nephews.
Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11 a.m. Tuesday at the Sisters of St. Joseph Residence, 4975 Strickler Road, Clarence.
