Two more Catholic sisters die of coronavirus
Sister Monica Fumo knew how to get her students’ attention.
In the early 1990s, as principal of Milwaukee’s allgirls St. Joan Antida High School, Fumo once donned goggles and a leather jacket over her habit and rumbled into the gym on the back of a chopper as “Leader of the Pack” roared over the loudspeaker.
Sister Gabriella Nguyen connected in quieter ways. She teased and cajoled, and listened with the ear and insights of a trusted counselor.
Fumo and Nguyen lived and worked side by side for decades as Sisters of Charity of St. Joan Antida. They died, just days apart this month, of complications related to the coronavirus. Fumo was 78, and Nguyen was 75.
“They made living their faith fun. The joy and care they had for the young women they served came through in everything they did — just in different ways,” said St. Joan Principal Elizabeth Lingen, who graduated from the school in 1993.
“It was always evident that working with young women was their greatest passion in life,” she said. “The school and its mission was everything for them.”
The Sisters of Charity of St. Joan Antida announced their deaths this week, calling it a “profound loss to our community.”
Nguyen died Saturday and Fumo on Monday, both after being hospitalized. They are among at least eight Catholic sisters who have died of the coronavirus in southeastern Wisconsin, including six at Our Lady of the Angels Convent in Greenfield.
“Sr. Gabriella Nugyen and Sr. Monica Fumo were dynamic and delightful women who touched the lives and hearts of many people,” Sr. Theresa Rozga, the provincial superior of the order, said in an email to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “Their faith and loving concern for others will be part of their legacy.”
The news that the sisters and longtime friends had died elicited an outpouring of memories and condolences on social media.
“The world lost two beautiful, amazing souls this week,” 2002 graduate Chiara Millikan of Minneapolis wrote in a Facebook post, where she recounted how the sisters shaped her own development as a young woman, teacher and mother.
“I’m so abundantly grateful and blessed ... that our paths had crossed,” she said in an interview. “Without a doubt, they made an impact on my life.”
Sisters who were like sisters
Fumo, whose birth name was Judy, grew up in an Italian neighborhood in Kenosha. She attended Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church, where she first met sisters in the order. She took her vows at the age of 18.
Nguyen was born in Vietnam. Her mother died when she was 5. She took her vows in Laos at the age of 16. She fled the communist regime in 1975 with two other sisters and spent more than a year in a refugee camp in Thailand before coming to Wisconsin in 1977.
The two sisters met at St. Joan Antida, where Fumo spent 50 years as a teacher, principal and counselor. Though she was already an adult, Nguyen enrolled in the school to improve her English proficiency. She stayed for decades, teaching girls crafts and taking on other jobs around the building. They lived for more than 30 years in the same convent.
Over time, the sisters became, well, like sisters. Always together. Fumo did not drive, so Nguyen became her wheels. They were different — Fumo was more gregarious, Nguyen quieter — but they nurtured a deep friendship.
“They were always side by side,” said Bill Thorn, professor emeritus in journalism at Marquette University, whose four daughters, including Millikan, graduated from St. Joan’s.
Fumo was an ardent Packers fan. She loved to quote Vince Lombardi’s mantra of “God, family and Packers.” The order said she was instrumental in the push to allow faith-based schools to participate in Milwaukee’s school choice program, which allows low- and middle-income students to attend private schools on taxpayer-funded vouchers.
Nguyen tended her garden, growing flowers and vegetables, and was known for her egg rolls. Even in retirement, they remained active at St. Joan’s, volunteering for the annual spaghetti dinner and other events.
Susan Henzig, a retired principal and close friend since the 1970s, called Fumo “feisty and genuine. One of the most authentic people you would ever meet.”
“Nguyen,” she said, “was just an energetic little force that attracted people. The kids at the school loved her.”