Joan was born on July 1, 1931 in Cloverport, Ky., to Otto Walz and Ida May Brown Walz. She was baptized on September 13, 1931, at St. Rose Church in Cloverport by Rev. Gardian Lewis C.P. She joined her sisters, Martha, Regina and Dorothy and welcomed a younger brother, George in 1937.
Though Joan’s formal address as a child was Hawesville, Ky., Cloverport was closer so she went to school there at St. Rose School. Her mother, Ida May, was a housekeeper and helped run the family store. Her father, Otto, was a farmer and according to Joan, she “was his boy.”
She received the sacrament of Confirmation on October 9, 1941, with Bishop Francis R. Cotton presiding.
Joan attended Mount Saint Joseph Academy and graduated in 1949. She knew before high school that she wanted to be a Sister. “My senior year, I had a very moving experience during retreat,” she said. “I was reading a book about the Trinity, I just felt so one with the Trinity.” Joan worked at the Academy to help pay for her tuition. “I’d clean tables and do laundry. Sometimes I would kneel before the Blessed Mother statue in the Chapel. I thought how beautiful it was to live and die in such an atmosphere.” Joan entered the Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph on September 7, 1949. In all there were 25 women in the class.
On August 14, 1950, Joan received the veil and became Sister Joan of Arc. Two years later, she made her temporary profession and began her teaching at St. Paul School in Leitchfield, Ky. With only four years there, Joan began her high school experience with a “mini-high” school at Earlington, Ky., then to St. Joseph’s High School in Mayfield (both closed while she was there), then to Mount Saint Joseph Academy where the students were “hanging from the ceiling.” From the Academy, Joan moved to Trinity High School in Whitesville, Ky., where she taught for four years.
During these years of teaching, Sister was also attending college. She received a bachelor’s degree in history with a minor in math in 1967 from Brescia College; she received a master’s in education with a concentration in history from Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, in July of 1971.
Sister Joan’s next assignment was at the Motherhouse as Director of Retirement. In 1980 to 1988, she served on the Council for the Community. She said, “We don’t look at those positions as prestige, it’s more a service role. We’re really interested in what’s for the good of the Sisters.”
When Joan completed her term on the Council she went to a workshop about nursing. She received her nursing certificate from Jefferson Community College in 1991, a part of the University of Kentucky Community College System. Sister worked as a nurse at Baptist East Hospital, Louisville, for two years and in the Infirmary at the Mount for six years.
In 1999, Joan spent two months at Manna House of Prayer in Concordia, Kan. She wanted time for prayer and spiritual growth. She was deciding what her next ministry was going to be.
Sister Joan went to stay at Hickman, Ky. There with Sister Mary Agnes VonderHaar began another facet of Sister’s life. They moved to McQuady, Ky., to be a presence to the people of the area. In an article about Sisters serving with the support of the community, Joan said, “We religious believe the Spirit grants to us consecrated women, unique gifts to help us live a life of love and ministry. When we visit the sick at home, in the hospitals and nursing homes, we are touched as we witness their deep faith and the manner in which they accept their limitations. . . . Apparently these visits are meaningful because they let us know they miss us if we are unable to come.”
Sister Joan died suddenly July 5, 2017. The funeral Mass was at 10:30 am Monday, July 10, 2017, at Mount Saint Joseph. Her remains are buried in the convent cemetery.