Sr. Joan Stoverink, ASC Obituary

SISTER JOAN M. STOVERINK, ASC, 73, of the Adorers of the Blood of Christ, died peacefully at 5:15 am on Thursday, March 12, 2026, at Benedictine Living Community in Belleville, Illinois. She had been professed for 43 years.

Joan was born on May 22, 1952, the second of five children born to the late Glennon and Dorothy (nee Werkmeister) Stoverink of Hillsboro, Missouri. Her family attended Good Shepherd Parish in Hillsboro.

Prior to entering the ASC community, Joan had earned her bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education. As an ASC, she received her master’s degree in Pastoral Studies from Loyola University in Chicago, Illinois, in 2000.

Sr. Joan’s creativity as a teacher and the variety of experiences she arranged outside the classroom gave her students a broader outlook on the world, adding to the richness their local area provided. Her artistic talent was evident in the attractive displays in her classroom and in the goal-oriented, often individualized assignments she offered her students. She taught at St. Joseph School in Olney, St. John the Baptist in Red Bud, and St. James in Millstadt, all in Illinois. She also taught at Father Bertrand School in Memphis, Tennessee.

After earning her master’s in Pastoral Studies in 2000, Sr. Joan ministered at the Clinton County parishes of St. Bernard in Albers and St. Damian in Damiansville, Illinois, as the Director of Religious Education and as the Pastoral Associate for these two parishes. She then resumed her teaching role as a tutor in the English Tutoring Project in St. Louis, Missouri. In combination with these two assignments, parish work and tutoring, Sr. Joan was also appointed as the Vowed Commitment Director for ASC Candidates.

Sr. Joan’s final ministries were in ASC community service. Following the congregation’s decision to establish an International Novitiate in Rome, Joan was appointed the first Assistant Director of this Novitiate. Back in the states, she began tutoring ASCs and international students before she took the position of Community Life Coordinator for the Adorers of the Blood of Christ at Benedictine Living Community, along with team members Sr. Angela Schrage and later Sr. Jane Gegg. She continued to tutor while serving in this role. Sr. Joan also took the role of ASC Liaison with the BLCS staff.

Sr. Joan was a generous, compassionate person, always on the lookout for ways to help others. She kept in touch with friends from her teaching days, both the children and their parents. She befriended the Burmese children she taught English to, and she would often go to church where a Burmese priest presided, showing her solidarity and respect for their culture.

Sr. Joan is survived by her three brothers - Jerry (Diane) Stoverink, Tom (Sally) Stoverink, and Larry(Cindy) Stoverink; her one sister - Mary (David) Boushie; many nieces and nephews, and the ASC community. She was preceded in death by her parents.

Funeral Mass:

  1:30 pm, Monday, March 16, 2026

  Benedictine Living Community Chapel at the Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows

  726 Community Drive, Belleville, Illinois

Visitation: 

  Monday– 12:45 pm – 1:30 pm

  Benedictine Living Community Chapel at the Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows

Interment:

  ASC Convent Cemetery

  Ruma, Illinois

Donations in memory of Sr. Joan may be sent to the ASC Retirement Fund, 4233 Sulphur Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63109, or online at www.adorers.org “Support our Ministries”