Sister Anne Christine Janke, OP, was called home by the God she loved and served for 63 years as a Sister of St. Dominic on July 25. She was 81 years old.
On Jan. 4, 1945, Frederick and Veronica Fitzgerald Janke welcomed their first daughter, Marianne. She was followed by her sister, Christine. The family belonged to Notre Dame Parish in New Hyde Park, New York, where Marianne and her sister attended elementary school.
After graduating from St. Mary’s High School, Manhasset, New York, Marianne entered the Novitiate at Amityville on Sept. 8, 1963. On Aug. 5, 1964, she was clothed in the Dominican habit and received her religious name, Sister Anne Christine. She pronounced her first vows on Aug. 7, 1965, and her final vows on Aug. 29, 1970.
She earned a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature at Molloy College (now Molloy University). At The Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C., she was awarded a Master of Arts in liturgical studies. She then pursued doctoral studies in systematic theology, also at The Catholic University.
Sister Anne Christine’s early ministries were in elementary education at Our Lady of Lourdes, Malverne, New York; Christ the King in Commack, New York; and Sacred Heart in Glendale. In 1972, she began teaching high school at St. John the Baptist, West Islip, New York.
While studying in D.C., she was an instructor at the Washington Theological Union. From 1993 to 1994, she was a faculty member at St. Michael College in Colchester, Vermont. She returned to New York in 1995, lived again in community at St. John the Baptist, and began her 21-year career at Molloy as a member of the theology faculty. During her time at Molloy, Sister Anne Christine served two terms as department chair and was a member of several college committees. She was an excellent teacher, always very well-prepared.
Gifted intellectually and musically, Anne played both piano and organ and played in various churches in Suffolk County, New York. She was an avid reader, primarily of theology and mysteries, and always willing to share her books and her knowledge with others.
For years, she was a lector at Sunday Mass in the Motherhouse.
Sister Anne Christine retired from Molloy University in 2015 and continued to pursue theological research. In 2023, illness required a move to Carlin Hall at the Motherhouse. It was there that she was cared for gently and where she died peacefully.
Sister Anne Christine is survived by her loving sister, Christine Janke, several dear cousins, her long-time close friend, Sister Bernadette Donovan, and her sisters in community.
A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated on July 29, followed by interment in St. Dominic Cemetery on the Motherhouse grounds.