On Sunday, December 31, 2023, Jeannette responded one last time to her Lord’s call and entered eternal life at the age of 97.
Jeannette Rose Richard was born in Reading, PA on August 18, 1926 to Napoleon and Rose Richard. The family moved to CT when Jeannette was very young so she, for all practical purposes, was raised in the Nutmeg state. At the age of 20 she entered the Congregation of the Daughters of the Holy Spirit and professed her first vows in Putnam, CT in 1949.
Sr. Jeannette attended Annhurst College and earned a BS in Accounting and went on to study at the Catholic University in Washington, DC where she graduated with an MS in Business Education. Teaching came naturally to her and she taught in several schools in Connecticut and Vermont until 1971 when she was appointed treasurer for the U.S. Province of the Daughters of the Holy Spirit. In 1980 she moved to Federalsburg, MD to serve as office manager in a legal clinic for rural poor and migrants. She returned to CT to minister as secretary at the Roncalli Institute in Cromwell. In 1985 she served as administrative assistant in the Center City Churches in Hartford where she remained until her retirement in 1999.
In 2011 Jeannette transferred to the Provincial House in Putnam and was in residence there until 2018 when she moved to St. Joseph Living Center in Windham, CT.
In addition to her DHS Spiritual Family Sister is survived by her sister-in-law Ann-Marie Richard and several nieces and nephews.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Friday, January 5, at 11:00 a.m. at St. Joseph Church 99 Jackson Street in Willimantic. Visiting hours will begin at 10:00 and a prayer service will start at 10:15. Following a reception in the church hall a cortege will bring Jeannette to her final resting place at St. Mary of the Visitation cemetery on Providence St. in Putnam at 2:30.
Memorial gifts may be made in Sister’s honor to the DHS Retirement Fund and sent to the DHS Office of Development PO Box 497 Putnam, CT 06260.
