Obituary: Franciscan Sister Jean Marie Schwieters

Sister Jean Schwieters, 89, died August 15, 2026, at St. Francis Convent in Little Falls. A Mass of Christian Burial will take place at St. Francis Convent at 11 a.m. Aug. 21. Friends may call at St. Francis Convent from 4-7:30 p.m. Aug. 20, with a Franciscan prayer service at 6 p.m., and from 9 a.m. until the time of the funeral Aug. 21. Mass will be livestreamed on YouTube at: youtube.com/@FSLFvideos.

Jean Marie Schwieters was born on May 12, 1937, at St. Cloud Hospital to Helen (Gerding) and Nicholas Schwieters of Melrose. Jean was the third of five children, her siblings all being boys — Guy, Roger, Glenn, and Cedric. She received her elementary education from the Benedictine Sisters in St. Cloud, Elrosa, and Freeport. Her secondary education took place at St. Francis High School in Little Falls. During her senior year there, she decided to become a member of the Franciscan congregation and received the habit on July 31, 1955. She made her temporary vows on Aug. 12, 1957, and her final vows on Aug. 12, 1960. She was a Franciscan Sister for 71 years.

After her final vows, Sister Jean spent one year preparing at the College of St. Catherine to be an elementary school teacher. She began her ministry at St. Andrew’s School in Elk River where she taught kindergarten and music from 1958-1960. She then became assistant principal at St. Mary’s School in Alexandria, where she also taught grades 1 and 3. In 1967, she returned to Elk River and taught first grade until 1972, when she transferred to Holy Spirit School in St. Cloud. Here she taught first grade for four years before moving to St. Joseph’s School in Waite Park to teach kindergarten again. In 1978, she did a sabbatical year at Hope Community in Little Falls and then served for one year as director of Family and Parish Life at St. Francis Christian Development Center in Little Falls. 1981 saw her back in the classroom teaching second grade at Sacred Heart School in Sauk Rapids. Four years later, she began serving as coordinator of Parish Ministries there.

In 1992, Sister Jean was appointed Candidate Director for the Franciscan Sisters, a position she held until 1996, when she became Director of Temporary Professed Sisters. In 2001, she was elected to the Leadership Team of the Franciscan Sisters and served in this capacity until 2006, when she became Director of Liturgy at the Motherhouse. She retired in 2016.

Sister Jean was a charismatic teacher. She especially enjoyed her youngest charges and loved to entertain by telling stories of the wonderful moments she experienced among them. She was also an excellent musician and used her talents generously, especially as liturgy director at the Motherhouse. Here she not only directed liturgies but created books of celebrations. In addition, Jean was an enthusiastic supporter of social justice causes. In 1997, on the eighth anniversary of the killing of six Jesuit priests and two Salvadoran women, Sister Jean joined over 2000 persons at a protest at the School of the Americas in Fort Benning, Ga.

One of the highlights of her life was a trip to Assisi in 1989. The experience deepened her sense of kinship with Francis and Clare. Other significant events were her trips to Brazil to visit her brother, Father John (Cedric), a Franciscan Friar of the Sacred Heart Province.

In a reflection in 2015, Sister Jean spoke of her conviction that her life had gone in the right direction. She felt she was headed towards the fulfillment that she had always sought and that God’s faithfulness had kept her steadfast along the entire pathway of her life.

Sister Jean was preceded in death by her parents, her brother Guy and his wife Eileen, and brother Roger. She is survived by her brothers Glenn (Anne) of Melrose, sister-in-law Nancy, wife of Roger and Father John Schwieters OFM, who still resides in Brazil. She is also survived by nieces and nephews and her Franciscan Community.

Donations to Franciscan Sisters ministries are preferred