Remembering Sister Rita Nowak, OSB
- Benedictine Sisters of Chicago
- 4 hours ago
- 3 min read
Sr. Rita Nowak, O.S.B. died on August 27, 2026 at St. Joseph Court, the infirmary of St. Scholastica Monastery. She was a vowed member of the Benedictine Sisters of Chicago for seventy-three years and is survived by her Benedictine sisters, seven nieces and nephews, and many great nieces and nephews.
Born in Chicago on October 5, 1933, Rita was the second of Joseph and Anna Gross Nowak’s three daughters. Mr. Nowak was a wholesale florist, and the experience of countless hours spent in greenhouses was crucial in sparking Rita’s love for, and knowledge about, horticulture and loveliness. After graduating from St. Margaret Mary Elementary School and St. Scholastica High School, and completing a semester of study at Loyola University, Rita entered the Benedictine community on February 10, 1952. She received the name Sr. Mary Gervase but resumed use of her baptismal name in the late 1960’s. Her final profession was on August 17, 1956, and she subsequently celebrated her silver, golden, and diamond jubilees.
After her initial formation, Sr. Rita taught at several elementary schools where the community was missioned, including Queen of All Saints, St. Symphorosa’s, and St. Joseph’s. While teaching, she completed her B.A. at DePaul University and M.Ed. from Loyola University. She then served as teacher and principal at St. Michael’s in Delta, CO, and St. George’s in Chicago. After another stint at St. Joseph’s, where she was also committed to community outreach to the families in the Cabrini-Green housing development, which was adjacent to the parish, Sr. Rita spent over ten years teaching English at St. Scholastica High School. She also served in its Guidance Department.
In 1981 Sr. Rita began internal ministry for the community, planning and overseeing interior renovations of the monastery and care of the community’s fourteen acres of grounds. The fruits of this work are still evident all over the St. Scholastica campus. Sr. Rita served as the community’s subprioress from 1984-1990 but eventually resumed care of the grounds, eventually adding oversight of the buildings to those responsibilities. Though some duties shifted during that tenure, it was the work she did until she retired in the early 2020’s.
Sr. Rita’s interests were wide and varied. Both her parents had immigrated from Poland, and she kept in touch with extended family in Poland until her death. She enjoyed studying the Polish language and would spend months every autumn preparing gifts and letters, in Polish, for all her cousins in Europe. Later in life, Sr. Rita took up running and completed several Chicago Marathons, along with other races, often winning her age division. She read widely, particularly appreciating authors who contemplate evolution and the intersection of science, spirituality, and technology. She also enjoyed cooking and ballroom dancing. And, as anyone who ever met Sr. Rita knows, she cherished all animals, especially her beloved cats. Even in her last years, as she suffered the brutal effects of dementia, she was busy: working on jigsaw puzzles, making lists, and planning what needed to be done.
Nothing, however, made Sr. Rita as happy as being outside. Doing the hard work of making things beautiful – whether rooms, words, meals, or the yard – is one of Sr. Rita’s greatest legacies. We will miss her.
Visitation for Sr. Rita Nowak will be held at St. Scholastica Monastery, 7430 N. Ridge Blvd., Chicago, on Friday, September 4 from 9:30am until time of Mass at 10:30am.
To attend via Zoom, please email Communications Coordinator Susan Clark at sclark@osbchicago.org
