A funeral Mass for Sister Janet Voss, CPPS, was celebrated Dec. 16 at St. Joseph Chapel at the Sisters of the Most Precious Blood motherhouse in O’Fallon. Sister Janet died Dec. 11 at the age of 78.
Janet Josephine Voss was born Sept. 20, 1941, at St. Mary’s Hospital in Quincy, Illinois, the first of four children of Agnes (Frese) and Frank Voss, Sr. She grew up on the family farm near Mendon, Illinois.
Sister Janet (Francis Agnes) was received into the novitiate of the Sisters of the Most Precious Blood on July 25, 1962, and she professed first vows on Aug. 10, 1964. She earned an associate of arts degree from St. Mary’s College in O’Fallon in 1969.
Although she had hoped to be a teacher, Sister Janet realized that she had other gifts. She worked in community’s Ecclesiastical Art Department until 1980, and then later served as a librarian at St. Monica School in Creve Coeur. She continued in library service at St. Mary’s College and St. Charles County Community College until her retirement in 2010. She volunteered in numerous capacities until 2015, when she began a ministry of prayer and presence.
Sister Janet was eager to develop her gifts and to share them with others. Whether stitching in the art department, delivering mail at the motherhouse, or helping a student find a book, she always gave generously of herself. Her work in the library developed her own desire to read. She eagerly shared her newfound love of reading and her warm hospitality with her library patrons.
Sister Janet is survived by her brother Frank Voss Jr. and her two sisters, Suzanne Maas and Barbara Oitker.
