Sister Joanne Kollasch, OSB | 1930-2025 MIDDLETON – Sister Joanne, age 95, died peacefully at Sauk Prairie Hospital on Tuesday, December 23, 2025. Joanne was born on September 24, 1930, the seventh of nine children to Charles R. and Anna M. (Laubenthal) Kollasch in Whittemore, Iowa. She attended the parish school, Presentation Academy, graduating in 1948. Four years later, a time she often referred to as her “social maturing,” she entered the Sisters of Saint Benedict, Sioux City, Iowa. Because the community was in the process of moving the motherhouse to Madison, Wis., the sisters determined her novitiate would be …
Introducing the new CCR director
Dear Community of Communities, It is with deep gratitude and reverence for the members of the search committee, the Sisters, the Board of Directors and the gentle, but persistent pull of the Spirit, that I have accepted the position to be the new Director of the Center for Clergy Renewal at Holy Wisdom Monastery. I will begin on January 6, 2025. I am a resident of Milwaukee, where I have served two congregations and, for the past 14 years, have been the Lutheran campus pastor at UW-Milwaukee. My husband, Kurt, is an architect working in campus planning at Marquette University. My …
This Precious Community
Submitted by Erin Trondson, executive director I started at the Monastery on January 15th, 2024, and made it a goal to meet with as many community members as were willing in my first 100 days. At that same time, I had been reading the Rule of St. Benedict who, on the first page, instructs us to listen with the ear of the heart. I had the privilege of listening with the ear of my heart while more than 100 community members spoke of this beloved community. It is a time I will not soon forget and has planted seeds in …