Janet Ahler

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Sister Janet Ahler, CSA, formerly known as Sister Jean Vianney, died peacefully March 31, 2023, at Nazareth Center, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin.

On October 30, 1932, in Burlington, Wisconsin, Janet Rose was the first of five daughters born to Anthony Ahler and Evelyn Kornhoff Ahler who ran a dairy farm. Only nine years apart, the girls were good friends throughout their lives. Janet attended St. Joseph’s Catholic Grade School in Lyons, Wisconsin, and Immaculate Conception High School in Burlington, Wisconsin. In high school Janet felt a call to nursing and to religious life. Through her parish priest, brother of a Sister of St. Agnes, Janet met CSA. After graduation she entered St. Agnes Convent in 1950, making her first profession of vows in the Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes as Sister Jean Vianney on August 15, 1953, in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin.

Sister Jean Vianney earned a nursing diploma from St. Agnes School of Nursing and a BSN from Marian College, both in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin; and a Master of Nursing Education from St. Louis University in St. Louis, Missouri. Years later having returned to her baptismal name, Sister Janet took several Healing Touch training sessions in various Wisconsin locations, receiving certification in Darien, Illinois, in 2005.

Sister Janet ministered as a nurse and nurse instructor in hospitals in Kansas and Wisconsin, as a missionary to Ecuador, and as a nurse educator at Marian College of Fond du Lac from 1967-80 and 1982-86. During that time (1976-82), Sister Janet was appointed Apostolic Councilor for Sisters of St. Agnes in nursing and related ministries. In 1986, inspired by the work of Jean Vanier establishing houses for persons with mental and physical disabilities and their caregivers, Sister Janet dedicated her healing care to the L’Arche community in Mobile, Alabama. In 1998 she returned to Fond du Lac to be Local Coordinator and then Wellness Coordinator at Nazareth Court and Center, the congregation’s retirement home. Sister Janet returned in 2007 to L’Arche until she retired to the St. Agnes Motherhouse in 2015.

In all her ministries, Sister Janet was deeply imbued with the congregation’s commitment to those whose faith life or human dignity is threatened. She strove to bring not only physical, but also spiritual and mental, wellness to all she encountered. She truly cared for others. For years, Sister Janet advocated against the death penalty and wrote letters to death-row inmates. She brought a bright smile, healing touch and a comforting presence to the sick, the anxious, the dying.

On February 14, 2023, Sister Janet was admitted to Nazareth Center in Fond du Lac, with a diagnosis of terminal cancer. There, until her death, she received the loving care she had so often given to others.

Sister Janet was preceded in death by her parents Anthony and Evelyn and her brothers-in-law: Clifford Clapp, John Koenen, Vincent Getka, and Alfons Broz.

She is survived by her sisters: Joyce Clapp, Julie Koenen, Jean Getka, Jackie Broz; several nieces and nephews and their families; and the Sisters of St. Agnes with whom she lived, prayed and ministered.

Cremation has taken place. Visitation will be held on Tuesday, April 18, 2023, from 9:00 – 11:00 a.m. at Nazareth Court and Center, 375 Gillett Street, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin.

A Prayer Service will be held at 11:00 a.m. on April 18, 2023, in Nazareth Center Chapel. Visitation will continue following the Prayer Service until 1:30 p.m.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be offered for Sister Janet at 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, April 18, 2023, at St. Francis Home Chapel, 33 Everett Street, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, with Father Carl Diederichs presiding. Burial will follow at St. Joseph Springs Cemetery, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin.

Memorials may be directed to the CSA Mission Advancement Office, 320 County Road K, Fond du Lac, WI 54937.

The Sisters of St. Agnes are grateful to the nurses and staff of Nazareth Court and Center and Hospice Hope for their care of Sister Janet.

Zacherl Funeral Home is serving the Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes.