Sr. Mary E. Proulx

Sister Mary Ellen Proulx (Sr. Monica Noel), 80, died peacefully at Mount St. Mary Convent in Wichita, Kansas on Saturday, March 4, 2023. Sister Mary Ellen was born in Crookston, Minnesota on April 7, 1942 to Noel J. Proulx and Cerisa M. Hamel Proulx. She is survived by her Sisters Angie Rivard, Phyllis Proulx, Monica (Tim) Audette, and brothers Bill (Patti) Proulx, and Gene (Pat) Proulx. Sr. Mary Ellen is preceded in death by her parents Noel and Cerisa Proulx, brothers Jim and John Proulx and sister Joan Pasiuk.

Sister Mary Ellen entered the novitiate of the Sisters of St. Joseph in Crookston, Minnesota on August 15, 1960 and made final profession of vows in 1963. She earned a Bachelor in Music Education from Viterbo College in LaCrosse, Wisconsin.

Sister Mary Ellen spent fourteen years in music ministry teaching choral music, music appreciation, guitar and piano classes; directing and assisting with school musicals; serving as choral director and/or liturgy coordinator; training organists and teaching organ. She served in many parishes and schools during those years: St. Joseph’s Academy in Crookston, Archbishop Brady High School and St. Joseph’s Elementary in West St. Paul, the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception and St. Anne’s Parish in Crookston, St. Peter’s Parish in Mendota, Minnesota and the parishes of St. Joseph’s and Corpus Christi in West St. Paul.

In 1986 she served on the Sisters of St. Joseph Formation Team in San Antonio, Texas. In 1992 Sister Mary Ellen became the Director of Music and Liturgy at the Church of the Little Flower in St. Louis, Missouri and was accompanist at St. Ambrose Parish in Woodbury, Minnesota. She also served as Director of Recreational Activities for eleven years at Health East Care Center – Marian St. Paul. Sister Mary Ellen retired in 2019 to Mount St. Mary Convent, in Wichita Kansas.

Homecoming, reading of the Eulogy, followed by Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated at Mount St. Mary Resurrection Chapel on Friday, March 10, 2023 at 10:00 a.m. Burial will follow at a later date in Gentilly, Minnesota.

Memorial donations may be made to the Congregation of St. Joseph Retirement Fund, Dear Neighbor or StepStone ministries at Mt. St. Mary Convent in Wichita, Kansas.