SISTER JEANNE (MARY DE MONTFORT) BURG, O.P.

Sister Jeanne Burg, O.P., 93, passed away at Siena Center, Racine on Tuesday July 30, 2024.

Regina Cecilia was born June 6, 1931 to Orville J. and Marie Catherine (nee: Goetz) Burg on the homestead in Monches, WI. On June 19, 1948 she joined the Racine Dominicans and at her reception in 1949 she was given the religious name Sister Mary de Montfort. She professed her first vows in 1951 and her final vows in 1957. In 1968 she returned to using the name Jeanne, the name she was known by while growing up.

Sister Jeanne spent many years in service to others in education and pastoral work. She began her ministry in 1951 at St. Joseph, Racine. Other places in Wisconsin where she served were St. Benedict, Milwaukee; Holy Name and St. Rita, Racine; St. John, South Milwaukee; St. Sebastian, Sturtevant and St. Aloysius, Sauk City. She was principal for over 17 years.

In 1978 she began her work with the Spanish speaking in Nampa, Idaho. S. Jeanne gave herself in service to first generation Mexicans, first in ID at Our Lady of Guadalupe, and then in UT at both Mission San Felipe, Wendover, and St. Francis of Assisi in Provo. In her ministry she received abundantly from them. As a woman of faith, she lived out of a deep spirituality which informed her political action, ie, civil disobedience, work with Cesar Chavez and United Farmworkers, along with several protests, and her work at legalizing over 200 Mexicans with their green card.

Jeanne was an avid reader, especially of Chardin and Ghandi, and had broad interests in geology, crocheting, writing poetry, sketching, and in her later years, coloring, a contemplative time for her. Her best known signature was her inviting smile and twinkle in her eyes. Jeanne enjoyed nature, especially the mountains and desert which deepened her spirituality. For many summers she vacationed in the Grand Tetons. She became a resident at Siena Center 2010. Jeanne may have been a woman of few words, but one paid attention when she spoke. She weathered many sufferings (cancer 4 times, death of her family members and close friends, the toll of heavy discernment for civil disobedience, the betrayal she experienced when leaving Mission San Felipe, to name a few.) Through all her suffering she was always grateful and smiled. Her gentleness and tenderness dominated her life as a Racine Dominican. We used to tease her that if she went any slower she’d be in reverse.

Sister Jeanne is survived by the Racine Dominican Sisters and Associates; her sister-in-law, Shirley Burg in Plymouth, WI, her nephews Doug (Bridget) in FL, Paul (Elaine) in DE, Timothy Joseph (Nanci) in NY, all of their families and several cousins. She was preceded in death by her parents, Orville Burg and Marie Goetz Burg, her brother Glenn Burg, her nieces Adele Burg and Kris (Jay) Wimmler.

A Remembering Service will be at 8:45 a.m. followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at 10:00 a.m. in the Siena Center Chapel on Tuesday August 6. Interment will take place at Holy Cross Cemetery Hwy 32. Memorials to the Racine Dominican Mission Outreach have been suggested.

The Racine Dominicans would like to extend their thanks to the Supportive Living and Hospice Alliance staff who cared for Sister Jeanne at Siena Center.