Sister Joan was born on a farm near Mayhew Lake, Minn., the seventh of 11 children. Her mother had come to Minnesota on the Orphan Train in 1913. A unique feature on the Schafer farm was the pickle patch. The family raised acres of pickles for a canning factory. S. Joan said, “As soon as we could carry a Karo syrup pail we went along to the pickle patch.”

S. Joan is a seasoned cook and baker, an artisan, and noted for her hospitality. She cooked at St. Peter’s Convent in St. Cloud and at Watkins. Whenever a teacher was sick, she substituted. S. Joan taught every grade in the grade school. Mostly, she cooked and baked for large groups. She worked in the bakery and kitchen at the monastery, at White Earth Indian Mission and at St. Cloud Hospital for over 20 years. While supervising the bakery at St. Cloud Hospital, S. Joan’s peachy granola tarts won fourth place in a national contest.

Currently, S. Joan works at St. Scholastica Convent as assistant volunteer coordinator, works with monastic enterprises, visits the retired Sisters, and is a personal care attendant for individual Sisters. S. Joan is known for her sense of humor, her dedication to community prayer and her ability to motivate Sisters with memory problems to cooperate with their activities of daily living. S. Joan appreciates her vocation and is grateful to the community, her family and friends for all the support she has received.