Sister Lois Kikkert, OP (Sister Anne Claire), a member of the Sisters of Saint Dominic of Caldwell for 67 years, entered into eternal life on Friday, January 10, 2025, at the age of 88 at Saint Catherine of Siena Healthcare Center, Caldwell, NJ. On Friday, January 17, 2025, a wake and Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at Saint Aloysius Church, 219 Bloomfield Avenue, Caldwell, NJ. The wake will be from 9:15 AM–10:00 AM followed by the Mass of Christian Burial at 10:00 AM. Graveside services will follow at Gethsemane Cemetery on the Motherhouse grounds. If you were unable to attend the Mass in person, here is a link to the livestream.
Sister Lois was a woman of deep faith and compassion and a gifted, creative preacher. The daughter of Daniel and Mary (Hughes) Kikkert, she was born in Passaic, NJ. She entered the Sisters of Saint Dominic on September 8, 1957, received the habit on June 7, 1958, made her first profession on June 13, 1959, and final profession on June 13, 1965.
Sister earned her AB degree in English with a minor in elementary education from Caldwell University (formerly Caldwell College), an MAT degree in English/education from Assumption College, Worcester, MA, and an MA degree in pastoral/parish ministry and church leadership from Fordham University, Bronx, NY.
Sister Lois shared her gifts in ministry for 67 years. She was a teacher for 19 years at the following schools: Saint Boniface School, Jersey City, NJ; Blessed Sacrament School, Bridgeport, CT; Saint Ann School, Newark, NJ; Mount Saint Dominic Academy, Caldwell, NJ; and St. Margaret School, Bayou La Batre, AL.
Sister took her first step out of teaching and into pastoral ministry in ‘the Bayou’ when she discovered a whole “invisible parish,” a parish of the homebound, where she listened to people who had spiritual and physical needs and discovered that listening itself could be a ministry. With this discovery, Sister Lois’ ministerial focus shifted, and when she returned to New Jersey, she became a pastoral associate at Saint Raphael Parish in Livingston, NJ, and an editor and author at RENEW for the Archdiocese of Newark. She then served as an associate pastor at Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish in Westover, WV, and as a pastoral associate at Saint Virgil Parish in Morris Plains, NJ. For 16 years, Sister Lois was the parish administrator in the Diocese of Springfield, Illinois, of three priestless parishes that merged to form Resurrection Parish in Illiopolis, IL. She returned again to New Jersey and served in the pastoral care ministry at Siena Village in Wayne, NJ. In her retirement, Sister ministered at Saint Catherine Convent, where she visited the sisters, shared scripture, ran errands, and participated in art projects. Her definition of retirement had become: “time to allow the God within to quiet the mind and massage the heart.”
Sister Lois is predeceased by her parents, Daniel and Mary, her brothers Richard and wife, Claire, Daniel and wife Charlotte, Donald and first wife Elizabeth, and John. She is survived by her sisters-in-law, Maria Kikkert and June Brady, many nieces, nephews, grandnieces, grandnephews, and her loving Sisters of Saint Dominic.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations to the Sisters of Saint Dominic, One Ryerson Avenue, Caldwell, NJ 07006 would be appreciated.