Sister of St. Joseph Marie Stanislaus Chwalek died on Jan. 19, 2011, at the age of 94.
Sister Chwalek entered the congregation from St. Stanislaus Parish in 1931. She completed her studies at Nazareth Normal School in 1938 and earned a BA from Nazareth College in 1947.
In 1937 Sister Chwalek began a more than 50-year career in Catholic education. She taught at Holy Rosary, Corpus Christi, St. Stanislaus, and Immaculate Conception in Rochester, and at Holy Trinity, Webster. In 1964 she was appointed principal and teacher at St. Casmir in Elmira, where she stayed for 12 years. After one year as principal at St. Pius Tenth in Chili she served as principal at St. Joseph School in Wayland from 1977 until her retirement in 1993. Sister Chwalek excelled in the sciences, and was frequently called upon to train other teachers in creative methods of teaching science. In 1997 she moved to St. Joseph’s Convent Infirmary and served her remaining years in prayer ministry.
She is survived by her brother, Stan (Patricia) Hwalek; her sister, Sally Chwiecko; her sister-in-law, Bernice Hwalek; many nieces and nephews; and her sisters in the congregation. Her funeral liturgy was celebrated at the motherhouse chapel in Pittsford on Jan. 26, 2011, with burial in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Sisters of St. Joseph, 150 French Road, Rochester, NY 14618.
