Sr. Rosemary Empen, Op

Footville, Wisconsin Rosemary Empen, OP Sister Rosemary Empen, OP, died March 2, 2022, at St. Elizabeth Manor in Footville, Wisconsin. She was the oldest child born to Bernard and Josephine (Burken) Empen in Rochelle, Illinois. She had six siblings. She is survived by five of them: Shirley Modjallal (Encino, CA), Phyliss Gibson (Madison, WI), Joseph Empen (Forsyth, IL), Carol Glenn (Milledgeville, IL), and Ronald Empen (Winnebago, IL); nieces; nephews; and her beloved Dominican Sisters. Her brother, Bernard Empen, died in 2021. Sister Rosemary taught primary grades at St. Basil School in Chicago and at Corpus Christi School in New York, NY. In 1966, she was sent to Santa Cruz, Bolivia, where she taught, was an administrator and did pastoral work for 14 years. She spent the rest of her life working with Spanish-speaking people in Nebraska, Illinois, Mississippi and Wisconsin. Sister Rosemary was gentle, a planner. When she saw a need her question was, “What will we do about this?” She came to Sinsinawa in 2006, started a weekly Spanish-speaking group, and was an on-call translator for Jo Daviess County. Services will be held at Sinsinawa March 10-11, 2022. Bien hecho, Hermana!