Sr. Jane Ann Comerford

Sr. Jane Ann Comerford, CSJ was born in Indiana to Clarence and Ethel Lesh Comerford (both deceased) and entered the Congregation of St. Joseph in Tipton, Indiana in 1947. Following her retirement and the closing of the CSJ Center in Tipton, Sr. Jane Ann moved to the Cleveland Center in 2013 where she volunteered with hospice services and ministered to babies at Providence House and Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital. A Funeral Mass will be celebrated at St. William’s Church in Louisville, Kentucky on Saturday, April 13 at 10:00 a.m. EDT. 

Jane Ann was born in Indiana in January 1931 to Ethel and Clarence Comerford. The youngest of seven children, she grew up on a farm in Bunker Hill. St. Charles in Peru was her home parish, and she attended St. Joseph Academy in Tipton. 

In 1947, Jane Ann entered the Congregation of St. Joseph in Tipton. Through the years she received a BA in Education from Marymount College, an MA in Theology from Notre Dame University, and an MA in Pastoral Counseling from Butler University. 

For 30 years Jane Ann served in many cities and parishes throughout the Diocese of Lafayette, Indiana. She was a primary school teacher from 1950-1965 in the following schools: St. Peter, St. Joseph, St. Paul, St. Joan of Arc, St. John and St. Bernard. From 1967-1970, Jane Ann was asked by her community in Tipton to serve as Director of Novices. 

In the 1970s, she was Campus Minister at Ball State University in Muncie and became Associate Director of Religious Education in the Lafayette Diocese. She also ministered as Director of Religious Education at Grissom Air Force Base in Bunker Hill and at Our Lady of Grace Parish in Noblesville. Jane Ann then served as a member of the Leadership Team in Tipton from 1978 to 1982.

From 1982 to 2013, Jane Ann ministered in Louisville, Kentucky as a pastoral counselor and marriage and family therapist at Methodist Episcopal Hospital, Norton Healthcare and in private practice. For 30 years, she was a member of St. William Church in Louisville, a parish where, in the Spirit of Vatican II, members committed to live justice, peace, and compassion-- the heart of Jesus’ message. Jane Ann ministered with the community and celebrated specially planned Sunday liturgies. Studying the New Cosmology and Buddhism at the Earth and Spirit Center in Louisville and learning the practice of Buddhist meditation were very important to her. 

After the Tipton Center closed in 2013, Jane Ann chose to join the Cleveland Center in Ohio. She remained deeply grateful for the warmth and kindness extended towards her by everyone at the Cleveland Center. In Cleveland she volunteered weekly at Hospice of the Western Reserve with respite care, and at Providence House and Rainbow Babies’ and Children’s Hospital with infant care, where she cuddled babies who had no family members with them. She enjoyed traveling throughout her life and collecting pottery from local artisans in the different towns where she lived and visited. 

Loving God, we are thankful for the life of our Sister Jane Ann, and we rejoice as she enters into the fullness of Your love.

A graveside committal service will be held at 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday, August 20 at the St. Joseph Cemetery on the grounds of the St. Joseph Retreat and Conference Center in Tipton.