Sister Joan Wagner, co-founder the St. Joseph Center for Spirituality, passed away on April 12, 2024, at age 93.
Born Sept. 2, 1930, in Buffalo, she was one of three children and the only daughter of Mathias L. and Marion Meyer Wagner.
Raised on the family farm in Alden, Sister Joan attended St. Joseph University School in Buffalo and graduated from Mount St. Joseph Academy, in Buffalo.
Inspired by teachers at Mount St. Joseph and three great-aunts who were Sisters of St. Francis, she entered the Sisters of St. Joseph order in January 1951 and pronounced her final vows Aug. 29, 1956, taking the name Sister Mary Matthias,
Sister Joan attended Mount St. Joseph Teachers College (now Medaille), earning a bachelor’s degree in education in 1961 and a master’s degree in 1963.
She also completed a master’s degree in education at the University at Buffalo in 1966 and a master’s in theology at the University of Notre Dame in 1973. She also took courses in drama at SUNY Fredonia.
Her ministry saw her teaching elementary classes for several years at Mount St. Joseph Academy and St. Mary’s School for the Deaf, both in Buffalo, and St. Joseph School for Exceptional Children in Dunkirk. She also taught at Canisius College, and for 18 years was an instructor, and later professor, of theology and spirituality at Christ the King Seminary in East Aurora.
She began devoting herself to the study and teaching of spirituality and contemplation and was widely known throughout the Northeast for her work in religious retreats, holistic living, prayer and the teaching of spiritual theology.
She directed Anawim Retreat House in Olcott and taught courses at Consolata Mission Center in Amherst. In 1988, she joined the retreat team at the Stella Niagara Center of Renewal in Lewiston, where she directed retreats and special programs. She also led retreats in Rochester, Syracuse, Allegany and Erie, Pennsylvania.
Sister Joan co-founded the St. Joseph Center for Spirituality at Christ the King Seminary in 1993, and served as its director. A training center for clergy and laity who go on to lead others in spiritual direction, it moved to the Sisters of St. Joseph Residence in Clarence and she remained active with its programs until 2018.
She enjoyed music, writing poetry and gardening.
She is survived by two brothers, Robert Wagner and Warren Wagner, and nieces and nephews.
Relatives and friends may visit the Sisters of St. Joseph Clarence Residence, 4975 Strickler Road, Clarence, on Monday, April 15, from 2-5 p.m. A funeral Mass will be celebrated in the chapel of the Sisters of St. Joseph Clarence Residence on Tuesday, April 16, at 11 a.m. Interment will take place at Forest Lawn Cemetery, Sisters of St. Joseph Section.