Sister Joan Duerst, OP

Sister Joan Duerst, OP, has ministered in Wisconsin, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Illinois, and Mississippi as well as and Trinidad and Tobago. Her religious name was Sister Marie Herve’. Sr. Joan’s ministry has been dedicated to social justice, especially for criminal justice reform. In Wisconsin, Sr. Joan taught at Dominican High School, Whitefish Bay, 1968-1972. She ministered as volunteer coordinator at South Madison Coalition of the Elderly (now New Bridge), Madison, 2008-2014, and served with the multigenerational faith formation team and directed the first reconciliation and First Communion program at St. Albert the Great Parish, Sun Prairie, 2009-2011. Sr. Joan is a member of MOSES (Madison Organizing in Strength, Equity, and Solidarity), where she is a religious leader, and has served on the antiracism transformation team of the Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa since 1999. In Nebraska, Sr. Joan taught at Dominican High School, Omaha, 1972-1979. In Oklahoma, she served as neighborhood organizer at Immaculate Conception Parish, Tulsa, 1979-1982; founder and director of Osage Hills Apartment Ministry, Tulsa, 1982-1987; coordinator for peace and justice at Christ the King Parish, Tulsa, 1993-1998; and founder and community organizer for North Tulsa Neighborhood Alliance, Tulsa, 1993-1998, facilitating 12 neighborhood associations to build strong organizations in a neglected area of the city. She taught at Bishop Kelley, Tulsa, 1987-1993, and served the Sinsinawa Dominican Congregation as provincial councilor for the Southern Province while living in Tulsa, 1998-2003. In Mississippi, Sr. Joan ministered as director of high school religious education and social concerns coordinator at St. Francis of Assisi Parish, Madison, 2004-2008. She is living in community with her Dominican Sisters in Madison, WI. Her home parish is St. Patrick, Madison, in the Madison Diocese. She is the daughter of the late Hervey and Catherine “Kay” (Skibba) Duerst. Click here to send an honor online.