S. Annette Geraets (1931-1994) High School Teacher/Counselor
Sister Annette Gereats was born on February 15, 1931, to Theodore and Hilda (Grellinger) Geraets in Elmwood Wisconsin, 3rd in a family of 14 children. She was valedictorian of her class in Elmwood and won honors for her skills on the coronet. She entered Saint Bede Monastery in 1955, after obtaining her B.A. at River Falls State College and later a M.S. in 1964 in biology at the University of Notre Dame and M.S. in counseling from Xavier University in 1975. Sister Annette spent 20 years as a science teacher, principal, and guidance director to some of the most difficult and challenging classes at Regis High School. This may have been great preparation for her later work in the prison. She left St. Regis only long enough to earn a master's degree in counseling before returning. In her classroom, she was known to have plants and plants. Her compassion for plants was equal to her compassion for students and had a gift of dealing with challenging students. At Regis, every classroom had some sort of violet that she distributed around. While she helped students conduct labs outside of the classroom, when it came to prayer she never missed a beat. She held a number of community positions as well during some of these years. For a time she served at Boysville of Michigan where she taught court-placed adolescent boys until 1984 when she was hired by the State of Wisconsin as the educational staff of the Kettle Moraine Corrections Institute, a medium-security facility for men. Her home life may have prepared her to work among men. During World War II she worked in the barns with the guys to her liking vs working in the house. Service to her religious community was a high priority for her as she served as house coordinator, director of the kitchen, and caretaker of the grounds and buildings while still finding the time to volunteer in the parish where she was living. Culinary was one of her specialties in the Regis convent. Sister Annette was the one who cooked meat and was a master chef when it came to popcorn. It was while she was at Kettle Moraine that she suffered a fatal heart attack at the age of 63
