Sister Stella Slonski

  We come together as a faith community to celebrate and give thanks for the compassionate and loving life of Sister Stella Slonski, formerly Sister John Michael, a Sister of St. Joseph for 62 fruitful years.

Stella’s life was all about meaningful relationships and the transformative power of grace in the human condition.  Good friends and trusting companions were God’s gifts to Stella ~ gifts she nurtured with her time, prayer, and attention.

Teri Crockel, you epitomized the richness of Stella’s friends, as well as Pat, Joe and Marcella Lynch, Jim Crockel, and a host of others.  Stella’s circle of life included your families and partners in ministry, especially in health care ~ always ready to welcome and celebrate life in a myriad of ways.  The presence of so many of Stella’s companions here today is testimony to the community of care experienced over the years.

Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Stella Alphonsa Slonski was the proud daughter of Stella and Casimir and the loving sister of Casimir, Connie, and Stanley.  The family moved to Queens and centered their lives around St. Pascal Baylon Parish.  Celebrating their Polish heritage was always part of the valued rituals with family and friends.  Stella attended St. Pascal’s Elementary and High School where she experienced the dynamic CSJ charism lived so fully by our sisters.

Entering the congregation in 1964, Stella happily became a vibrant and celebratory part of the Party-Party of 1964.  She was always delighted that we ~ and I mean ‘we’, lived up to our well-earned reputation and notoriety.

After graduating from Brentwood College and pursuing an MA in Education from Queen’s College, Stella taught primary grade children for a span of 15 years at Our Lady of the Snows, St. Martha’s, and St. Bernard’s.

Social Media is filled with remembrances of Stella’s kindness and care as a teacher, ensuring each child reached their God-given potential.  During this period of her life, while experiencing her Dad’s illness and death and his quest for peace, Stella felt God’s call to pastoral care ministry.  She embarked on a journey that brought care and healing in a wholistic, faith-filled manner to countless people over the next 40 years.  She became a Board Certified Chaplain serving at St. John’s Queens Hospital for 17 years, and Vice President of Mission at St. Vincent’s Catholic Medical Center for 7 years. After St. John’s closed, Stella moved on to St. Francis Hospital in Roslyn as a chaplain, eventually specializing in the Infusion Unit where her compassionate ministry to those suffering was reflective of her own personal journey as a cancer patient.  Stella brought a deep sense of calm and peace to often challenging situations.

In her own words, “being a chaplain was a profound, holy and wonderful ministry ~ the WOW moments were numerous and life changing.”

Stella was indeed a valiant woman steeped in prayer and love of the Eucharist.  Nourished by the faith-filled fortitude and love of life of the people she served and the trust and valor of their families, her life was blessed.  Her treasured friends and community walked with her, and we’re grateful to hear a reflection from Teri Crockel, a co-worker and friend for four  decades.
S. Tesa Fitzgerald

My name is Teri, and I have had the privilege of being Stella’s friend for almost forty years.  We met at St. John’s Queens Hospital, where she served as a hospital chaplain.  From the very beginning, I admired the compassion and empathy she carried so naturally.  She cared for patients with a tenderness that made them feel seen, and she ministered to the staff with the same devotion.  She listened without judgment, offered comfort without hesitation, and stood as a true advocate for Nursing.  She was a joyful presence during Nurses’ Week and loved celebrating with us.

Today, we gather to honor the life of a woman whose compassion touched countless lives.  Stella’s ministry carried people through their hardest moments.  She remembered every patient, honored every life, and continued to comfort families long after their loved one had passed.  Each year, she reached out to those families on their anniversaries – a quiet, powerful testament to her extraordinary heart.  Her kindness was never something she performed, it was simply who she was.

Stella was not only a Nun.  She was a Sister, an Aunt, and a Friend.  She loved her family with her whole heart, and she extended that same love to mine.  She celebrated our joys, supported us through our struggles, and treated us as her own and we loved her just as deeply.

d gardening – at her brother’s house, at my house, anywhere she could get her hands in the soil.  She loved to cook and try new recipes.  She absolutely loved music.  Yanni, the Carpenters, Anne Murray, Chicago, the Bee Gees, Celine Dion, Amy Grant – just to name a few.  If one of her favorite songs came on, she couldn’t help but dance, even if it was just a little sway in the living room, kitchen, or in her car.  Music lit her up from the inside.

We vacationed together in Bar Harbor, Maine, where she would sit by the ocean, breathing in the clean air with a peace that lit up her whole face.  I introduced her to lobster, and she was hooked.  We spent time at my house in the Poconos, where she loved the pool in the summer, the warmth of the house in the winter, and long rides on the golf cart through the community.  She loved watching the hummingbirds that visited the house – she could sit and watch them for hours, completely delighted.  Also, whenever she saw a cardinal, she would smile and say it was an angel nearby.  That was Stella, always finding meaning, always finding beauty.

And of course, she adored my dog, Gus – walking him, riding with him in the golf cart, loving him as if it were her own, and he loved her.

Stella was a true people person.  She found the good in everyone she met.  She helped people feel seen, valued, and understood.  Over the past week, as I’ve spoken with people she worked with and families she ministered to, every single person said the same thing: how wonderful, compassionate, and loving she was.

These past six months have been incredibly hard for Stella.  She fought with everything she had to overcome this terrible disease, and even though she gave it her all, her battle came to an end.

We feel the sorrow of her absence, but we also Celebrate the gift of her presence – the laughter she shared, the compassion she lived, and the love she gave so freely.  Stella leaves us with a legacy of kindness, and we honor her by carrying that forward in our own lives.  She wouldn’t want us to be sad.  She would want us to remember the beautiful moments we shared with her and the ways she touched each of our lives.

I want to thank Stella for being my very best friend – for bringing out the best in me, for helping me grow, and for filling my life with love, joy, and grace.  I will carry her with me Always.
Terri Crokel

Sister Stella Slonski, the former Sister John Michael, died on April 8, 2026 in the 62nd year of her religious life.