Sister Susan (Michaela) Rink, BVM
Sister Susan Rink, BVM, (Michaela), 97, died Sunday, April 27, 2025, at Mount Carmel Bluffs, 1160 Carmel Drive, Dubuque, Iowa.
Visitation, the Sharing of Memories and Mass of Christian Burial were on Friday, May 2, 2025. Burial was in the Mount Carmel cemetery.
Sister Susan was born on Aug. 8, 1927, in Tulsa, Okla., to Raymond and Helen (McEvoy) Rink. She entered the BVM congregation Sept. 8, 1948, from St. Patrick Parish, Dubuque, Iowa. She professed first vows on March 19, 1951, and final vows on Aug. 15, 1956.
Sister Susan was biology department chair and instructor at Clarke University, parish visitor at St. Patrick, and office staff at AARP, all in Dubuque, Iowa. She served as assistant dean and president of Mundelein College in Chicago and ministered as a youth and substance abuse counsellor also in Chicago. She was a secondary teacher at Holy Angels Academy in Milwaukee and Xavier HS in St. Louis.
“Saint Peter entreated, ‘Let your love for one another be intense. . . Be hospitable to one another without complaining. As each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God’s varied grace.’ (1 Peter 4:8-10). Sue put her gifts to good use in a life of service. She was a strong woman yet there was a gentleness about her. She could state her opinion, speak her mind, and then go with the flow and not fret about the outcome. Her twinkling eyes and warm smile welcomed everyone as a friend.” (Eulogy.)
She was preceded in death by her parents. She is survived by cousins and the Sisters of Charity, BVM, with whom she shared life for 76 years.
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If my memory serves me correctly (I’m 78 now), I started work in the Treasurer’s office in April of 1991 while Sue Rink, BVM was Treasurer. I was hired to take care of the sisters’ savings accounts since Terese Beck, BVM would be leaving that position. When I first met Sue, she told me I would have to go by my full name of Susan since there now would be three of us with the same first name in the Treasurer’s office and there would be confusion as to which Sue was being addressed. I “cringed” whenever my full first name was called. I think that was because my mom called me by my full name when I got myself into trouble with her. If I got into some pretty BIG trouble with her, she’d say Susan Mary. For whatever reason that feeling stuck with me all the way into adulthood. Over time I would notice when Sue would arrive at the office in the mornings if she said “good morning” when she walked by our office doors it would be a good day…. but if she said nothing we just kept out of the way. It’s funny the small things you pick up on. I absolutely LOVED working at Mt. Carmel with the sisters. I went to Holy Trinity in Dubuque from Kindergarten through 8th grade and was taught by my parents to have great respect for the sisters and priests. Even when I became a teenager and went to public high school that respect always stayed with me. I remember one time when Sue’s secretary was not available I had to type up a letter that she would send out to a group of the sisters in different positions throughout the country and I must have put something in it that made her call me into her office and ask me if “I was trying to be funny”? I no longer remember what it was, but I told her “No, it was just that we had been taught that we always were to put sisters/priests on a pedestal”. She told me that was fine when I was a child, but I was an adult now and a professional and it wasn’t necessary. I don’t know why that impressed me so much, but I still remember her words yet today. I’ve always felt my time at Mt. Carmel was the BEST job I’d ever had. My condolences to all of you and RIP to Sue. Even though I hadn’t seen her in years, I will miss her. Sue Kurt
Sr. Susan Rink was a significant leader at Mundelein College, Chicago. Perhaps the best remembrance is what she highlighted about herself:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w65aXzU_H7c
The BVM’s at Mundelein College were amazing leaders and Catholic women role models.
We were fortunate at Mundelein College to have so many examples of BVM excellence and leadership.
I knew of Sue when I was a student at Clarke but, unfortunately, was never in her classroom. We connected in 1990 when she was Treasurer of the order, and I was working at a local bank. Eventually, we both were members of the Clarke Board of Trustees. I admired several of her wonderful qualities: straightforwardness, intelligence, quick wit/sense of humor, and kindness.