Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College mourns the loss of an alumna and member of the Board of Trustees, who was admired for her prayerful and loving spirit.
Joan “Joni” Slobig ’64, a Sister of Providence, passed away Sunday, Aug. 16 at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana. She was 77.
“She loved the quote from Saint Mother Theodore Guerin, ‘…be assured that in leaving the past to the mercy of God and the future to [God’s] Providence you will derive from your offering very great peace and very great consolation,’ and if anyone ever lived that it was Joni,” said alumna Kathryn Martin Ph.D. ’63, emerita chancellor of the University of Minnesota Duluth. Martin served as a fellow trustee and long-time friend of Slobig.
Martin, who talked with her friend almost daily, said that she is the beneficiary of Slobig’s investment in people. The two became close during Martin’s commitment to becoming a Providence Associate for the Sisters of Providence. Slobig was Martin’s spiritual companion.
“She had a very forth right nature, inspired by prayer. She helped people to pray. She loved people. She saved people. She could be tough, but it was a good kind of tough,” added Martin. “She was truly a woman of incredible spiritual depth.”
Slobig is remembered as a caring individual who was involved in her church and community.
Formerly Sister Denis Mary, Slobig was a Sister of Providence for 55 years. She began her ministry in Washington D.C. as a teacher from 1968-1969.
She moved to Illinois and held multiple positions between 1969 and 1996 until she moved to Indiana and began her work at SMWC.
At SMWC, she worked as an admissions councilor and dean of admissions from 1971-1975 and as an assistant professor from 1980-1986. For the Sisters of Providence, she had been the director of novices as well as director of formation and general councilor. She also did work in Indianapolis. Slobig served as a SMWC trustee twice from 1999-2000 and from 2019 to present.
“She played a very important role in admission during a difficult time at The Woods. She kept the College going during a time of great change in the nation as the Catholic feeder schools were transitioning, which was also an enormous transition for the College,” said Martin. “Everything Joni did, she did well. She was extraordinarily committed individual.”
Mostly recently, Slobig worked in with the St. Mary’s Village Church as the parish life coordinator from 2005 to 2020.
Sarah Mahady ’05, director of alumni relations at the College, saw a side of Slobig that many others did not, and a member of St. Mary’s Village Church from her childhood.
Slobig has also been a part of Mahady’s life in other ways too, as she was there for both of her daughter’s baptisms, and one of her daughter’s first communion.
She was also regularly present at Sunday School and helped with the church finances.
“I had the opportunity to see the side of her that a lot of people don’t get to see,” Mahady said. “I always loved after class was over. She would stay and ask how my family was. I got to see her laughing and sharing stories.”
She was also involved in the community, including raising funds through St. Mary’s Village Church for the Providence Food Pantry, which provides service to residences in the West Terre Haute area.
“I think she would do anything for anyone. She was very kind. I was blessed to be able to know her – the personal side,” Mahady said.
But even though Mahady had known Slobig most of her life, she was still learning new things about her.
“I didn’t realize she went by Joni until I started working here,” Mahady said, who has been at the College for a little more than a year. “I was joking with her last year during orientation in the rotunda, and I said, ‘Joni? You go by Joni?’ She said, ‘My friends call me Joni.’ I said, ‘Can I call you Joni?’ and she said yes.”
Funeral services for Slobig will take place on Saturday, Aug. 22 at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana. A virtual wake will take place at 10:30 a.m., followed by funeral outside mass at 11 a.m.