Sr. Mary Lorenzo Wolak, formerly known as Stella Wolak died Sept. 27 in Blessed Mary Angela Convent, Livonia, She was 93, and had been a Felician Sister 75 years

Born Aug. 3, 1917, and baptized at St. Hedwig Church, Detroit, Stella was the oldest of five children born to Joseph and Mary Ann (Tylec) Wolak.

She attended St. Stephen and St. Andrew grade schools in Detroit, and in 1931 was accepted to the Seminary of the Felician Sisters in Detroit. After completing high school, she entered the Felicians, becoming a postulant a few days after graduation in June 1935. She was invested with the Felician habit in 1936 and received the name Sr. Mary Lorenzo. Her First Profession of vows was in 1937 and Final Profession in 1943.

Sr. Wolak earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Madonna College (University) and a Master of Arts degree from the University of Detroit. Her ministry of teaching of 56 years took her to schools in Michigan and Indiana. Locally, she served at Assumption (West Side), Our Lady Help of Christians, Holy Ghost, Patronage of St. Joseph, Resurrection, St. Stephen, St. Valentine and St. Ignatius, all in Detroit; St. Mel, Dearborn Heights; St. Michael, Livonia; Our Lady of Refuge, Orchard Lake; St. Hyacinth and St. Stanislaus, Bay City; St. Joseph, Jackson; St. Francis of Assisi, Flint; St. John Vianney, Wyoming; and St. Mary, Parisville; and two schools in South Bend, Ind. In the last ten years of her active ministry, at age 74, Sr. Wolak taught religious education and was a pastoral minister at a parish in Elkhart, Ind.

In 2001, she retired to the provincial house. Declining health required her to take up permanent residence in Blessed Mary Angela Convent in 2006.

She is survived by a niece, Rebecca.

A funeral Mass was celebrated Oct. 5 in the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Chapel of the Felician Sisters’ Central House, Livonia. Burial was in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, Southfield.