Joan “Mary Joan” Maritz (1934-2026)

Sister Joan Maritz, SNDdeN went home to her good God on Oct. 16, 2026. An SNDdeN for 74 years, she was 92. 

“Well, she was such a joyful woman.” That’s how Sister Joan Maritz, SNDdeN responded to the question of who influenced her to become a Sister of Notre Dame de Namur.

She was referring to the chorale director at her Notre Dame High School in Alameda. “Sister Emelia was always ready to laugh, she loved music and she understood young women,” shared Sister Joan. “She was not only caring and happy, gentle…and full of energy…always ready to laugh. There was a degree of holiness about her.”

As a teenager, Joan wasn’t the most confident, but that didn’t stop Sister Emelia from nudging her forward. “In a chorale performance, she asked ME to be the Statue of Liberty, to hold the torch, and not to worry because the Statue of Liberty wouldn’t sing,” said Sister Joan.

Sister Joan entered SNDdeN in 1952, took her first vows in 1955 and made her final vows in 1960.

She began teaching at St. Clare School in Santa Clara, California, in 1955, under the good stewardship of Sister Francis Julie. She was delighted that her first sixth-grade classroom consisted of “mild” students. Although she never wanted to be too far from home, she was assigned to schools in Santa Barbara (Dolores School and Notre Dame School), Portland, Oregon (St. Stephen School), and Notre Dame Schools in Yuba City and Marysville, California.

She spoke of teaching as “bringing out what’s inside the kids,” and she smiled when she recalled a particular sixth grade from later in her ministry.

In the late 1990s, she taught in the math program at Elizabeth Seton School in Palo Alto, California.  She used to tell her class, “You are the best sixth grade in the school,” to which they would reply, “Sister, we are the ONLY sixth grade class in the school.”  Sister Joan remarked that if you tell students how good they are, they live up to it.

Sister Joan Maritz, SNDdeN taught math at Elizabeth Seton School in Palo Alto, California.

Sister Joan was devoted to her community and, in retirement, continued her work at the Sisters’ Province Center, where she assisted the finance and development offices by coordinating healthcare insurance and writing cards to friends and family members who use the memorial tribute program.

Co-worker Chenna Bonequi shared, “When it comes to working with government benefits programs, Sister Joan can be counted on to have insight on tricky issues. She is so generous with her time and depth of knowledge.”

Of her six-plus decades as a Sister of Notre Dame de Namur, Sister Joan said, “I’m very grateful for them; I’m very blessed to live this life.”

Sister Joan’s warmth and joy remained beautifully evident as she continued to hold the Notre Dame de Namur torch handed to her decades ago.

Updated in 2026