June 10, 1930 – June 20, 2025
In fidelity to Julie's preference for the poor in the most abandoned places, we choose to stand with poor people as they struggle for adequate means for human life and dignity. (Article 17, SNDdeN Constitutions)
Joan was born in Dayton, Ohio, the eldest of three children of Carl Krimm and Catherine Aldora (born in Austria/Hungary). Her two siblings, Carl Krimm and Patricia Krimm Pohl, soon followed to join a large extended family. She also grew up with the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur (SNDdeNs), who taught at Our Lady of the Rosary, where Joan was baptized at 5 days old, at Holy Family where Joan attended elementary school, and at Julienne High School from which she graduated in 1948. Asked about her call to religious life, Joan replied, “I really don’t know how I heard the call to religious life. I only know that from the time I was small, I wanted to give myself to God.”
When Joan was in the 8th grade, she asked her mother if the next year she could join the Candidacy of the sisters in Columbus, Ohio. Her mother replied, “Do you mind staying home? I need you.” Of course, Joan stayed. Her mother died in May of the following year, and Joan took over the household and helped her father with her younger siblings. Nearing graduation from high school, Joan wasn’t sure she could enter the convent because of family responsibilities. Discussing this with her father, she received his blessing.
Joan and Dorothy Stang, her best friend in high school, entered the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur the summer of 1948. During her novitiate, her little brother was hospitalized with spinal meningitis and near death. The Provincial bent the rules and sent Joan to the hospital to see him. Fearing her brother would not recover, Joan told her father she would come home if needed. Happily, her brother recovered, and Joan took that as a sign that she was where God wanted her to be.
From early on, Joan was recognized as a natural born leader, teacher, and organizer. Immediately after her First Profession in 1951, she began her life of ministry as an SNDdeN. Over 15 years, she taught in five elementary schools in Ohio while completing her BS in Education from Our Lady of Cincinnati College. When sisters were invited to serve in Brazil, something within Joan urged her to volunteer. She was accepted and missioned to serve in Coroatá, Brazil, along with her best friend, Dorothy Stang.
Always a reluctant driver, Joan found herself driving a jeep and riding horses and mules in Brazil. Living without electricity and running water and managing to speak Portuguese were also challenging. Besides teaching in the school, she helped with evangelization in Coroatá, ministered to the outcasts of the community, and served on teams sent to villages to begin building Ecclesial Base Communities. Unfortunately, after 10 years in Brazil, health issues forced her to return to the U.S., while a part of her heart remained in Brazil. One of Joan’s most cherished awards was being named an Honorary Citizen of Coroatá, along with Dorothy. Joan and Dorothy told the mayor they would only accept the award if their farm workers were invited to the presentation.
Often remembered for her service in Brazil, upon returning to Ohio, Joan immediately immersed herself in ministry with the same spirit, skills and manner she had used in Brazil. After two years of teaching at Dayton Catholic Middle School, she accepted a pastoral ministry position in Cincinnati at Mother of Christ Parish in an African American community in inner-city Winton Hills. There she worked with the people to grow the parish community, open a food pantry, improve housing conditions, increase social services, train parish leaders, expand a community-based medical and health services center, and provide the children with an education that would break the cycle of poverty. After several years, the pastor was transferred, and Joan was appointed Pastoral Administrator of the Parish, an unusual role at that time.
Over the years, Joan was unceasingly involved in peace and justice issues such as the Sanctuary movement, human trafficking, comprehensive immigration reform, environmental protection, Notre Dame Mission Volunteers, and others. Often, she held leadership positions in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati and with the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur across the US.
After 18 years of continuous service, Joan was called by her sisters to serve on the Ohio Province Leadership Team, to which she brought experience and a collaborative style of ministry. Her specific responsibility was assisting the sisters in discernment about their ministries and visiting them at their ministry sites. In 2000, this Leadership Team oversaw the massive construction of the new Mount Notre Dame Health Center and the renovations of other buildings at Mount Notre Dame. Having completed her term on the Leadership Team, Joan served as the Interim Community Coordinator at Mount Notre Dame. She assisted the sisters’ transition to the new Health Center until new staff were hired. After 50 uninterrupted years of service, often in very challenging ministries, Joan agreed to a year’s sabbatical.
In 2002, Joan generously agreed to be the Animator of Peace & Justice Ministry for the Ohio Province. Over the next 14 years, Joan’s influence was significant and widespread. Clearly, her deep union with God kept her peaceful, centered, and present to others, no matter the demands and pressures of her ministry involvement.
Retiring in 2016, Joan had more time to pass on her memories of Dorothy Stang who was murdered in Brazil in 2005. One of the first to hear of her death, Joan was invaluable in navigating all that had to be dealt with after Dorothy’s death. From 2005 to 2007, she made four trips to Brazil to attend the trials of Dorothy’s murderers, provide support to the Notre Dame community in Brazil and serve as a communication conduit to the sisters in Ohio. For 20 years, Joan has shared Dorothy’s story with many groups and collaborated in developing materials to honor Dorothy’s life and mission. In January 2025, a delegation from the Ohio Province journeyed to Rome to celebrate the incorporation of Dorothy Stang’s relics at the Sanctuary of New Martyrs in the Basilica of San Bartolomeo. Unable to attend, Joan donated her precious relic of soil soaked with Dorothy’s blood to be installed there.
Whether with sisters in community or people she met in her ministry, Joan exhibited kindness, generosity, courage, and leadership. She was very sensitive about injustice, especially toward people of color. Though a good listener, hardworking, easily trusted, humorous, and fun-loving, Joan could be equally persistent, pragmatic, outspoken, and determined.
Five days before her death, Joan had lunch with long-time friend and colleague, Mike Gable, director of the Archdiocesan Mission Office. Following lunch, she attended a meeting of the Dorothy Stang Committee, during which the members evaluated all the initiatives and celebrations, which they had planned over two years, for the 20th anniversary of Dorothy’s martyrdom. During both meetings, Joan’s voice was strong, her mind clear, and her suggestions helpful. The next day Joan became ill and died three days later, the morning after the Juneteenth celebrations of the end of slavery, and just ten days after her 95th birthday. It’s as if Joan were saying, “It’s ok to move on now; my mission has finished.” Dorothy has surely fulfilled her promise to meet Joan at her time of passage, and Joan now sees her faithful guardian angel, Herb, face to face.
Carol Wetli, SNDdeN & Kim Dalgarn, SNDdeN – July 7, 2025