We Say Goodbye to Sr. Rosanne Van Housen, OP

Sister M. Rosanne Van Housen, OP
November 27, 1931 — April 11, 2024

Sister M. Rosanne Van Housen, a Dominican Sister of San Rafael for 70 years, died peacefully on April 11. 2024. Deeply committed to her call to religious life, Sr. Rosanne led a prayerful life, keenly aware of the beauty of God’s creation all around her.

Born Joan Lee Van Housen in Yosemite National Park on November 27, 1931, Sr. Rosanne’s appreciation for natural beauty was as deeply ingrained in her as the example of Christian charity shown by her parents. Her mother taught catechism and visited the sick while her father led a life of prayer. Young Joan had dreams of being a teacher one day, and it was during her high school years when attending Dominican Upper School as a boarding student, that she came to know the Dominican Sisters of San Rafael. She admired their teachings and way of life and so entered the novitiate after a gap year insisted upon by her father. Those formative years of being a witness to service and faith laid the foundation for a rich life of ministry and service with a strong commitment to life-long learning.

Sr. Rosanne often quoted and took to heart the words of her late mother, “You can never stop growing.” After novitiate life, Sister Rosanne fulfilled her dream of teaching: at St. John’s, Napa; St. Michael, Livermore; Annunciation, Stockton; St. John Vianney, Rancho Cordova; St. Raphael and St. Isabella, San Rafael. However she found that it was not easy to keep teaching and prayer in balance. As an art major, she found painting a kind of prayer.

In 1971, Sister Rosanne attended her first Charismatic prayer meeting and, in her father’s words “it felt like coming home.” The Dominican motto To Praise, to Bless, to Preach came alive for her. As she received the renewal of the Holy Spirit, she experienced healing of fears and felt great joy and love. She joined the prayer meeting at the Carmelite Monastery, Marinwood. As a “wounded healer,” she was led into inner healing prayer ministry. When she found teaching took much time, she prayed about a ministry change and asked to be a parish sister. This gave her more flexible hours and, given that she was responsible for her mother’s care during her mother’s later years, her parish ministry was often to parish seniors, linking them to resources and volunteers and maintaining important social connections. Every parish she went to (St. Anne, Lodi; St. Luke, Stockton; St. Dominic, Eagle Rock; St. Patrick, Larkspur) had a Charismatic prayer group that supported her ministry.

Sister Rosanne volunteered several summers to cook at Santa Sabina Retreat Center, and later on, she was on the Santa Sabina staff. Santa Sabina featured Wilderness Retreats. Sister Rosanne accompanied the staff on these retreats and offered spiritual direction. She enjoyed backpacking and camping, which brought back childhood memories of the wilderness. Sister Rosanne’s desire for a deeper prayer life has led her to seek spiritual growth by attending in the summer the Holy Name and Dominican Sisters’ Houses of Prayer and the Benedictine spiritual director school in New Mexico. She also entered into Guided Imagery and Music retreats and contemplative scriptural retreats.

She remained active well into her retirement years serving as school librarian and tutor at St. Raphael’s School—fitting as she was an avid reader herself. Her legacy lives on in the many lives she touched and by the prayerful example she set for others. She is survived by her nieces Jane Brose and Gretchen Hombach, her nephew Bill Hombach, and many grand and great-grandnieces and nephews; and by her Dominican Sisters.

The Mass of the Resurrection will take place on April 16, 2024, at 11:00 am in the Dominican Sisters Gathering Space (1520 Grand Avenue, San Rafael, CA 94901). Following the Funeral Mass, Sister Rosanne will be buried in St. Dominic’s Cemetery in Benicia around 1 pm. All are welcome.

Memorial gifts in honor of Sister Rosanne may be made to the Retirement Fund, Dominican Sisters of San Rafael, Advancement Office, 1520 Grand Avenue, San Rafael, CA 94901 and online at www.sanrafaelop.org/get-involved/ways-to-give.