Sister Therese Fang, OSF, 102, died on Sunday, May 28, 2023, at 8:46 p.m. at St. Francis Convent, Springfield, IL.

The Visitation will be held at St. Francis Convent on Wednesday, May 31, 2023, from 4-7 p.m. with a Wake Service at 6 p.m. The Eucharistic Celebration and Rite of Christian Burial will be celebrated by Father Richard Chiola on Thursday, June 1, 2023, at 10:30 a.m. in St. Clare of Assisi Adoration Chapel at St. Francis Convent. The burial will be in Crucifixion Hill Cemetery.

Sister Therese, the former Bibiana Fang, was born in Shang Tung, Tung Ping, China, on November 27, 1920, the daughter of Peter and Mary (Young) Fang. She entered the Congregation at St. Joseph’s Hospital, Jinan, China, on March 25, 1944, and professed her religious vows on September 17, 1946.

Due to political instability in China, it was necessary for the Chinese and American Sisters serving in Jinan to come to the United States for their safety and so they sailed from Shanghai on the SS General Meigs on May 12, 1948, to San Francisco, CA. After traveling on the train, they arrived in Springfield on June 5. After learning English, Sister Therese attended St. John’s Hospital School of Nursing, Springfield, and she earned a certificate from St. John’s Hospital School of X-Ray in 1956. Sister Therese became a registered radiological technician and served at St. John’s Tuberculosis Sanitarium, Springfield, along with HSHS hospitals in Illinois and Wisconsin. Sister Therese rendered her service at HSHS St. Francis Hospital, Litchfield, IL, from 1960 to 1996.

Sister Therese was preceded in death by her parents and a brother, Peter Fang, Jr. She is survived by her cousins, Mr. and Mrs. Jeff Ma of Flushing, NY, Shaun and Chloe Liang of Kensington, MD, and her Franciscan Sisters with whom she shared her life for over 79 years.

Feature Story from 2005

Staab Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.