Toni Ann Palermo obit

Sister Toni Ann Palermo Has died

 

She was not on the list.

FITCHBURG - Sister Toni Ann Palermo SSSF, Sister of Jo Marie Vezanna, Chicago, IL, passed away on April 5, 2024, at age 91 years.

She is survived by nieces, nephews, cousins, many friends, and the School Sisters of St. Francis Community with whom she shared life for 70 years.

Sister Toni ministered as an educator and therapist in the Madison area for more than a half century, and enjoyed sharing her experiences as a professional baseball player before joining the convent.

A memorial visitation will be held Thursday, April 18, 2024, at 10:30 AM, followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at 11:00 AM at St Joseph Chapel, 1501 S. Layton Blvd., Milwaukee, WI. Inurnment at 1:30 PM at Mt. Olivet Cemetery, Milwaukee. To view a video of the service, please visit https://video.ibm.com/channel/school-sisters-of-st-francis.

In lieu of flowers, contributions to School Sisters of St. Francis are appreciated.

Stats were not recorded for the Touring Teams in 1949.

Dr. Sister Toni Palermo was born in Forest Park, Illinois on Feb. 15,1933. She played as part of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) in 1949 and 1950, for Chicago Colleens and Springfield Sallies as a shortstop and she also played professional softball with the Parichy Bloomer girls in the NGBL (National Girls Baseball League).

Toni became a Nun and earned her Bachelor of Science Degree in English, History and Math from Alvorno College. She then earned three Master Degrees and a Doctor of Philosophy Degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She taught in the Physical Education Department and the School of Social Work at the University, Forest Park, IL.

She was recognized by the Baseball Association of Chicago for "Excellence as an AAGPBL Player, Educator and Leader.” She was also honored at Miller Park’s Gehl Club to honor Sr. Toni Ann “Peanuts” Palermo, a School Sister of St. Francis, for the Interfaith Conference of Greater Milwaukee’s Values in Action award ceremony. “Part of our thinking was to honor her (Sr. Toni Ann) for her long career as a vowed woman religious living out the charism of the School Sisters of St. Francis through her various teaching assignments,” said Tom Heinen, executive director for the Interfaith Conference of Greater Milwaukee. “Part of it was to honor her for her work with the poor and for her work supporting and empowering women.”

Sr. Toni said, “God has had his hand guiding me on this journey since day one. If anyone should have never entered the convent, it was yours truly,” joked Sr. Toni Ann. “When we were on tour, my roommate was a staunch Catholic and she would say, ‘Toni, get up, we’re going to Mass’ … most of the time I had to get up because she was forceful.”

“Baseball taught me discipline and how to be coachable,” she said. “In life we have to be coachable, we really have so much pride and can’t take any suggestions and just don’t grow. In every sport I’ve been in you have to be coachable; that’s truly how our lives go.” Said Sr. Toni.

Sr. Toni has touched the lives of so many people during her life … our lives have certainly been blessed by knowing her. Toni you made a difference more then you could ever know.