SISTER JOAN SHALAPIN, ASC, 88, of the Adorers of the Blood of Christ, died peacefully at 3:30 pm,, Saturday, August 8, 2026, at Benedictine Living Community in Belleville, Illinois.
She was one of five children in the family of Peter and Mary Shalapin. After her father died, her mother married Martin Ruggiero. Although Joan was born in East St. Louis, she was baptized and confirmed in the Assumption Byzantine Ukrainian Church in St. Louis since her parents were members of the Ruthenian Eastern Rite. Her family attended St. Martin of Tours Parish in East St. Louis. She made her first profession on July 1, 1958, and her final vows on July 1, 1963, at Ruma, Illinois. She had been professed for 68 years.
Sister Joan received her bachelor’s degree in Geography from St. Louis University in 1970. She earned her master’s in Art and Group Interaction from Webster University in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1975. She also received a master’s degree in Pastoral Ministry from Seattle University in Seattle, Washington, in 1991.
Sister Joan’s ministry extended from the classroom to the hospital. In Illinois, she taught at St. Bruno in Pinckneyville, Sacred Heart in Dupo, Immaculate Conception in Columbia, St. Joseph in Olney, and the Catholic Children’s Home in Alton. After teaching at St. Jerome in St. Louis, she taught and served as both principal and teacher at Visitation in Vienna, Missouri.
Her high school ministry was given at Gibault in Waterloo, Illinois. For ten years she taught art, sometimes serving as Department Chair. She also held the position of Dean of Students on the Gibault Administration. For several years, Sr. Joan resided in a House of Prayer at Holy Rosary in Fairmont City, Illinois. Here she also engaged in parish ministry and served as a part-time teacher.
Following several months as a Vista Volunteer in Edmonton, Kentucky, Sr. Joan’s involvement in community health led her to chair the department of Community Health Education at Our Lady of the Way Hospital in Martin, Kentucky, and St. Joseph Memorial Hospital in Murphysboro, Illinois. Following a brief sabbatical, she ministered as a pastoral associate at St. Joseph the Worker Mission in Elkhorn City, Kentucky for 15 years.
Sister Joan was a member of the St. Louis Camera Club and served as a volunteer for medical research projects at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.
When Sr. Joan began Living Mission in Later Life and eventually moved to Benedictine Living Community, she continued several independent ministries, such as photography, art, spirituality, volunteering with Hospice, and reading for the blind and partially sighted through a program sponsored by Our Lady of the Snows Shrine.
Sister Joan is survived by her sisters Kathleen Simons, Phyllis (Terry) Johns, her sister-in-law Mary (Cox) Shalapin, her cousin Joseph Mezyk, Jr., nieces and nephews, and members of the ASC community.
She was preceded in death by her parents, her brother Peter, her sister Rosemary (Art) Rengers, her stepsister Rose Hanley, and brother-in-law Warner Simons.
Sister Joan is continuing her ministry for medical research by donating her body to science, and her remains will be buried by the university in St. Louis. A memorial plaque will be placed at a later date at the cemetery in Ruma.
Memorial Mass:
1:30 pm, Tuesday, August 18, 2026
Benedictine Living Community Chapel at the Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows
726 Community Drive, Belleville, Illinois
Visitation:
Tuesday– 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm
Benedictine Living Community Chapel
Donations in memory of Sr. Joan may be sent to the ASC Retirement Fund, 4233 Sulphur Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63109, or online at www.adorers.org “Support our Ministries”