St. Mary of the Snows in Namur is the home parish of Gloria Mae Jeanquart, her twin Glory Ann, and their 10 siblings. She graduated from Pleasant Ridge's one-room elementary school and attended two years of high school in Brussels. Desiring more education, Gloria Mae enrolled in a correspondence art course in Minneapolis while she worked hard on the family farm. Through summer religious education classes she met Sister Florence Ripp, who encouraged Gloria Mae to consider religious life. Gloria Mae entered in 1954 and became Sister Claudette.
She finished high school at St. Francis Preparatory Novitiate at the Chapel in Robinsonville (now the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help) and earned a bachelor's degree in education from St. Norbert College in De Pere and a certificate of completion from the Theological Institute. For 26 years she taught in Catholic schools and coordinated religious education programs in the Green Bay Diocese. Her love of nature and interest in science, ecology and outdoor education led her to develop curriculum guides for teachers through the statewide Cooperative Educational Service Agency.
In the 1980s, Sister Claudette began a new career in elder home care. While working with the elderly, Sister also taught watercolor painting as a hobby and as therapy in Allouez, De Pere and Green Bay.
Sister Claudette has received awards for her clay sculptures and watercolor paintings. She was a member of three local art groups and has had paintings displayed at the Neville Public Museum in Green Bay, the Miller Art Museum in Sturgeon Bay, the Kohler Art Center in Sheboygan and the Peninsula Art School in Fish Creek. Early in her retirement years, she gave her time to NEW Curative Rehabilitation in Green Bay and Wellspring: A Place of Peace for Women.
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