Jane Livingston Roosen Raad - Sister John Marie

Sr. John Marie - Jane Livingston Roosen-RaadJane entered the Navy at age 18, after graduating from Plainfield, N.J. high school. 

As enlisted, she demonstrated leadership qualities and was selected as a Recruit Division Commander, responsible for teaching basic military training, customs, discipline, and traditions. She was proud of her work with women recruits on the East Coast. At some point she was a chaplain’s assistant and there were several deployments including the Philippines. Jane happily entered into the culture of her Filipina friends and accompanied some of their celebrations on her guitar. She even learned enough Tagalog to have simple conversations with “the Aunties.”

After special training in Communications during shore duty in San Diego area, she received orders for her first deployment to the Middle East. She encountered dangers in the Straits of Hormuz and in the Persian Gulf in 1986-87. Her ship, USS Acadia (AD-42) was one of the ships that helped repair the USS Stark after it was tragically and accidentally hit by Iranian missiles. As Chief Petty Officer, Jane manned guns and had lookout duty when she was not busy with her Communication and other responsibilities. She found the night skies calming especially when looking up to the heavens and the silence and beauty of the night.

Her next assignment in Adak, Alaska seemed like a gift. The beauty of that “isolated” area brought her much joy and offered a silence that nurtured her inner spirit. Photographs from Adak include a smiling Jane fishing, the eagle’s nest she discovered and a proud “Papa Eagle.” While there, Jane was commissioned as a Senior Chief. 

She was then stationed again in San Diego. She then had one last naval assignment: another tour of duty in the Middle East.

After 22 years in the US Navy, Senior Chief Jane L Roosen Raad retired. Those years in the military were part of the fabric of her life. Sometimes “rough around the edges,” she had a heart as wide as the ocean she loved.

She first entered the Carmelite Community in San Diego where she had done volunteer work in the outside garden areas after retirement. Several years later, she was welcomed into the Carmelite Community in San Rafael, California and received the name Sister John Marie. There her love of woodworking, needlework and nature blossomed. It was during these years that she and other sisters went to a meeting on the East Coast and she reconnected with her Roosen Raad family. Her father’s sister had been trying for years to find her. That reunion laid the groundwork for her relocation to Maryland. She found a home and became active in her local parish, developed friendships, set down roots, bought a home, and enjoyed visits with her fraternal cousins. 

She leaves behind not only her cousins, and dear local friends but also her close San Diego friends and many others who have known and loved her through the years.