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Harriet Helen, the third of five children of Michael and Lucy Czyl, was born on May 3, 1926, and baptized just six days later, May 9, at St. John the Baptist Church in Harvey, IL. While growing up at home, only Polish was spoken, so Harriet was called Jadzia or Jadwisia. She attended St. Susanna School, a half-hour’s walk from her home; there, she was taught by the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth.
At age 14, she left home for Des Plaines and began her high school education at Villa Nazareth, comprised mostly of aspirants and postulants. Harriet became a postulant in 1942 and graduated from Holy Family Academy. She became a novice in 1943, made her First Profession on August 4, 1946, and her Perpetual Vows on August 25, 1952.
Following her First Profession, Sister Beata embarked on her college education and eventually graduated with a B.S.Eds. from Loyola University. Years later, she received a certificate in theology from Xavier University. Sister’s first teaching assignment was at St. Hedwig School in Chicago. Other assignments took her to St. Ann’s and St. Michael’s (Chicago), St. Andrew’s (Calumet City), St. Thomas Aquinas (Dallas), St. Vincent de Paul (Mott, ND), St. Bernard (Belfield, ND), and St. Adalbert School (Whiting, IN). Her teaching ministry was interrupted for two years while she served as the local superior in Nazarethville caring for our retired sisters.
On February 14, 1982, Superior General Mother Medarda called Sister Beata to consider taking on the position of vice-provincial superior in Texas and was officially installed on August 28, 1982. Then in 1988, a new vice-provincial administration was installed, and Sister Beata was asked to remain as treasurer, a position she held until the formation of one province in 2007. In September 1988, Sister Beata assumed the role of editor of the province publication “The Round-up,” became responsible for the construction of the cemetery, and became the director of the Association of the Holy Family in Grand Prairie the following year.
Among her treasured memories were pilgrimages to the Holy Land and to Lourdes. She enjoyed gardening with flowers, especially roses. Sister loved to grow and tend her roses and other flowers. They were gifts to her sisters when they graced the chapel or dining room table on a special feast day.
May Sister Beata rest in God’s Eternal Peace and enjoy the bliss of heaven for all eternity.
