Sr. M. Lois Baniewicz, O.Carm

Sister M. Lois Joseph Baniewicz, O. Carm, 82, of Davenport, died Sunday, April 12, 2026 at the Kahl Home Convent, Davenport.

Funeral Services and Mass of Christian Burial for Sr. Lois will be celebrated at 2 p.m. Wednesday, April 15, 2026, at the Kahl Home Chapel, 6701 Jersey Ridge Road, Davenport. Visitation will be held on Tuesday at the Kahl Home from 4 to 6 p.m. with Evening Prayers at 6 p.m. to conclude the visitation. Burial for Sister will be in Mt. Calvary Cemetery, Davenport. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm.

Halligan-McCabe-DeVries Funeral Home is assisting the sisters with arrangements.

Sister Lois was born on December 14, 1943, in Chicago, the second of three daughters born to Casimir and Violet (Weetman) Baniewicz. Sister Lois volunteered at a nursing home run by the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm. She later attended a Come and See event for the Carmelites and decided to enter the religious community on Sept. 7, 1961, in Germantown, New York. Sr. Lois took her final vows on December 8, 1969. In June of 2021, she celebrated her 60th jubilee.

Sister Lois’ first mission was at the Kahl Home in Davenport. While there, she graduated from St. Anthony nursing school in Rock Island, Illinois, and received her master’s degree in religious studies from St. Charles Seminary in Philadelphia.

Sister Lois has served in Joliet, Illinois; Columbus, Ohio; Trumbull, Connecticut; and the Bronx, New York. She served as the novice director for her community for 14 years. Sister Baniewicz has served at the Kahl Home four times — from 1964-67, 1971-81, 1991-96 and since 2006. She has served at the Kahl as director of nursing, administrator and now as director of Mission Integration — which ensures lay administration and staff live out the Carmelite mission throughout the facility.

Those left to honor her memory are her sisters: Catherine and Evelyn Baniewicz and the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm.