Brother Juniper P. Kriss

Brother Juniper P. Kriss, OFM, Conv., 75, of Wenona passed away into eternal goodness on August 1, 2022.

Mass of Christian burial will be 6:00 PM Monday at St. Mary’s Church in Wenona with the Franciscan Friars officiating. Visitation will be in the church Monday from 4:00-5:45 PM. The Hurst Funeral Home in Wenona is assisting with these arrangements.

Additional services will take place at Marytown in Libertyville, IL. On Wednesday August 10, there will be a visitation from 5-7:00 PM at Marytown with a Franciscan Wake to follow at 7:00 PM. Mass of Christian burial will be Thursday, August 11, at Marytown. Burial will follow at 3:00 PM Thursday at St. Adalbert Cemetery in Milwaukee, WI. 

Brother Juniper was born in Chicago on September 29, 1946 to Stanley and Florence (Podjasek) Kriss. He attended Holy Innocents, St. Boniface School, and Holy Trinity High School in Chicago. He entered the Conventual Franciscans in Marytown, Kenosha, WI in 1964, St. Bonaventure Novitiate in Lake Forest from 1965-1966, and made his first vows on August 15, 1966. Brother Juniper studied at DePaul and Loyola Universities and made his final vows on August 18, 1969.

Over the years, he taught elementary and high school to include seminarians. Parish ministry was the love of his life. The parishioners of St. Stanislaus and St. Anthony in Rockford, St. Bronsislava in South Chicago, Queen of Angels and St. Hedwig in Detroit, St. Lawrence Martr Parish in Redondo Beach, CA, Bishop Montgomery High School in Torrance, CA, and Marytown in Libertyville, and ending in the cornfield parishes of central Illinois: St. Mary’s,Wenona, St. Ann, Toluca, St. John the Baptist, Lostant, and St. Patrick, Minonk—how beautiful all these people were and are in those parishes.

“Life is not always easy and religious life was a wonderful challenge. The Friars of St. Bonaventure Province were truly real Brothers, most of all our provincial Father Paul Joseph Langevin, who was always there for me, Father Patrick Greenough who is a wonderful example of God's love, and Father Stephen McKinley with his Parkinson's is a good priest who suffers much and keeps going. Mother Patrick and Sister John for all the support they gave me. The Friars of our California Province, who were at one time apart of us, work very hard and I really miss many of the older ones who were very much apart of my life.”

Brother Juniper would like to say, “Thank you to all the people I ever met because you helped me through life and helped me try to be a good Franciscan. If I ever hurt anyone along the way, I am truly sorry, please forgive me and pray for me.”

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