Sr. Noreen Therese Tenbusch, IHM, died in Traverse City, Michigan, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. She was 89.
Nora Ellen Tenbush was born Sept. 25, 1933, to Frederick and Honorah (Gill) Tenbusch in Detroit, Michigan. The family of two daughters and three sons lived in Epiphany Parish, where the children attended the parish grade school. After graduation from Immaculata High School, Noreen entered the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (Monroe) in 1951, receiving the name Sister Noreen Therese.
Earning a bachelor’s degree from Marygrove College, Sister Noreen’s teaching ministry took her elementary students at St. John, Monroe, St. Patrick, Wyandotte and Christ the King, Detroit. She was assigned to longer terms at St. Joseph, Erie, Holy Name, Birmingham, Gesu and a fifteen-year stay at St. David School in Detroit. In the late 1960s she began studies in the Master of Education program, also at Marygrove College, and earned the degree in 1971.
In the 1990s, with mission assignments now self-selected, Sister Noreen was hired by the Public School System in Hamtramck and Dickinson East, first as a program facilitator and then as a teacher. Her public school experience spanned more than 10 years.
For many years, she resided in Detroit, Roseville, Clinton Township, St. Clair Shores, Williamsburg and, lastly, Traverse City. Sister Noreen, along with her sister, Sister Theresa, were active members and volunteers at St. Margaret of Scotland, St. Clair Shores. Noreen coordinated the parish’s “Homebound Computer Connection,” which assisted elderly parishioners in integrating technology into their lives.
Sister Noreen is survived by nieces, nephews, families, and her IHM Sisters in community. She was preceded in death by brothers James, Frederick, and Francis and sister Theresa, IHM.
Services will be held at the IHM Motherhouse Chapel, 610 W. Elm Avenue, Monroe, on Friday, Jan. 10. Welcoming of the body begins at 9 a.m., followed by a Remembering and Mass of Christian Burial at 10 a.m. Streaming begins at 10 a.m. Burial will follow in St. Mary Cemetery. Arrangements are under the direction of Rupp Funeral Home. Memorials may be made to the IHM Retirement Fund, 610 W. Elm Avenue, Monroe, MI 48162-7909.
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