‘Sister Vivian,’ Joliet visionary, ministered tirelessly to inmates at Will County jail

Sister Rosemary Huzl said with a laugh that she sometimes debated answering the phone when Sister Vivian Whitehead called her.

Because Whitehead, Huzl’s former high school biology teacher, always had a program or ministry she thought was a good fit for Huzl. But if anyone was a visionary, it was Whitehead, she said.

“Sister Vivian was a very foresighted person,” Huzl said. “Whatever she did, she did with all her heart.”

Whitehead, the founder of Center for Correctional Concerns, died Dec. 3 at 95. Visitation is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Monday, at our Lady of Angels Retirement Home in Joliet. Whitehead’s funeral Mass will follow at 9 a.m., also at Our Lady of Angels.

The Center for Correctional Concerns is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) social service agency in the Will County Adult Detention Facility, according to the CCC website. And Whitehead was still working there until shortly before her death, said Dave Adams, deputy chief of the Will County Sheriff’s Office, who knew Whitehead for 22 years and said her “energy level didn’t match her age.”

Recently ,she asked if she could temporarily park near the jail door (parking is across the street) because she had “some books” to bring in. Adams said “some books” weighed about 100 pounds. But Whitehead wasn’t one to ask for help since “her whole life was about serving others,” he said.

“Amazing. Humble. Servant. Happy. Friendly,” Adams said. “There’s probably not enough adjectives to describe Sister Vivian Whitehead.”

Adams said he just learned that Whitehead had a doctorate in biology and worked at Notre Dame University in Indiana; she was that humble. She encouraged everyone, since “working inside a jail can be very difficult on the staff,” he said.

“She truly cared about everyone,” Adams said.

A life of service to those in need

According to the Sisters of St. Francis of Mary Immaculate congregation, Whitehead attended St. Dorothy Grade School and Loretto Academy Woodlawn in Chicago. She earned her bachelor’s degree from the College of St. Francis (now University of St. Francis) in Joliet and began teaching in 1950 at St. Mary High School in Columbus, Ohio.

She then taught for 10 years – from 1952 to 1962 – at St. Francis Academy in Joliet, now Joliet Catholic Academy. After earning her doctorate in biology from St. Bonaventure University in St. Bonaventure, New York, Whitehead was an associate professor of biology at the College of St. Francis, from 1965-1968.

Margaret Benoit of Joliet said Whitehead was her biology teacher who became Benoit’s good friend of more than 50 years. She said Whitehead always brought out the best in people.

“Walking was part of her daily life, and we often would walk and talk together,” Benoit said in a written statement. “She was a visionary who helped guide me through the various chapters of my life and she inspired me to always do my best.”

Whitehead was elected to the Sisters of St. Francis of Mary Immaculate governing board and served as councilor and coordinator from 1968 to 1976.

From 1974 to 1975, Whitehead served as part-time pastoral advocate for crisis care in the emergency room of Silver Cross Hospital in Joliet, before it relocated to New Lenox in 2012.

In 1975, Whitehead was the director of Vietnamese Establishment in the U.S. for two families the congregation sponsored. The congregation made sure the families were housed, clothed, fed, established in their homes, employed and learning English. Their children received scholarships to Joliet Catholic grade and high schools.

She served at Notre Dame University in Indiana from 1976 to 1979 in the office of student affairs and as adjunct faculty in the theology department. In summer 1978, Whitehead took an internship in jail ministry at the Benedict Center for Criminal Justice in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Whitehead returned to Joliet in 1979 and founded the Center for Correctional Concerns, where served as director until 1988.

‘A kind word for everybody’

According to the Center for Correctional Concerns in 2008, Whitehead provided spiritual counseling and advocacy right from the start. She interacted with inmates and occasionally their families, along with lawyers and public defenders. Whitehead also attended some court sessions and learned how the system worked.

Dale Santerelli, the jail warden, said Whitehead continued helping students as best she could during COVID-19, when in-person programs were canceled. She brought candy for her students and root beer barrels for Santerelli after learning of his fondness for them.

“She was pretty amazing,” Santerelli said. “The loss is going to leave a mark, that’s for sure.”

Whitehead was elected president of the congregation in 1988, the same year the city of Joliet named her a Citizen of the Month and the same year Whitehead also received a distinguished service award from the St. Francis Academy Alumnae Association and distinguished alumni media from the College of St. Francis.

In 1992, the College of St. Francis awarded Whitehead a Doctor of Humane Letters. That same year, Whitehead moved to David, Kentucky, and spent served as an adult education and family literacy teacher for six years in Appalachia.

She returned to Joliet and the Center for Correctional Concerns in 1999, where she ministered to women at the Will County Adult Detention Center. Whitehead also served on the board of directors for Guardian Angel Community Services.

Ines Kutlesa, CEO of GACS, said Whitehead was Guardian Angel’s “fiercest advocate and supporter” and “always had a kind word for everybody.”

“I knew how much our organization and the people we serve meant to her,” Kutlesa said. “She always held them in her prayers, along with us, so we could do the work that we do.”

In 2004, Lewis University in Romeoville honored Whitehead for outstanding Christian ideals and commendable religious and humanitarian services as founder of the CCC.

And in 2019, the Will County Bar Association honored Whitehead for her 40 years of service to the CCC.

Natalie Bayci of Joliet, who has organized and participated in nearly 20 mission trips for the Diocese of Joliet, met Whitehead when Bayci was a student at St. Francis Academy in the 1950s. Many years later, Whitehead was Bayci’s mentor when Bayci became an associate of the congregation.

Bayci said Whitehead, who always redirected conversation away from her, “took everything in stride, didn’t get flustered about things and was always calm and cool.”

“I wanted to be just like her,” Bayci said. “She’s very special to me and I will miss her. But I know she’s with the Lord.”