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Sister Eugenie “Genie” Rohner, SNJM
Sister David Eugene
March 6, 1937 – March 13, 2025
Sister Eugenie “Genie” Rohner, SNJM departed this life on March 13, 2025 in Saratoga, California.
Sister Genie celebrated 88 years of life and 64 years of her religious profession.
A Mass of Resurrection will be held Wednesday, April 2, 2025, at 11:00 a.m. at Saint Mary Church in Los Gatos, California.
Burial will take place at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, April 15, 2025, at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Hayward, California.
Please join us in prayers of thanksgiving for the life of Sister Eugenie Rohner. Genie was 88 years old and had been a vowed member of our community since 1961.
Genie served for many years as a teacher in both elementary and secondary schools. During those years she was called upon to step away from the classroom to serve in the infirmary at Los Gatos, which lead her to complete a clinical internship at Alta Bates Hospital in Berkeley. In the mid-1970s Genie moved into Montessori education, working at our center at Los Gatos. After about 15 years she returned to traditional elementary settings, where she focused on science education and other supportive services.
Genie was widely known for her love of the natural world, her scientific knowledge and her great passion for exploring the mysteries of the universe. She pondered Scripture in light of her scientific knowledge and often offered a new and unique perspective to theological and spiritual conversations. As a teacher she was truly hands on, encouraging her students to walk right into a creek so they could see the creatures living in it. She was also a consummate organic gardener.
We remember her for her unique sense humor, her love of life and her desire to learn about and be engaged with the issues of our time. She was brilliant and retained a phenomenal amount of scientific information which she knew how to make accessible to children as well as adults. Genie was endearingly eccentric and wasn’t afraid to tell you so. She loved to raise butterflies in her room and saw them as symbolic of how chaos leads to new life and new possibilities. We remember Genie as a woman of deep faith, a woman who loved our community and who cared deeply for all creation and the future. May her memory be blessed.