Dacia Van Antwerp

Obituary for Dacia Van Antwerp Rita Dacia Van Antwerp, RCSJ, PhD, age 94, passed away on August 24, 2024. She led an amazing life full of faith, service, and helping others. She was born in Detroit, Michigan on August 22, 1930 to Eugene Ignatius Van Antwerp and Mary Frances Van Antwerp (nee McDevitt). She was the tenth child of eleven kids and always said she was named Dacia since that was the tenth province in ancient Rome. As a young girl, she attended Gesu School in Detroit and later the Academy of the Sacred Heart (the fifth consecutive generation to attend). She was a very athletic child and competed in field hockey and tennis. After high school, she received her Bachelor degree from Manhattanville College in New York before entering the Religious of the Sacred Heart (RSCJ) where she served God for 17 years. As a nun, she had the opportunity to study in Rome for six months. She later got a Master degree in Educational Communications from the State University of New York in Albany and a PhD from Michigan State University in Computer Science. As a nun, she taught and worked in the business office at multiple convents - Albany (NY), Rochester (NY), New York City, and Greenwich (CT). After leaving the convent and getting her additional degrees, she went to work for Chrysler Corporation and led their Upward Mobility of Women effort. She spent 13 years at Chrysler before leaving to be the Director of Human Resources at Boysville where she had been on the Board of Directors. She later lived in Alpena, MI where she became the Business Manager for St. Bernard and St. Anne parishes and schools. She was also elected to the Public School Board and was active in the Lion's Club. Additionally, she served on the USAID Evaluation Team for the Nouvelle Program in Benin, West Africa, sat on the Boards for Gilreath Corporation and the Academy of the Sacred Heart school, and taught in the MBA program at the University of Detroit Mercy. With all her youthful energy in her 70s, she moved by herself to Alaska and was the Executive Director of the Holy Spirit Center in Anchorage before going to Chicago to study at the Catholic Theological Union. At age 80, she made a retreat to Joigny, France to walk the Camino, a pilgrimage to Santiago Compostela in Spain. She also wrote two books: You Go Girl! Life and Adventures of a Former Nun about her life and Amazing Sophie which is a children's story about Saint Madeleine Sophie Barat, foundress of the Society of the Sacred Heart. Dacia loved spending time with her family and serving God. She was married and widowed three times. Her first husband was Reginald James McLaren. She later married Robert William Denton and embraced his eight children and numerous grandkids. Then, late in life she married Patrick John Pollard. Until her final years, she was active wanting to go sailing, play golf, or play bridge at any family outing. Her parents and most of her siblings have all departed this world although she will be excited to reunite with them in Heaven. She is survived by her little brother Daniel Janse (Cecelia) Van Antwerp and numerous nieces and nephews. Friends and family are invited to celebrate Dacia's remarkable life at Shrine of the Little Flower in Royal Oak, Michigan on Friday, August 30, 2024. There will be a visitation at 11:30 followed by a mass at 12:00. Dacia's memory will forever be cherished by those who knew her and loved her. You are encouraged to share your memories at www.sullivanfunderaldirectors.com . The family kindly requests no flowers. For memorial contributions, please consider donating to the Society of the Sacred Heart at or via PO Box 958047, St. Louis, MO 63195-8047.

Dacia Van Antwerp

August 22, 1930 - August 24, 2024