In life, Sister Karen Klimczak, SSJ, preached a philosophy of non-violence. That legacy will live on after her brutal death last year as the Sisters of St. Joseph have opened the SSJ Sister Karen Klimczak Center for Non-Violence just steps away from the Bissonette House in Buffalo.
Last year Sister Karen was killed by one of the former convicts she was trying to help in the Bissonette House. In the wake of her death, people donated money to the Sisters of St. Joseph in Sister Karen’s memory. When deciding how to proceed with honoring Sister Karen with some sort of living memory, the sisters decided that a center based on Sister Karen’s philosophies would be the best way to go. They found a home at 80 Durham Ave. in Buffalo, which is behind the Bissonette House on Grider Street.
“One of the ideas that excited the community was a center for non-violence to try and carry on her ideas and work,” said Jim Mang, co-director of the center. “Our motivating force is obviously Sister Karen. Having worked with her for a number of years, we had a sense of her work style and ideas.”
