Another nonsense statement (lie) from Joan Wheeler/Doris Sippel about my mother

On March 20, 2018, the Buffalo News published a report from the Buffalo Catholic Diocese that named Catholic priests that have been accused of child abuse (sexual and otherwise). The report contained a list of 40 priests with accusations going back to the 1960’s. This was also reported on the local Buffalo television news stations.
http://buffalonews.com/2018/03/20/buffalo-diocese-names-priests-accused-of-abusing-minors/

I knew one of the priests named, in fact I, and one of my cousins, had done volunteer work under his guidance with mentally and physically handicapped children at West Seneca Developmental Center. In 1988 when he was first accused, I was in disbelief and defended him, but a week later he came forward and admitted to the accusations. I was so disillusioned. I wrote about it on my facebook page.

Doris Michol Sippel, formerly known as Joan Mary Wheeler decided to tell of her experiences with one of those priests on her facebook page. In her facebook post, Joan/Doris again engages in falsehoods about MY family. This blog post is to refute Joan/Doris' lies, misrepresentations, and total twisting of the facts surrounding the circumstances of MY mother’s wake, and MY father’s decision to relinguish Joan/Doris to adoption.

I have a screenshot of what she wrote (courtesy of a friend of mine, as I am blocked from Joan/Doris’ page and can’t see first hand of what she writes). I also have a screenshot of a subsequent comment of hers. These two screenshots are at the end of this post. I will not type out word for word what she said - that is why I have the screenshots here - but I will type out the sentences she said that I will refute.

In this post, I will address what she says in her initial post. In that post, she names the priest on the list that she knew when she was 12 years old. She goes out of her way to say that she was not a victim, that she witnessed the priest bullying other children. She then goes on to say “oh, and the story gets even better!” (what, are we all sitting around a campfire trying to tell tall tales?) She says "When I first met my father in 1974 (Senior year of high school), he showed me my natural mother's high school diploma. Yup. Signed by Joseph Schieder, circa 1942." She then goes on to say he had signed her own 8th grade graduation diploma, along with the Bishop.

Joan/Doris went to a Catholic grammar school, a Catholic high school, and a Catholic college. So all her diplomas would be signed by a Catholic priest/monsignior/bishop. However, my mother NEVER went to ANY Catholic school in her life!

Growing up in the Bailey/Walden section of Buffalo, her parish church was Holy Name of Jesus on Bailey Avenue. She attended religious instruction (the Catholic way of saying “Bible or Sunday School”) at Holy Name of Jesus school that was next door to the church. She went to grammar school at Buffalo Public School Number 9 that used to be on Bailey Ave. a little ways from Holy Name. My mother’s younger brother, Richard tells me they used to leave school, walk down Moeller Ave to the railroad tracks and follow them down to their street past Walden Ave.

My mother did NOT attend a Catholic high school either -- she went to EAST SIDE HIGH SCHOOL that was (still is) located at 820 Northampton St. behind what was then known as Humboldt Park, now known as Martin Luther King Park.
information of East High School, can be found at this link:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_High_School_(Buffalo,_New_York)

I have included below a screenshot of the first bit of that wiki article.

NO CATHOLIC PRIEST WOULD HAVE SIGNED ANY DIPLOMA FROM ANY STUDENT FROM BUFFALO PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

Also, NO one EVER signed my mother’s high school diploma -- because -- MY MOTHER NEVER GRADUATED FROM HIGH SCHOOL! How do I know this? Because her brother, my uncle Richard told me this just last week! And he should know -- HE WAS A FRESHMAN AT EAST WHEN MY MOM WAS A SENIOR - year - 1945. He said she did NOT graduate. Many girls of that era didn’t graduate because in that era, most girls didn’t aspire to careers, they wanted to be moms and housewives. I have her scrapbook and it is filled with newspaper and magazine articles and pictures of just what a young mom/housewife would have: pictures of cute little kids, kittens, how to please your hubby.

Really, up to the 1960’s if a girl in Buffalo wanted to have a career, the only career they were encouraged to go for was nursing - Buffalo Public High School Fosdick-Masten (now City Honors School) was for pre-nursing. Many of the girls did hands-on volunteer work as ‘Candy Stripers’ at the nearby Buffalo General Hospital, and when they graduated high school, went on to nursing school at Buffalo General’s on-campus nursing school. By the time I started working at BGH in 1972, the Candy Striper program had ended, the school of nursing saw a decline in attendance, closing forever about 20 years later. Bacause by then, girls were aspiring to a more variety of careers.

I also know that my mom attended Public School 9 -- because I have her class ring. I’ve had it since I was around 12 or 13 when my father gave it to me. And it says right on it -- Public School 9. I also have her prayer book that she received from Holy Name of Jesus Church when she received her First Holy Communion.

I am a member of Classmates dot com and they have on their website - many old yearbooks. I looked at the 1945 yearbook, the year that my uncle Richard was a freshman, and my mom was a senior. There is no senior picture of my mom. There is a picture of my uncle in the school’s Christmas play - Dicken’s “Christmas Story” in which Richard played Tiny Tim Cratchit. I have included the pictures of him as Tiny Tim, and a picture of the cast list that clearly says “Richard Herr.” Uncle Rich says he joined the Drama Club because my mom was in it.

So, Joan/Doris’ bullshit story about a Catholic priest signing my mother’s high school diploma is just that: BULLSHIT. She opens her mouth and the shit spews out. She doesn't care about facts, the truth, or anything but what her warped mind thinks happened. And because she's an adoptee, other so-called 'adult' adoptees think her word is golden - they are just as warped as she is. They think that an event from the 1940's and the 1950's can't be researched and proven. 

screenshot of Joan/Doris’ initial facebook post:

pictures from East High School yearbook 1945 - front page and of the Christmas show with my uncle Richard Herr:

screenshot of wiki article on East High School: