Jeopardy! Sister Joanne Suranni ices the Zamboni

Feb. 2—If you've spent any amount of time around St. Vincent DePaul Parish, whether the St. Leo's or Prince of Peace site in Niagara Falls, you probably know the nun who always has a smile on her face.

If you have children who attend the parish, you know her as the ever-present teacher, or teacher of teachers, who helps to guide the religious education and formation efforts of the parish.

You may also know her from her presence on social media, if so, you realize she loves three things — her church, the television game show "Jeopardy!," and Buffalo sports, particularly the Buffalo Sabres, though not necessarily in that order.

Sister Joanne Suranni has been a fixture at St. Vincent DePaul's for nearly six years, and says she has yet to compete on "Jeopardy!" In fact, she has never even taken the online test.

She did, however, get a close encounter with one of her other pastimes when she recently got to resurface the ice on a Zamboni. It was Jan. 20, when the Sabres played against the Dallas Stars.

The opportunity came about when her brother, from Florida, had a winning bid for two Sabres game tickets and a Zamboni ride from a local radio station.

"You know it was really interesting to get the perspective of the arena from down where the player's see it. It was wonderful," Suranni said.

The Batavia native who currently resides at a convent in Depew with two other nuns, said her love of Sabres hockey has been with her more than 40 years.

"I've been with them through two failed chances at the Stanley Cup and a bunch of other close calls," she said. "I remember the French Connection and how great they were."

As to her love of "Jeopardy!," she said that, like her enthusiasm for hockey, is something she learned as a child from her father.

She watched them both on the family's old television, which she got to take into her room when they bought a new set.

"A couple games each year my father also got Sabres tickets, and I used to get to go to the game with him" she said.

To share her experiences, she's taking a break for a few moments between planning a February Fair for this weekend at the parish, and putting together plans for faith formation activities across the Diocese of Buffalo.

While she never seems to stop, she admits that Sabres games and "Jeopardy!" are what she does to relax, "during downtime. Life is meant to be enjoyed."

Like everyone and everything else in this region and beyond, her work has been impacted by the ongoing battle to whip the coronavirus and return to some semblance of normalcy. She said that alternative plans were discussed for a virtual event this weekend before the decision was made to mask-up and move forward with the fair in person.

The fair used to be a spaghetti dinner that helped to fund not only the parish's regular weekly "Sunday School" activities, but also an annual teen convention held in Buffalo.

The event has been rebranded from a dinner to a fair. The convention is now being held virtually.

"We will have a clown on hand to make balloon animals," she said, "kids need to have something fun."

As to whether or not she will ride the Zamboni again, the lady affectionately known as "Sister Joanne" said she would be willing to but has immediate plans. She does, however, plan to be on hand March 23 when Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins are scheduled to play the Sabres at KeyBank Center.

She is hopeful that game will come out better for the Sabres, as they lost the Dallas game 5-4.

"You can't really expect to win the game when you give up 4 power-play goals to the other team," she said.