Ann Laffan was born in Chicago on April 30, 1916, the daughter of Michael and Elizabeth (Byrnes) Laffan. She was a member of St. Mary Parish in Paw Paw. Following graduation from Nazareth Academy, she entered the Sisters of St. Joseph of Nazareth on Oct. 21, 1934. Ann received the name of Sr. Michaeline at her reception on Aug. 26, 1935, but later returned to her baptismal name. She pronounced first vows on Aug. 24, 1937, and final vows Aug. 24, 1940.

Sr. Laffan earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Nazareth College and a Master of Arts degree in English from the University of Notre Dame. She later received a specialist degree in guidance and counseling from Western Michigan University. She spent 25 years teaching in several schools of the congregation, including St. Rita, Detroit; St. Augustine, Kalamazoo; and St. Agnes, Flint. In 1963, Sr. Laffan became director of vocations for the congregation. Following that ministry she spent the next four years as a counselor at Lathrop High School in Southfield. In 1974, Sr. Laffan and her sister, Sr. Margaret, were missioned to Hawaii, where Sr. Laffan taught English as a second language. She also became an active, certified member of the Hawaii Chapter of the International Society of Graphoanalysis, teaching the science of handwriting to groups such as teachers, hospital administrators and business personnel. In 1986, Sr. Laffan returned to Kalamazoo, where she ministered as a certified chaplain for dialysis patients at Borgess Medical Center until she retired in 1995. As her health permitted, she continued to minister to her Sisters at Nazareth.

Sr. Laffan was a woman of many talents whose optimism, enthusiasm and energy deeply affected the lives she touched.