- January 5, 2021 Obituaries
(S. Mary Rachel)
December 5, 1933 – January 4, 2021
Please pray for the repose of the soul of Sister Frances Dillman who passed away at Nazareth Living Center in St. Louis, Missouri. She was 87 years old.
Sister Frances was born on December 5, 1933, in St. Mary’s, Kansas, to parents Alexander Thomas and Mary Dora (Glick) Dillman. She entered the Sisters of St. Joseph on September 15, 1954, and was received into the novitiate as Sister Mary Rachel on March 19, 1955, and made her final profession on August 6, 1962. Sister Frances earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing from the College of St. Catherine in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1959.
Sister Frances began her ministry work in health care as a nurse at St. Joseph Hospital in Kirkwood, Missouri, in 1959. She then served as a nursing supervisor at St. Joseph Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri, for the next five years. In 1967, S. Frances returned to St. Joseph Hospital in Kirkwood as a resident for a year before serving in the same role at Nazareth Convent in St. Louis until 1973.
That same year, from April to August, Sister Frances was a volunteer staff nurse at St. Joseph Hospital in Kanas City. She then went back to Nazareth Convent where she was a resident (1973-76) and a clerical worker (1976-81). For the next five years, she served as a pastoral care volunteer at All Saints Parish in St. Louis.
In 1986, Sister Frances once more returned to the Kansas City area on the Missouri side and began her 13-year ministry at Redemptorist Retirement Home, where she served as a volunteer (1986-89) and then geriatric assistant (1989-99). She then crossed the state line into Overland Park, Kansas, and worked as a volunteer at the Queen of the Holy Rosary Convent. Three years later, she came back to the Missouri side to work in home service for CSJ Care.
Sister Frances retired in 2007 and served as a volunteer. In 2013, she moved to Nazareth Living Center in St. Louis, caring out her ministry of prayer and presence.
The funeral Mass will be held on Monday, January 11 at 10 a.m. at Nazareth Living Center Chapel, located at 2 Nazareth Lane, St. Louis, MO 63129. No visitors are allowed due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Sister of St. Joseph of Carondelet, St. Louis Province, 6400 Minnesota Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63111. Donate online.