- February 1, 2019 Obituaries
Please pray for the repose of the soul of Sister Marie Charles Buford, who passed away on January 31, 2019 at Nazareth Living Center in St. Louis. She was 93 years of age.
Sister Marie Charles, baptized Jane Marie, was born on October 2, 1925, in Fredericktown, Missouri, to parents Charles and Marie C. (Muellersman). She entered the Sisters of St. Joseph on September 15, 1946 and made her final profession on August 15, 1952.
Sister Marie Charles was an accountant at St. Joseph Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri, from 1949 to 1952. For the next four years, she was a teacher at St. Joseph’s Academy and Rosati-Kain High School in St. Louis, then as at St. Francis de Sales in Denver.
After a brief period of working on the staff in the Sisters of St. Joseph’s treasurer’s office, she worked on the administrative staff at Fontbonne College.
From 1956 to 1960, she was a clerk in the business office at St. Joseph Community Hospital in Hancock, Michigan, followed by four years as clerk at St. Joseph Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri. She also worked as the registrar at the Academy of Our Lady in Peoria.
From 1967 to 1977, she served as provincialate secretary for the Sisters of St. Joseph at the provincial house in St. Louis.
In 1977, Sister Marie Charles began 30 years of service as executive director of the Carondelet Community Betterment Federation (CCBF). She was well known and respected for her work, making a difference for countless people in the Carondelet neighborhood.
She said, "To be able to have an emphasis on the local neighborhood was a real blessing to me and a real call from the Lord, and I feel good about that."
Read more about Sister Marie Charles and her work at CCBF in this Connections magazine article.
In 2007, Sister Marie Charles “retired” to Nazareth Living Center in St. Louis, while still writing grants for CCBF. In 2009, she officially retired and continued to carry out her ministry of prayer and presence.
The funeral mass will be held on Wednesday, February 6 at the Carondelet Motherhouse in Holy Family Chapel, 6400 Minnesota Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63111. Visitation will begin at 9 a.m. and funeral service will follow at 10a.m.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, St. Louis Province, 6400 Minnesota Ave., St. Louis, MO 63111-2899. Donate online.