- September 9, 2020 Obituaries
Please pray for the repose of the soul of Sister Mary Ellen Jones, CSJ who passed away on Sept. 9 at Nazareth Living Center in St. Louis, Missouri. She was 92 years of age.
Sister Mary Ellen, baptized Hazel, was born on May 12, 1928, in Warren County, Georgia, to parents Thomas W. and Carrie (Thigpen) Jones. She entered the Sisters of St. Joseph on February 11, 1955, and made her final profession on August 6, 1962. She received a bachelor’s degree in history from Fontbonne College St. Louis in 1967 and a master’s degree in mathematics from Central Missouri State in Warrensburg in 1972.
From the late 1950s to the mid-60s, Sister Mary Ellen began her ministry of teaching at several schools in Georgia, including St. Francis Xavier Grade School in Brunswick, St. Joseph Male Orphanage in Washington and St. Anthony Grade School in Atlanta. She then went to Alabama to teach at Little Flower Grade School in Mobile.
After receiving her bachelor’s degree, she remained in St. Louis and taught within the archdiocese at Cathedral and St. Roch grade schools. She also taught at Immaculate Conception Grade School in Montgomery City in the Diocese of Jefferson City.
Returning to Georgia, Sister Mary Ellen taught in various schools throughout the 1970s including Blessed Sacrament Grade School in Atlanta; St. John the Evangelist Grade School in Valdosta; and St. Mary on the Hill Grade School in Augusta. During this time, she left Georgia for Marquette, Michigan, where she was the assistant administrator at the St. Joseph Convent for a year.
In 1989, she came back to St. Louis and served her CSJ community at Nazareth Convent, now Nazareth Living Center, until 2005 when she retired. She then resided at Nazareth Living Center where she carried out her ministry of prayer and witness.
Funeral services are pending. Sister Mary Ellen donated her body to science.
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.