- November 12, 2019 Obituaries
Please pray for the repose of the soul of S. Teresa Shea who passed away on Nov. 12 at Nazareth Living Center in St. Louis. She was 102 years old.
Sister Teresa, baptized Julia Teresa, was born on September 6, 1917, in St. Louis, Missouri, to parents Timothy and Julia (Sullivan) Shea. She entered into the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet in 1937 and was received as S. Marie Venard. She received a bachelor’s degree in American/European history from Fontbonne College in St. Louis in 1951 and a master’s degree in American/European history from St. Louis University in 1957.
Sister Teresa dedicated 40 years to the ministry of education.
Her first teaching assignment was in 1939 at St. Louis Cathedral Grade School as a primary teacher. In the 1940s, she taught at Bishop Baraga Central Grade School in Marquette, Michigan. She returned to St. Louis in 1949 to teach at Assumption Grade School for a year, and then went on to St. Patrick’s Grade School in Rolla, Missouri, until 1953.
Sister Teresa spent the next 22 years teaching at the high school level. In the 1950s, she taught at St. Joseph’s Academy in Green Bay; St. Joseph’s Academy in St. Louis; and Reicher Catholic High School in Waco, Texas.
In the 1960s, she taught at St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Florissant, Missouri, and St. Joseph High School in Atlanta. From 1969 to 1975, she taught at St. Teresa’s Academy in Kansas City, Missouri. Her last two years in education were spent in St. Louis teaching special education at the St. Joseph Vocational Center.
Sister Teresa continued working in the St. Louis area as a pastoral minister at Our Lady of Presentation Parish (1977-1983) and St. Bartholomew Parish (1983-1988). From 1989 to 1997, she served at Cardinal Ritter Institute as an assistant in the senior day care center.
Sister Teresa retired in 1997. She volunteered with her Sisters of St. Joseph community as a driver for the Senior Ministry Office.
Since 2005, Sister Teresa resided at Nazareth Living Center in St. Louis where she continued to carry out her ministry of prayer and presence.
A Memorial Mass will be held Nov. 20 at 10 a.m. at Nazareth Living Center, 2 Nazareth Lane, St. Louis, MO 63129. Sister Teresa 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.