Sister Kathleen Ann Eggleston, CSJ
February 6, 1936 - October 11, 2022
Dedicated, Welcoming, Kind
In the midst of a blizzard on February 6, 1936, Mary and Gardner Eggleston of St. Louis welcomed their daughter, Annette. She arrived three months shy of the expected time. Due to the storm, the doctor spent the night. The following morning, he left without writing out a birth certificate, which led to a few problems later in life. Annette had an older sister and brother and, later on, a younger sister who died. Her father died when she was ten. Her mother remarried about six years later to Niles Debler. They had a son, Jerry.
Kathleen had Sisters of St. Joseph in grade school and at St. Joseph's Academy (then on the Fontbonne campus). Though she really enjoyed her time there, she asked to enter the community after two years.
She earned her bachelor’s degree in mathematics, from Avila College, Kansas City, Missouri (1964), and a master’s in secondary education at the University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii (1970). Her career began teaching intermediate students at St. Elizabeth in Kansas City, Missouri (1955). In 1965, she moved to St. Louis to teach at the St. Louis Cathedral Grade School. In 1966, from January to June, she taught junior high at St. Edward’s. That same June, to her great surprise, she was sent to teach on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, at St. Anthony’s in Kailua, followed by St. Joseph in Waipahu (1967).
Sister Nancy Corcoran was one of a group of five lay apostles at St. Joseph when she met S. Kathleen:
She never raised her voice. Her students did not like her ... they LOVED her. She was so kind and gentle. At Christmas, Kathleen … made three beautiful dresses for my friend who taught social studies … we all wanted to teach with Kathleen from then on.
In 1971, S. Kathleen returned to St. Louis Cathedral to teach junior high. She moved on to teach older students at St. Francis de Sales High School in Denver (1972). Then, she taught at St. Joseph Academy in Green Bay (1973). She returned to teaching junior high at Divine Redeemer in Colorado Springs, Colorado (1975). Following that she taught at St. Anthony of Padua High School in St. Louis (1977). She was then principal at the following Missouri schools: Valle Grade School, Ste. Genevieve (1980); Immaculate Conception, Union(1988) and Immaculate Conception, Old Monroe (1997).
In 2000, S. Kathleen was a secretary and resource teacher at St. Ignatius Loyola in Marthasville, and then a substitute teacher at the Catholic School in Washington (2002). She was a resource person at St. Vincent de Paul in Marthasville (2003), and a receptionist and volunteer at St. John’s Mercy Hospital in Washington (2006). From 2008 to 2020, she spent her time in prayer and presence, sketching and volunteering. She remained in Washington until moving to St. Louis in 2019. She then moved to Nazareth Living Center in 2020 where continued her ministry of prayer and presence.
By Sister Helen Oates
Sister Kathleen Eggleston’s recordings are available.