Sister Kathleen Elliott, CSJ
December 4, 1933 - October 28, 2022
(S. Mary Madonna)
Dedicated, Loving, Joyful
On December 4, 1933, Lloyd and Veronica (De Vany) Elliott of Las Vegas, Nevada, welcomed the first of their eight children, a daughter whom they named Mary Kathleen. Nine years later, the family moved to Denver, Colorado.
Following graduation from St. Francis de Sales High School (1952), Kathleen entered the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet. She received the habit and the name Sister Mary Madonna (1953). She earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Fontbonne College in St. Louis
(1962); a master’s degree in deaf education from Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts
(1964), and a master of philosophy in adult Christian community development from Regis University, Denver (1990).
S. Kathleen’s ministry began in Missouri in St. Louis teaching primary at St. Edward School (1955) and at Most Holy Rosary (1959). In 1962, she taught intermediate students at St. Joseph Institute for the Deaf (SJI). She moved to Massachusetts to study for her master's at Smith College (1963) and returned to SJI in 1964.
In 1971, S. Kathleen ministered as religious education coordinator for the Diocese of Jefferson City in Missouri. She taught at Notre Dame de Lourdes School in Wellston for a year before going back to SJI as the religious education coordinator. She expanded her ministry to include the hearing impaired by establishing Ministry to the Hearing Handicapped and providing religious instruction for deaf children in the public schools in the St. Louis Archdiocese (1977).
In 1979, S. Kathleen served as religious education coordinator at St. Joseph Cathedral Parish in Jefferson City. Her pastoral ministry continued, in Columbia, Missouri, at Our Lady of Lourdes
(1982), then in Colorado at St. Augustine, Brighton (1983); Sts. Peter and Paul, Wheat Ridge (1985); and St. Elizabeth Parish, Denver (1988). She became involved in adult education at Sacred Heart, Colorado Springs (1991). S. Kathleen was a case manager for Home Care Management, Inc., Denver (1996), followed by director of Religious Services at St. Francis Nursing Center, Colorado Springs (2000). After a few months on sabbatical in 2003, she became chaplain at the Hospice of St. John in Lakewood (2004).
Throughout her ministry, S. Kathleen gave workshops in religious education for deaf children nationally and gave a paper at an international convention in Stockholm, Sweden (1970). She retired in 2006 and began her mission of prayer and presence at Nazareth Living Center (NLC) in 2012. She moved to the Village at Nazareth in 2013 and back to NLC in 2016.
Associate Kate Springs shares:
Her duties were … always in the service
and love for the dear neighbor as a hospice chaplain, but most particularly in her retirement. ... Kathleen bore her back pain very well and she really suffered a great deal. Her acceptance of pain was an inspiration to me and her experience of God being with her was palpable.
By Sister Helen Oater
Sister Kathleen Elliott's recordings are available.