Sister Loretta Duggan, CSJ

(S. Francis Regina)

Kind, gentle, loving, a ready smile

Loretta was most joyfully gracious to everyone...she remains an example to me of someone whose liferadiated the charism,” remembers Sister Shawn Madigan.

Loretta Catherine Duggan, born November 20, 1926, to Jeremiah and Regina (Wellens) Duggan, had five older brothers. Sister Loretta recalled, “I had a rather happy childhood. I probably was spoiled by all of them, but I enjoyed it.” Her parents wanted the children to have a Catholic education. Since the family moved a few times while she was in school, Loretta had School Sisters of Notre Dame, the Dominican sisters and finally, in 8th grade, Sisters of St. Joseph. She then went to Saint Joseph Academy. (Sister Eunice Duggan, her father’s sister, was a CSJ but Loretta didn’t really get to know her until after she entered the community.)

After graduation, Loretta’s dad asked her to stay at home to help her mother. Her parents were raising two of their young grandchildren whose dads were in service (WWII). Her brother Ralph remained at home due to his lifelong health problems. When the war was over and her brothers returned home, Loretta went to work in the napkin department at the paper mills where her dad had been joined by four of his sons. Now that Loretta had some freedom and money, she found that she really enjoyed traveling with friends. She was especially close to her brother, Ralph, and thought they’d grow old together at home. But he died suddenly of an illness at age 39. When the priest talked about how important it was to live a good life and to be faithful to God, like Ralph, Loretta felt that God was inviting her to consider religious life.

At age 32, she entered the Sisters of St. Joseph on September 15, 1958, receiving the habit and the name Sister Francis Regina on March 19, 1959. She found going back to school to get her degree difficult. Fortunately, Sister John Marie assigned tutors to assist her in her studies and she graduated from Fontbonne.

S. Francis Regina's first assignment was teaching primary classes in Missouri, first at Cathedral School (1963), and then at Assumption (1965), both in Kansas City. Then, she taught at St. Edward in St. Louis (1969).

In 1971, she went to West De Pere, Wisconsin, to teach at St. Joseph School. She was very glad to be nearer to her mother whose health was declining. When her brother, who had been taking care of her mother, died, she asked to move in with her mother. She was so grateful that changes in our community allowed sisters to be in family care.

After her mother’s death, she taught primary at Valle in Ste. Genevieve, Missouri (1981). “She was one of the most thoughtful and kind persons I have known," says Sister Pat Gloriod. "She loved to tell funny stories and laugh, and she had plenty of stories to tell.”

Deciding it was time to leave education (1986), she joined the Sister Care Staff at Nazareth Living Center. S. Loretta loved her ministry of helping the sisters. “She was a gentle person, and loved by those she served,” shares Sister Connie Gleason.

In 1997, she retired at Carondelet and volunteered in hospitality. Then, in 2000, she was invited by Sister Rose Seyfried to move to Festus, Missouri, to volunteer with her, visiting people in the parish and in nursing homes. In 2003, she found herself back at Carondelet, a volunteer at Nazareth two days a week, delivering the mail to the sisters and visiting with them. She retired at Nazareth in 2008.

[Loretta was] “steady, always the same, positive, joyful, unpretentious [and] ready to help,” says Sister Suzanne Giblin.

By Sister Helen Oates