Sister Mary Kathleen Dowling
July 22, 1950 - March 20, 2022
Loving, faithful friend, devoted teacher
Joseph and Sadie (Klein) Dowling’s daughter, Mary Kathleen, was born on July 22, 1950, in Des Moines, Iowa. In total, her parents raised two sons and three daughters. Mary Kathleen met the Sisters of St. Joseph when she attended Avila College in Kansas City, Missouri, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education in 1972. That same year, she began teaching at St. Francis de Sales in Denver, Colorado and entered the St. Joseph Novitiate. She was received into the Sisters of St. Joseph in 1973.
In February of 1975, Sister Mary Kathleen (Kay) taught primary at Holy Name School in St. Louis, Missouri, followed by St. Michael in Marquette, Michigan, later that year. Her next assignment was at Bishop Baraga Central, also in Marquette (1980). During this time, she also earned a master’s degree as a reading specialist from Clarke College in Dubuque, Iowa (1983).
Sister Carol Jean Peterson, who lived with S. Mary Kay for nine years in Marquette, remembers her as “a great teacher ... a faithful friend, mentor and supportive colleague.” She also remembers S. Mary Kay taking an upholstery class. Then, as a surprise for her silver jubilee, S. Mary Kay “re-upholstered my grandmother's rocker that I use to this day. I continue to hold her in prayer while in that rocker.”
When Sister Marjorie (Margie) Craig arrived in Marquette with just one year’s experience of teaching second grade, S. Kathleen gave up her second-grade classroom and switched to fourth grade so S. Margie could teach second. “Teaching, especially reading, was her passion ... [she] also privately tutored many students over the years to get them caught up to their level,” S. Margie says. The two sisters eventually lived together for 23 years.
Sister Kathleen Mlinar also mentions how S. Mary Kay
“enjoyed outdoor winter activities, including cross-country skiing.”
S. Mary Kay spent the rest of her teaching ministry in Chicago, Illinois, at the following grade schools: Nativity of Our Lord (1984), St. Fidelis (1985), St. Philomena (1990) and St. Helen (2005).
She retired in 2021 and moved to St. Louis in January 2022. S. Margie recalls S. Mary Kay moving very little to her new apartment in the Manchester area. “She was very excited to begin a new chapter of her life in St. Louis, where she hoped to possibly tutor and volunteer with our sisters at Nazareth.”
Sister Maryellen Tierney, who was invited to S. Mary Kay’s apartment a few weeks before her death, shares, “She was so pleased to show me how it was arranged and show me the pictures she had on her walls and explain each of her family members in the pictures.”
Sisters Pam Harding, Pat Donnelly, Margie Craig and Mary McGlone—the other half of her reception—spent time together reflecting on S. Mary Kay’s life. This is a small piece of what they shared:
As Sisters of St. Joseph, our charism calls us to ‘always move toward love of God and the dear neighbor without distinction.’ Mary Kay lived the charism. ... In the days before cell phones, our means of communication was by letters. ... We shared our hearts in those letters and looked forward to each one. Like those first six sisters, we were engaged in Sharing of the Heart and State of the House long before the terms were used from our founding as a community. After her death, we found on her dresser, in her own handwriting ... our vow renewal formula. She said she believed it important to restate that daily. ... Her students came before any other meeting or need. ... She believed that teaching was her way of instilling faith in God in all aspects of learning. ... Summer trips to Houston to visit her parents and her siblings were a highlight for her ... she often said how blessed and grateful she was to have such a loving family. She loved God above all and the dear neighbor.”
By Sister Helen Oates