Sister Carolyn Jeanette "Kay" Kolb

August 10, 2020

Sister Kay Kolb, SSND died peacefully in the afternoon of August 10, 2020, at St. Anthony’s Gardens, in Covington, La. Sister Kay’s life began in 1933, in Banning, California. She was the second child of John and Mary Catherine (Graves) Kolb. She was baptized Carolyn Jeanette. Just six weeks later her mother died of an undiagnosed paralysis. Family came to the rescue. Grandmother Graves wanted to take Kay and three-year-old Agnes to the southern Illinois farm where their mother had grown up. Soon their father’s brother, Karl, took Agnes, to raise with his family in Vicksburg, Miss. Kay grew up with her Grandmother, Uncle, Aunt and cousins on the dairy farm. Kay and Agnes anticipated the summers they could spend together on the Villa Ridge farm. This happened when Agnes was old enough to be put on the train in care of the porter. Kay and Agnes suffered another tragic loss. Their father died suddenly in 1947. Upon graduating from the elementary school near home, Kay attended St. Joseph High School in Cairo, Illinois where her teachers were the School Sisters of Notre Dame. Aspiring to the life she observed in her teachers, she asked for admission to the congregation at Sancta Maria in Ripa, St. Louis. After professing her vows in 1954, she continued her spiritual and professional preparation as a School Sister of Notre Dame. Practice teaching in California and Missouri schools was a part of that experience. She graduated from Notre Dame College in the summer of 1956 and was missioned to Rosati-Kain High School in St. Louis. Here she engaged teen-aged girls in studies of Literature, History and Religion for thirteen years. Her second and only other assignment in a secondary school setting was at Rosary High School, also in St. Louis. The SSND community at Rosary chose Sister Kay as their Local Leader. All the while, Kay developed the skills and methods of teaching and was aware of the best resources. She pursued an ever broader and deeper understanding of scripture and the Church through formal theological studies as well as through non-credit courses. A dream was taking shape. The shaping had been happening as she and a friend, Sister Pat Miller, proposed to their provincial leaders the assigning of some sisters to a relatively new involvement, pastoral ministry. In the late 70s a letter from a parish priest in Denton, Texas requested a couple of sisters to assist as pastoral ministers in his parish. Sisters Kay and Pat were assigned. Through the decades the parish program evolved into a diocesan lay ministries program. In a Texas Catholic news article, Sister Kay explained their work, “The program of study, prayer, and dialogue was designed to familiarize Catholics with the principles they are called upon to live out their faith -- in the marketplace and in their families and to encourage others to do so.” The Fort Worth Diocese awarded Sisters Kay and Pat the Dorothy Day Ward for Justice. The presenter explained Kay and Pat’s own involvement in “responding to the needs of the poor and speaking out in behalf of the oppressed.” The ministry reached out beyond parish and diocesan membership and trained others to do so. After 50 years in Denton, Sister Kay retired with Sister Pat to the School Sisters of Notre Dame retirement home in Chatawa, Miss. in 2017. Modern means of communication enabled them to continue being important to the program through those who acquired its skills and its spirit. Sister Kay’s health was diminishing. In 2019, Sister Kay moved with 30 other School Sisters of Notre Dame from Chatawa to St. Anthony’s Gardens in Covington, La. It is there she died peacefully among her Sisters and friends. Sister Kay was preceded in death by her parents and her sister Agnes Weeks. The School Sisters of Notre Dame wish to thank the staff of St. Anthony’s Gardens for the compassionate care given to Sister Kay. A private burial took place at the St. Mary of the Pines Cemetery, Chatawa, Ms. Memorials in Sister Kay’s name may be made to School Sisters of Notre Dame, St. Mary of the Pines, Chatawa, Miss. Arrangements entrusted to Serenity Funeral Home, Covington, LA. Condolences and tributes can be posted at www.serenitycovington.com