Sr. Dolores Marie Siebenmorgen

SISTER DOLORES MARIE SIEBENMORGEN

The sixth of twelve children was born to Apollonia (Wewers) and Herman Siebenmorgen on December 27, 1929, in Conway, Arkansas.  She was baptized at St. Joseph Church on December 29, 1929, and named Elizabeth Magdalene.  She grew up on a small family farm with two brothers and nine sisters.  One of her sisters was our recently deceased Sister Herman Marie, SSND.  Her oldest sister chose to become a Benedictine Sister, Sister Mary Brendan.  Her parents’ deep faith and life were role models for the family.

Elizabeth attended St. Joseph grade school and high school in Conway, which were staffed by the School Sisters of Notre Dame.  Realizing a call to religious life, she followed her older sister, Sister Herman Marie, and entered the School Sisters of Notre Dame.  On August 31, 1950, she entered the candidature at Sancta Maria in Ripa in St. Louis.  She was received into the novitiate on July 29, 1952, and given the name Dolores Marie.  She professed first vows on July 31, 1953, and final vows on July 31, 1959.

Sister Dolores Marie received a bachelor’s degree in English from San Diego College for Women, San Diego, California in 1960 and a master’s degree in education from Our Lady of the Lake University, San Antonio, Texas in 1968.

Sister Dolores Marie ministered in Catholic education for twenty-five years.  She was an elementary teacher at Blessed Sacrament, Belleville, Illinois; Holy Family, San Diego, California; Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Houston, Texas and St. Peter, Fort Worth, Texas.   She was a principal at St. Alphonsus, McComb, Mississippi, St. Patrick, Dallas, Texas and Annunciation, Bogalusa, Louisiana. 

In 1977, she became the administrator of the SSND Motherhouse in Irving, Texas.  After a five-year term and a sabbatical, Sister Dolores Marie changed careers and began serving in Pastoral Ministry.  She was the first religious sister to be the Pastoral Associate at St. Mary Parish in Gainesville, Texas.  In addition to her responsibilities in the parish, she was also involved in the Cooke County Ministerial Alliance.  One of their projects was the development of Volunteers in Service to Others (VISTO), a county-wide network providing for the emergency needs in the community.

In 1992, she became the Pastoral Associate at Holy Family Parish in Abilene, Texas.  These seven years were followed by a sabbatical and then three years as Pastoral Associate at Our Lady of Sorrows Parish in Victoria, Texas.  In 2003, she began serving as the hospitality coordinator at the SSND formation house in San Antonio, Texas. Twenty years later, she moved to St. Anthony’s Gardens in Covington, Louisiana.  In January 2025, due to health issues, she was transferred to Trintiy Trace Community Center in Covington.  She died peacefully in the early morning of January 17, 2025, as Sisters kept vigil with her.

Sister Dolores Marie was an excellent teacher, administrator and a woman of hospitality.

May she now rejoice in her new life with her God !

A Sharing of Memories will be at 10:00 AM on Friday, January 24, 2025 with a Memorial Mass at 10:30 AM at Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church, 501 Holy Trinity Drive, Covington, La., 70433.  Fr. Rodney Bourg will officiate.  Inurnment will follow at a later date at St. Mary of the Pines Cemetery, Chatawa, Miss.

Arrangements are entrusted to Serenity Funeral Home of Covington, La.

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