A Mass of Christian Burial for Sister Maria (Shirley Doris) Liebeck, DC, was celebrated Aug. 2 at the Seton Residence Chapel in Evansville, Indiana. Sister Maria died July 29 at Seton Residence. She was 94.
Sister Maria was born on May 12, 1930, in Gleason, Tennessee, one of two children of Maximillian and Mary Lissa (Atkins) Liebeck. She graduated from St. John Catholic High School in Benton Harbor, Michigan, in 1948 and entered the Daughters of Charity in St. Louis in 1950.
After initial formation, Sister Maria began her ministry in education at St. Patrick Day Care Center in St. Louis. She received a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Fontbonne College (now University) in St. Louis in 1957 and a master’s in art from the University of Dallas in 1968. She served as a teacher at St. Patrick School in St. Louis and St. Vincent Grade School in Keokuk, Iowa, then returned to Marillac Provincial House in St. Louis to serve as assistant postulant directress, art instructor and dean of students at Marillac College and assistant art instructor at Cardinal Glennon until 1972. She then served as an art instructor at Immaculate Conception Academy in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, and Father Yermo High School and Jesus and Mary High School in El Paso, Texas.
Sister Maria returned to St. Louis in 1978 to serve as activity director at Marillac Villa Infirmary and in parish ministry at St. Paul the Apostle Parish. She became a member of a pastoral ministry team in Alpine, Texas, and in Hamburg, Arkansas, and then served at Children’s Hospital and Helping Hand of Greater Little Rock in Arkansas beginning in 1994 until she was missioned to The Sarah Community in Bridgeton in 2015. In 2020, Sister Maria entered the ministry of prayer at the Seton Residence in Evansville, Indiana, where she served until the time of her death.
Sister Maria was preceded in death by her parents and her sister, Sylvia Carroll Liebeck. She is survived by loving family members, her sisters in community and many friends.
Burial was in St. Joseph Cemetery in Evansville.
