A funeral Mass for Sister Maria Tessari will be celebrated at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 23, in the Lally Room on the Cardinal Carberry Campus of Cardinal Ritter Senior Services, 7601 Watson Road in Shrewsbury. A wake will precede the Mass at 4 p.m.
Sister Maria, 74, died Jan. 16 at Mary Queen and Mother Center in Shrewsbury.
A native of Trinidad, Colo., Sister Maria entered the Franciscan Sisters of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in 1961. She professed first vows in 1964 and final vows in 1967. She received a bachelor’s degree from Marillac College and a master’s degree from St. Louis University.
Sister Maria taught at Holy Ghost School in St. Louis from 1965-68 and 1974-81 and Our Lady of the Pillar School in Creve Coeur from 1970-73. She ministered as coordinator of religious education at Blessed Teresa of Calcutta Parish in Ferguson from 2004-08.
Sister Maria taught in Colorado, Louisiana, New Mexico and Texas. She served as a pastoral assistant/director of religious education in parishes in Colorado, Illinois, New Mexico and Wyoming.
She loved working with people, especially children. At Mother of Perpetual Help, she was dedicated to a ministry of prayer and enjoyed telling jokes, reading, sketching profiles and listening to music.
Burial will be in Resurrection Cemetery.
