OBITUARY | Sister Isabelle Walsh, CPPS
A funeral Mass for Sister Isabelle Walsh was celebrated Oct. 24 at St. Joseph Chapel at the Sisters of the Most Precious Blood motherhouse in O’Fallon. Sister Isabelle died Oct. 15 at the age of 95.
Dorothy Walsh was born in St. Louis on April 12, 1927, the only child of Frank and Elizabeth (Luzynski) Walsh. After graduating from grade school in 1941, Dorothy entered the Sisters of the Most Precious Blood’s aspirancy. She was received into the novitiate on July 25, 1945, receiving the name Sister Isabelle. After her father died in January 1946, Sister Isabelle returned home in May 1947 to care for her mother.
Sister Isabelle returned to O’Fallon in January 1950, and she was received into the novitiate for the second time on July 25 of that year. She professed vows on Aug. 10, 1952. Sister Isabelle celebrated the 70th anniversary of her profession in 2022.
She earned a bachelor of arts degree in psychology at Fontbonne College (now University) and a master’s degree in special education at Cardinal Stritch College in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She taught elementary grades at St. Peter’s School in Quincy, Illinois, and at Holy Family School and St. Domenico Home in St. Louis. She served in special education at Sacred Heart in Florissant and at Holy Innocents and St. Joseph’s Vocational Center, both in St. Louis.
Upon retiring from teaching, Sister Isabelle became a hand stitcher in the community’s Ecclesiastical Art Department. With great patience and skill, she lovingly hand-stitched the symbols for the four evangelists and the faces of St. Vincent de Paul, St. Rose Philippine Duchesne and St. Louis, which adorned the stole gifted to Pope John Paul II on his 1999 visit to St. Louis. The accountant in her kept careful track of the hours that she worked on the project: 197 hours and 10 minutes.
Sister Isabelle is survived by several cousins. Burial was in the convent cemetery.
Sr. Walsh A funeral Mass for Sister Isabelle Walsh was celebrated Oct. 24 at St. Joseph Chapel at the Sisters of the Most Precious Blood motherhouse in O’Fallon. Sister Isabelle … OBITUARY | Sister Isabelle Walsh, CPPS
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