A funeral Mass for Sister Marie Michelle Emmerich was celebrated Nov. 5 at Theresa Center at Sancta Maria in Ripa in St. Louis. Sister Marie Michelle, a former principal at Notre Dame High School, died Oct. 31 at DePaul Hospital in Bridgeton. The School Sister of Notre Dame was 73.
The first of six children was born to Rose (Esker) and Franklin Emmerich on April 18, 1949, in Mattoon, Illinois. She was baptized at Sacred Heart Church in Effingham, Illinois, on May 1, 1949, and named Phyllis Rose. She had two sisters and three brothers.
Phyllis attended Sacred Heart School in Effingham and St. Anthony High School in Effingham, both of which were staffed by the School Sisters of Notre Dame. During her high school years, she took small jobs to help with the tuition and cost of books. She was employed as a housekeeper for elderly women, a nursing assistant in the local hospital, worked in the laundry and was a receptionist at a Holiday Inn and provided childcare for a private family. Even as a child, Phyllis wanted to become a sister. However, her parents wanted her to wait until she had completed high school.
After graduation, she entered as a postulant on Aug. 24, 1967, at Sancta Maria in Ripa in St. Louis. She was received as a novice on July 27, 1968, and given the name Marie Michelle. She made promises on July 28, 1969, and professed final vows on Aug. 3, 1975, at St. Boniface in Quincy, Illinois.
Sister Marie Michelle earned a bachelor’s degree in English from the former Notre Dame College in St. Louis in 1971; a master’s degree in communication arts from the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, in 1978; and a doctoral degree in education from Saint Louis University in 2004.
Sister Marie Michelle was a high school teacher at Notre Dame High School in Quincy and Notre Dame High School in St. Louis. Following that, she served as director of communications at Maria Center for Lifelong Learning at Sancta Maria in Ripa. She then was the director of pastoral planning and vice-chancellor for the diocese of Belleville, Illinois. From 1994-97, she was a staff member to the SSND Leadership for the North American Major Area (NAMA) coordinating long-range planning.
Following a sabbatical, she served as a grant writer for St. Vincent de Paul Council in East St. Louis, Illinois. She had a great love of the poor and her ministry as a grant writer for St. Vincent de Paul secured many needed funds for the Council to continue to carry out their mission.
In her last full-time ministry, Sister Marie Michelle served as principal at Notre Dame High School for 19 years, until 2016. During her tenure, the school transitioned to an iPad school, with a focus on science, technology, engineering, art and math (STEAM).
She facilitated many parish processes, parish council meetings and assisted in the development of lay leadership in the Church. She also facilitated cross-cultural SSND meetings in Italy, Germany, Hungary, Guam and Japan. She was a facilitator at the SSND 18th General Chapter in 1987, held in Rome. She served on numerous committees and boards, using her expertise as an educator, facilitator, grant writer and long-range planner. She described her ministry as “giving persons a sense of hope by sowing the seeds of hope and laying the groundwork for a future full of hope.”
Sister Marie Michelle is survived by her sisters, Patti Devall and Linda Gruenwald; and her brothers, Deacon Joseph, James and Gerald. Burial was in the Sancta Maria in Ripa cemetery.
