A memorial Mass for Sister Joel Marie Mackay, SSND, was celebrated March 17 at Theresa Center Chapel at Sancta Maria in Ripa in St. Louis. Sister Joel Marie died March 2 at Mary, Queen and Mother Center in St. Louis. She was 89 years old.
The second of three children, she was born to Pauline (Bukvic) and Benjamin Mackay on March 18, 1935, in St. Louis, and named Dorothea Helen. The Mackay family lived with the maternal grandparents in Brentwood. When she was 12 years old, her father left the family. Several months later, the family moved to north St. Louis.
Her older sister Melissa attended St. Alphonsus (Rock) High School, staffed by the School Sisters of Notre Dame. Dorothea followed her sister to Rock High School. Dorothea completed all necessary instructions during her senior year and was baptized on Dec. 4, 1952, at St. Alphonsus Liguori Church. She received her first Communion the following day.
Dorothea received a partial scholarship to Fontbonne College in St. Louis. She continued her employment at the telephone company to pay for the expenses of going to college, also working as a dance instructor for the City of St. Louis Playground Department.
During her college years, Dorothea thought seriously of entering the convent. However, due to family circumstances, she had to wait for an appropriate time. The Pageant (a group production of all the St. Louis playgrounds with about 600 children taking part, of which 150 were her responsibility) was held the evening of entrance day into the candidature at Sancta Maria in Ripa. Therefore, she entered the following morning in a private bonnet ceremony on Aug. 31, 1956. She was received into the novitiate on July 30, 1957, and given the name Joel Marie. She professed first vows on July 31, 1958, and final vows on July 31, 1964. During her year of candidature, she completed her fourth year of college and earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from the former Notre Dame College in St. Louis. She received a master’s degree in elementary education from Saint Louis University in 1969.
Sister Joel Marie was an elementary teacher for 34 years. Of that time, she spent some 31 years teaching in the primary grades. In Missouri, she taught at Immaculate Heart of Mary, St. William and Notre Dame Elementary in St. Louis; All Souls in Overland; and Most Sacred Heart in Eureka. In Illinois, she taught at St. Dominic in Breese; St. Philip in East St. Louis; St. Peter Cathedral in Belleville and St. Stephen in Caseyville. In 1995, she became a supervisor in the testing center at Notre Dame High School in St. Louis. After 16 years, she continued to volunteer her services at Notre Dame High School and Theresa Center until she moved to Mother of Perpetual Help Residence in St. Louis in April 2020. She entered into hospice care in February 2025. Following a fall, she was transferred to Mary, Queen and Mother Center.
Sister Joel Marie was preceded in death by her parents, Pauline and Benjamin Mackay and her brother Fred. She is survived by her sister, Melissa Yacono of Tonawanda, New York; nieces and nephews; friends, School Sisters of Notre Dame and SSND associates. Burial was in Sancta Maria in Ripa Cemetery.
