A Mass of Christian Burial was to be celebrated for Sister LaVerne Wester, CPPS, on Jan. 31 at St. Joseph Chapel in O’Fallon. Sister LaVerne died Jan. 23 at age 93. She took her last breath just as the music playing softly in her room increased in volume with the words, “I will lift you up.”
LaVerne Wester was born in St. Louis on April 30, 1931, the third of six children of John and Adele (Heller) Wester. She was baptized at St. George Parish.
LaVerne was received into the Sisters of the Most Precious Blood’s novitiate on July 25, 1949, and professed first vows on Aug. 10, 1951. She was given the name Sister John Leonard. She completed a bachelor’s degree in history at Saint Louis University and a master’s degree in education at the University of Dayton.
For 39 years, Sister LaVerne (John Leonard) was a dedicated teacher and principal, bringing out the best in both students and teachers, always observing something positive to affirm in each person. She taught elementary grades at Holy Innocents, Holy Family and St. Stephen in St. Louis and at St. Joseph in Omaha. While at St. Stephen, she became a teaching principal. She went on to serve as principal at Sacred Heart in Florissant, the largest Catholic school in the Archdiocese of St. Louis at that time, and then at Assumption in O’Fallon.
Retirement from education marked the beginning of another 30 years of ministry to elders, the sick and the poor. Sister LaVerne cared for elders at St. Elizabeth Adult Day Care Center and as a driver and local coordinator for the retirement community at the motherhouse. She comforted the sick as a pastoral minister at Mercy Hospital and shared the gifts of hospitality with clients at Sts. Joachim and Ann Care Service.
Sister LaVerne’s life was all about relationships — relationships with community, family, friends, students and their parents, faculty and coworkers.
Sister LaVerne was preceded in death by her parents and her brothers, Leonard, Norbert, Lloyd and Vernon. She is survived by her sister, Alvira, and by nieces and nephews of several generations.
Burial was to be in the convent cemetery.
