A funeral Mass for Loretto Sister Dorothy (formerly Sister Mary Stephanie) Scheopner was celebrated Oct. 28 at the Church of the Seven Dolors at the Loretto Motherhouse in Nerinx, Ky.
Sister Dorothy, who taught and tutored for 21 years in the St. Louis Archdiocese, died Oct. 16 at Loretto Motherhouse Infirmary. She was 82 and in her 60th year as a Sister of Loretto at the Foot of the Cross.
Born in Goodland, Kan., Sister Dorothy entered the Sisters of Loretto in 1957. She was received into the Sisters of Loretto in 1958. She made first vows in 1960, and final vows in 1965. She earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education, with a minor in social studies, in 1962 from Webster College (now University) in Webster Groves.
In the St. Louis Archdiocese, Sister Dorothy taught at Immaculate Conception School in Maplewood from 1967-69, and in St. Louis at St. Rose of Lima from 1969-70, St. Pius in 1970 and Visitation-Holy Ghost from 1970-72. She also taught from 1972-88 at the Loretto Learning Center in Webster Groves. For 16 years, Sister Dorothy provided personalized tutoring for individual students. In her final two years at the center she was co-director.
Elsewhere, Sister Dorothy taught elementary school-aged children in primary and upper grades and one-on-one in special education and tutoring programs in Kentucky and Colorado. In 2000, she retired from teaching and turned to elder care, offering her services and cheerful spirit to sister-retirees in Denver and working at Seniors’ Resource Center Inc. as a personal care provider, supporting seniors so they could remain in their homes. She continued her active life until diagnosed with cancer in 2016. She moved to the Loretto Motherhouse Infirmary in January 2017, carrying out a life of prayer and presence until her death.
She is survived by two sisters, Lee Scheopner of Denver and Theresa Stevi of Fort Collins, Colo.; and three brothers, David Scheopner of Greeley, Colo.; Ray Scheopner of Tucson, Ariz.; and Al Scheopner of Wauseon, Ohio. Burial was in the Loretto Motherhouse Cemetery.
