A funeral Mass for St. Louis native Sister Eileen (formerly Sister Charles Maura) Kersgieter, SL, was celebrated on May 19 in the Church of the Seven Dolors at the Loretto Motherhouse in Nerinx, Kentucky. Sister Eileen died May 11 at Loretto Living Center on the grounds of Loretto Motherhouse. A longtime educator, service coordinator and secretary who served for many years in the St. Louis Archdiocese, Sister Eileen was 94 and made her Loretto commitment almost exactly 66 years ago.
Eileen Kersgieter was born March 1, 1931, in St. Louis to Margaret (Slimon) and Charles Paul Kersgieter and baptized at St. Edward Church. She graduated from Laboure High School in St. Louis in 1949. She was received into the Sisters of Loretto at the Foot of the Cross on May 24, 1959. Sister Eileen earned a bachelor’s degree in education with a minor in social studies in 1962 from Webster College (now University) in Webster Groves, and a master’s in education in 1970 from the University of Missouri-Columbia.
Sister Eileen first taught at St. Ann School in Arlington, Virginia (1962-64). She then moved to St. Louis, where she taught elementary students at St. Paul the Apostle School in Pine Lawn (1964-66) and St. Ann in Normandy (1966-68). She served as principal for the next two decades at St. Pius V School in St. Louis (1968-88). Moving to Kentucky, Sister Eileen served from 1988-99 as the Loretto Motherhouse service coordinator, where she oversaw all aspects of Motherhouse life and mission. “It was a whole different way of living. It was a whole new world — farming, cattle, taking care of buildings and not children,” Sister Eileen said. “I love the peace of it. The quiet. And yet the ‘busy-ness’ that goes on there. … It was a very welcoming community, always glad to have people.”
Returning to St. Louis, Sister Eileen worked as a secretary and college counselor in the counseling office at Nerinx Hall High School in Webster Groves from 1999-2011. She also served as co-coordinator of the St. Louis Loretto Center from 2000-09 and performed community service from 2009-17.
Among her other community roles, Sister Eileen was a member of the Loretto Executive Committee from 1990-94 and helped plan the annual Loretto Assembly in 2009. Throughout the years, she was able to combine her love of music with her love of the liturgy as she worked in schools and within the Loretto Community. She also loved reading and puzzles of all kinds.
Sister Eileen moved to the Loretto Motherhouse in 2017, where she volunteered as a teacher at the Loretto Child Care Center and carried out a ministry of prayer and presence until her death.
She was preceded in death by her parents and her siblings, Bonnie, Charles and Father Paul Kersgieter. She is survived by many nieces and nephews and extended family.
Burial will be at Our Lady of Sorrows Cemetery on the Motherhouse grounds.
