A funeral Mass for native St. Louisan Sister Jeanne (formerly Sister Eugenie Marie) Dueber, SL, was to be celebrated at 9 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 7, in the Church of the Seven Dolors on the grounds of Loretto Motherhouse in Nerinx, Kentucky. A noted sculptor, mixed-media artist and teacher, Sister Jeanne died Jan. 25 at Loretto Living Center on the Motherhouse campus. She was 88 and in the 67th year of her Loretto commitment.
The second of 10 children (two of whom died in infancy) of Dorothy (Carpenter) and Clarence E. Dueber, Jeanne was born July 14, 1937, in St. Louis and baptized Dorothy Jeanne Dueber. She and her siblings grew up on Swon Avenue in Webster Groves. Jeanne attended elementary school at Little Flower, Holy Redeemer and Mary Queen of Peace. She attended Eugene Coyle High School in Kirkwood and Nerinx Hall High School in Webster Groves.
She was received into the Sisters of Loretto at the Foot of the Cross on May 24, 1959. Sister Jeanne earned a bachelor’s degree in 1962 at Webster College (now University) in St. Louis, where she had been on a full scholarship and worked for renowned artist Rudolph Torrini as his assistant. She earned a master’s in sculpture in 1969 from the University of Iowa in Iowa City, where she studied under Oliver Strebelle. In 1972, Sister Jeanne received the Fulbright-Hays study grant in art history, which she used to study works in Italy.
Sister Jeanne’s artistic gifts were evident from the beginning. A sibling once remarked that Jeanne had been an artist her whole life, sculpting even as a young child. At Loretto Academy in Kansas City, Missouri, Sister Jeanne served as a teacher and head of the art department from 1962 to 1975, aside from a year earning her master’s. While at Loretto Academy, she filled the school with her original works and occasionally created sculptures alongside her students.
In 1978, Sister Jeanne found her true home at Loretto Motherhouse, where she devoted herself fully to creating art. She worked as a full-time sculptor and artist-in-residence well into her later years. With another Loretto Sister, she restored the first floor of Rhodes Hall to serve as her studio; the second floor, once a dormitory, became the gallery where her work was exhibited. She was also a founding member of ENID, a Louisville-based collective of women sculptors.
Sister Jeanne became known for her use of natural materials to explore spirituality, faith and the human form. Many were struck by the contrast between her own small stature and the monumental scale of her work.
Some of her most powerful pieces speak to the tension between light and dark energies — in the world and within the human spirit. Sister Jeanne’s work has appeared in more than 100 exhibitions across the United States and is represented in numerous public and private collections. Her bronze sculpture “Fiat” is included in the Webster Groves Sculpture Garden at Kirkham and Gore Avenues. In her own words, Sister Jeanne noted, “Art deals with the spirit. It’s expression that comes out of your emotions. Everyone has a different opinion of any particular work. I really encourage people to come and see my work for themselves.”
She was preceded in death by her parents and sister Judith Ann Halbert. She is survived by her siblings Joanne (Bill) Fogarty and Julianne (Julie) Dueber, both of St. Louis; Thomas (Cheri) Dueber of Wilmington, Delaware; Mary Jane Lyle of Albuquerque, New Mexico; Michael (Jeanene) Dueber of Chicago; and Daniel (Susan) Dueber of Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Burial will be in Our Lady of Sorrows Cemetery on the Motherhouse grounds.
