OBITUARY | Sister M. Grace Koszela, OSF

A Mass of Resurrection for Sister M. Grace Koszela, OSF, was celebrated Jan. 29. Sister Grace died on Jan. 13 at the age of 99. She was a resident of Mary, Queen and Mother at the Cardinal Ritter Senior Services campus and a member of the Franciscan Sisters of Our Lady of Perpetual Help for 76 years.
Sister Grace, nee Genevieve Mary, was born to Louis and Rose Koszela on Feb. 22, 1925, in St. Louis. She was the sixth of nine children in a family whose Polish roots were deeply steeped in St. Casimir Parish.
Sister Grace entered the Franciscan Sisters of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in 1946 and professed her final vows in 1952. Her initial ministry was in domestic work at St. Louis Prep Seminary. She went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in education from St. Mary’s College in Omaha, Nebraska, and honed her skills as a Catholic school educator by attaining a master’s in education from Adams State College in Alamosa, Colorado.
Sister Grace’s 42-year teaching ministry began in the Archdiocese of St. Louis in 1950 at St. Adalbert School, followed by teaching at St. Francis of Assisi, St. Casimir, Our Lady of Guadalupe, St. Rose of Lima and St. Francis schools.
She served as an elementary or high school teacher or principal in California, Colorado, Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan, Nebraska, New Mexico, Ohio and West Virginia.
After her lengthy ministry in Catholic education, Sister Grace’s love for others led her to become a pastoral minister and parish visitor in West Virginia from 1992-2008. Upon her retirement at Cardinal Ritter Senior Services campus in 2008, she continued to pray with and visit other residents.
Sister Grace was preceded in death by her siblings. Burial was in Resurrection Cemetery.