A funeral Mass for Sister Marie René Pretti, CSJ, was celebrated on April 15 at Nazareth Living Center Chapel in south St. Louis County. Sister Marie died on April 5 at Nazareth Living Center. She was 101 years old.
Sister Marie René Pretti, baptized Ruth, was born on Aug. 9, 1924, in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, to parents John J. and Reketta C. (Moscon) Pretti. She entered the Sisters of St Joseph of Carondelet in 1942 and was received into the novitiate in 1943. She earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Loretto Heights College in Denver in 1952 and a master’s degree in history from Saint Louis University in 1959.
Sister Marie began her 80 years of ministry as a teacher at Visitation Grade School in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1945. She returned to her home state of Colorado three years later to teach at Catherine of Siena Grade School in Denver. From there, Sister Marie taught for two years at both St. Joseph Academy in Green Bay, Wisconsin (1955-57), and St. Margaret of Scotland School in St. Louis (1957-59). She went back to Denver and taught at St. Francis de Sales High School for two years.
From 1961-67, she was principal and a teacher at St. Mary Grade School in Littleton, Colorado. She taught again at St. Joseph Academy in Green Bay for two years, followed by her return to St. Francis de Sales High School as principal until 1973. She then moved to Augusta, Georgia, and taught at Aquinas High School for four years.
In 1977, Sister Marie went back to her hometown of Glenwood Springs. She was a pastoral minister St. Stephen Parish and Grade School from 1977-81, then a principal and teacher at the school until 1993.
Sister Marie taught at Our Lady of Las Vegas until 1996. The following year, she served as a geriatric companion. Beginning in 1997, she served as a substitute teacher with the Las Vegas Catholic Schools. She retired in 2009 and moved to Nazareth Living Center in St. Louis.
Burial was in Resurrection Cemetery.
