A funeral service for St. Louis native Sister Nancy (formerly Sister Richard Anne) Wittwer, SL, was celebrated May 7 in the Church of the Seven Dolors on the grounds of Loretto Motherhouse in Nerinx, Kentucky. Sister Nancy died May 4 at Loretto Living Center on the motherhouse campus. She was 92 and in the 75th year of her Loretto commitment.
The daughter of Louise (Renz) and Hugh Wittwer, she was born Feb. 13, 1934, in St. Louis and baptized Nancy Elizabeth. She was received into the Sisters of Loretto at the Foot of the Cross on Dec. 8, 1951. She earned a bachelor’s degree in education in 1962 from Loretto Heights College in Denver and a master’s in mathematics in 1968 from Saint Louis University.
Sister Nancy grew up in St. Stephen Parish in St. Louis. A graduate of Nerinx Hall, class of 1951, she returned to her alma mater to teach mathematics and computer studies from 1962-65 and again from 1973-95. Sister Nancy helped foster several collaborative projects in the St. Louis Archdiocese, including co-founding Marian Middle School in south St. Louis. It was Sister Nancy who asked the pivotal question: “What about the girls?” a moment of clarity that helped lead to the creation of the all-girl, family-focused, faith-based school.
During her years in St. Louis, Sister Nancy also served on the board of Habitat for Humanity and was involved in initiating the first Women’s Build in St. Louis; was a founding member of the Intercommunity Ecological Council of Women Religious; served on the administrative staff for the Sisters of Loretto through the St. Louis Staff Office (1991-92 and 1995-2006); founded Loretto Earth Network and served as its coordinator (1995-2006); and continued her ministry as an advocate for Earth (2007-17). Elsewhere, she taught for 16 years in parish and secondary schools in Illinois and Colorado.
In 2017, Sister Nancy moved to the Loretto motherhouse, where she continued her engagement in care of the Earth through leadership on motherhouse committees and by living out the Loretto constitutions’ call to “extend the boundaries of learning and justice.”
Sister Nancy is survived by her nieces and nephews: Diane (Ralph) Pahls of Beloit, Kansas; William (Ruth) Dunivin of Orange, California; Steven (Anny) Dunivin of Redlands, California; Helen (Len) Espinda of Prescott, Arizona; Richard Dunivin of Riverside, California; Sheila Dunivin of Riverside, California; and Cindy (Greg) Renz Carter of St. Louis.
Sister Nancy was given a green burial in Our Lady of Sorrows Cemetery on the motherhouse grounds.
