Sister Paula Stauder, a Sister of the Most Precious Blood of O’Fallon, died Feb. 27. The longtime educator, who later ministered in the charismatic movement and with the poor, was 92 years old.
Born on March 23, 1929, Paula was the oldest of two children of Arthur and Grace (Elleard) Stauder. She entered the Sisters of the Most Precious Blood’s novitiate in 1949. She professed first vows as Sister Mary Arthur on Aug. 10, 1951. She earned a bachelor’s degree in education at Maryville College and a master’s degree in catechetics at Instituto Catequetico in Santiago, Chile.
Sister Paula taught at the kindergarten and elementary levels at St. Anthony of Padua, High Ridge; St. George, St. Agatha, and St. John the Baptist, St. Louis; Most Sacred Heart, Florissant; and, St. Mary’s, Quincy, Illinois. She served as a teacher and pastoral minister at Our Lady of Guadalupe School and Parish in Lima, Peru, for eight and a half years.
Sister Paula ministered with the charismatic movement in the Springfield-Cape Girardeau Diocese. She served as a pastoral minister and director of religious education at St. Elizabeth Parish, Marine, Illinois; Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish, Houston, Texas; Our Lady of the Assumption, Harlingen, Texas; and St. Margaret Ann Parish, Santa Maria, Texas. She reached out to the poor and elderly at St. Boniface Parish, Edwardsville, Illinois, and in St. Louis at the Catholic Hispanic Center, St. Agatha Center, Benton Pride Senior Center, and South Side Catholic Community Services.
In 1997 Sister Paula retired to the ministry of prayer and presence at St. Monica Convent in Creve Coeur, where she volunteered in many capacities. In 2012 she moved to O’Fallon, and in 2014 she became a resident of Villa Theresa Haven, now Abbey Senior Health.
Sister Paula is survived by her brother, Arthur Jr. She donated her body to Saint Louis University School of Medicine. A memorial Mass will be celebrated for her at a later date.
