Sister Rosel Marie Feder, a School Sister of Notre Dame and longtime music educator, died Nov. 14 at Anna House at The Sarah Community in Bridgeton. She was 76 years old.
She was born in St. Louis on April 5, 1944, the second child of Celeste (Behrmann) and Robert Feder. She was baptized on April 23, 1944, at the Church of Resurrection in St. Louis and named Susan Janalyn.
She attended St. Bernadette School at Jefferson Barracks and the family lived in one of the former barracks. At the age of seven, she started to play the piano and began a lifelong relationship with music. She enrolled at Notre Dame High School and continued her education at Webster College (now University) in St. Louis.
During her freshman year, she recognized a call to religious life. She received the postulant veil on Aug. 25, 1963 at Sancta Maria in Ripa. She was received into the novitiate on July 30, 1964 at Saint Louis Cathedral and given the name Rosel Marie. She pronounced first vows on July 31, 1965, and final vows on July 31, 1970. She earned a bachelor’s degree in music theory from the former Notre Dame College in St. Louis in 1966.
Sister Rosel Marie taught at All Souls School in Overland and at St. Anthony, Effingham, Illinois; Althoff Catholic High School, Belleville, Illinois; Notre Dame High School, Cape Girardeau, Missouri, and Duchesne High School, St. Charles.
From 1982-87, she was the liturgist at the former St. Louis Province motherhouse. She then spent four years teaching at the Notre Dame International School in Rome. Returning to the United States, Sister Rosel Marie taught and was music director at St. Mary, Cape Girardeau.
After receiving a master’s degree in spirituality from Holy Names College in Oakland, California, in 1995, Sister Rosel Marie ministered as a retreat director, liturgical musician and composer. She was the director of children’s liturgies at St. Gabriel the Archangel in St. Louis for one year and also taught in the Immigrant and Refugee Women’s Program in St. Louis.
Sister Rosel Marie authored a number of original compositions and in 2015, was inducted into the Notre Dame Hall of Fame for Performing and Visual Arts in Cape Girardeau.
A private burial service was held Nov. 23 at the Sancta Maria in Ripa Cemetery. Sister Rosel Marie is survived by her brother Steve Feder of St. Louis. A memorial Mass will be celebrated at a later date.
