A funeral Mass for Sister Rosemary Hufker was celebrated Nov. 5 at the School Sisters of Notre Dame Theresa Center chapel in south St. Louis County. Sister Rosemary died Oct. 22 at the infirmary at Sancta Maria in Ripa. She was 89 years old.
Born on March 15, 1932, in Richmond Heights, she was the second of four children to Christina (Heine) and William Hufker. She attended grade school at St. Luke in Richmond Heights and Rosati-Kain High School, where she met the School Sisters of Notre Dame.
She entered the School Sisters of Notre Dame on July 30, 1951, and received the name Mary Christine. She professed her first vows on Aug. 1, 1952, and final vows on Aug. 1, 1958. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Latin from the former Notre Dame College in St. Louis in 1958; a master’s degree in French from the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, in 1966; and a doctorate in higher education from Saint Louis University in 1969.
Sister Rosemary began her teaching ministry at Our Lady of Sorrows School in St. Louis. After nine years, she went to Mater Dei High School in Breese, Illinois. In 1965, she taught one year at Notre Dame College in St. Louis before pursuing her doctoral studies. Returning to the college, she was appointed chair of the education department. When the college closed in 1977, she became chair of the education division at Alverno College in Milwaukee. In 1981, she returned to St. Louis and became the director of adult and continuing education at Maryville College (now University).
In 1984, she took a position with Community Creativity, Inc. in Washington, D.C., and collaborated with three other women as consultants and facilitators for leadership training of various religious and civic groups. In 1989, she became the director of Maria Center for lifelong learning and enrichment located on the Sancta Maria in Ripa campus. When the ministry was discontinued, she taught part time at Saint Louis University and was a freelance consultant/facilitator. In 2003, she became the principal at De LaSalle Middle School in St. Louis. In 2005, she became the coordinator of Maria Center, which was a conference and rental facility at the time. In her retirement years, Sister Rosemary was an education consultant for various schools and groups.
In 1976, Sister Rosemary authored, “The Catholic School: a Strategy for Renewal.” She was a trailblazer, an innovator and a creative teacher. She was a wise mentor to many teachers. She gave numerous workshops, was a member of various advisory boards and facilitated religious and civic groups. Her goal was to improve the quality of education by involving faculty, parents and students.
She came to the infirmary at Sancta Maria in Ripa in early October 2021 and was placed on hospice. She is survived by a sister, Geraldine Hufker of St. Louis.
Burial was in the Sancta Maria in Ripa cemetery.
