Sister Mary Celeste Cour, 96, died Feb. 24 at St. Andrew’s at Francis Place in Eureka. She served several years in the St. Louis Archdiocese.
Born in Springfield, Illinois, she attended Ursuline Academy in Springfield and dreamed of the day when she could give her life to this work. She entered the Ursuline Sisters in Crystal City in 1944 and made her vows in 1947.
Sister Celeste earned a bachelor’s degree in math from the College of New Rochelle in New York and a master’s degree in education from the University of Notre Dame. She taught in Galveston, Texas, before heading for South America, where she served for eight years in the missions in British Guyana and Barbados.
After returning to the United States, she taught math at Ursuline Academy in Springfield, Illinois, and served as bursar for Springfield College. She served in leadership roles in Crystal City and De Soto; in Springfield, Illinois; New Orleans, Louisiana. She was provincial of the Central Province from 1984-90. During her years of ministry in Crystal City and De Soto, she was active in the St. Rose of Lima Parish.
Sister Celeste donated her body to Saint Louis University.
