In Memoriam: Sister Michael White

Sister Michael White, 1924 - 2016

From the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet: 

Please pray for the repose of the soul of Sister Michael White who passed away on September 22 at Nazareth Living Center in St. Louis, Missouri. She was 92 years of age.

She served in campus ministry from 1979-1981 at St. Albert the Great University Parish at Michigan Tech University in Houghton.

Fr. Thomas Wantland, the pastor of St. Al’s during her tenure, says “She brought the gift of her feminine touch and team ministry, and her ability to “roll with the punches” in a predominantly male environment at St. Al’s. She was such an important collaborator in developing our spiritual renewal retreats. God bless her.”

Sister Michael was born on July 14, 1924, in St. Louis, Missouri, to parents Reed Joseph and Mary Agnes (Burke) White. She entered the Sisters of St. Joseph on September 15, 1944, and made her final profession on August 15, 1950.

She received her bachelor’s degree in elementary education from the University of Dayton in 1959 and  a master’s degree in elementary education from St. Louis University in 1967.

Sister Michael taught elementary education for the first 30 of  her 71 years of ministry.  In 1947 she taught at Assumption Grade School in St. Louis then at St. Matthew Grade School in Mobile, Alabama, until 1953 when she moved to Hawaii to teach. In 1953 she taught at St. Theresa Grade School in Honolulu and from 1958 to 1959 she taught at Holy Rosary Grade School in Maui. 

Returning to the mainland, she taught in Kansas City, Missouri, at St. Elizabeth Grade School in 1969 to 1960; in St. Louis at St. Agnes Grade School from 1960 to 1962; in Augusta, Georgia, at St. Mary on the Hill Grade School from 1962-1964; and in St. Louis at St. Philip Neri Grade School from 1964-1966.

Sister Michael served as principal as well as teaching at St. Edward Grade School in St. Louis from 1966 to 1968 and at St. Louis Grade School in Englewood, Colorado, from 1968 to 1973.

In 1973, Sister Michael was a staff member for three years at the Carondelet House of Prayer in St. Louis.  She served the next seven years in Michigan.  She was the administrator at St. Joseph Convent in Marquette for three years, and then worked in campus ministry at St. Al's for two years and at Northern Michigan University for two years.

Returning to Honolulu in 1983, she served four years as a pastoral associate at Holy Trinity Parish

After a brief sabbatical, Sister Michael was the secretary at St. Cecilia Grade School in St. Louis for ten years ending in 1998.

She retired in 1998 but that lasted only a year. For in 1999 she served her CSJ community for the next six years at Nazareth Living Center as the Community Life Bookkeeper.

Since 2005 she served in the ministry of prayer and presence at Nazareth Living Center.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, St. Louis Province, 6400 Minnesota Ave., St. Louis, MO 63111-2899. Donate online.