Remembrance of the Life of Sister Nancy (formerly Sister Richard Anne) Wittwer SL

Editor’s note: Sister Nancy (formerly Sister Richard Anne) Wittwer SL died May 4, 2026, at Loretto Living Center, Nerinx, Ky., in the company of her niece and other family. She was 92 years old and had been a Sister of Loretto for 75 years. What follows is Sister Nancy’s autobiography, dated Jan. 10, 2022:

“At 6:15 a.m. today as I settled in the first pew in front of the Tabernacle in our chapel at Loretto Motherhouse, I was slowly taken on a journey that included the many blessings that led me to now. I realized it really began with my mother — Louise Renz Wittwer. She is truly the source of my vocation to the Sisters of Loretto — and shared deeply the great love I have for Loretto.

“When I was in eighth grade, making a decision about high school, there was no doubt in my mind I was following my sister Eileen to Nerinx Hall High School. And so did my mother! In one sense she also registered. Mother became very close friends with Sisters Ann Roberta, Mary Luke and the other Sister-faculty. Mother would hop down from the stepladder when she was washing windows to take the Sisters to the doctor or any other destination. Mother then extended her services to the Lorettos living at Lafayette. Monthly she faithfully attended their Mother’s Club meeting and became very close friends with the other mothers, but especially with the superior of the house, Sister Suzanne Marie.

“Meanwhile I was totally grabbed by the four years at Nerinx under the influence of women who could not only teach but could also laugh and enjoy life. I’ll never forget my final senior-year interview with Mary Luke Tobin, my principal. She asked me, “Well, Miss Wittwer, where are you planning to go to college?’ She almost fell off her chair laughing when I replied, “Loretto Junior College.”

“During my two-and-a-half years in the novitiate, mother came whenever it was allowed. During one visit mother was sitting alone in the front yard when one of our very old Sisters came along and went up to greet mother. She squeezed mother on the cheek and said, “You are as plump as a pidgin.” That was true, and mother thoroughly enjoyed the comment. 

“That was the beginning of the next 75 years. I completed the Novitiate as Sister Richard Anne, and after making first vows on Dec. 8, 1954, I was sent to Loretto in Louisville to observe Dolores Kelledy, an expert in primary education. From there I traveled to Highwood, Ill., to begin my teaching career at St. James. I was to teach seventh grade. The only education courses I had in the novitiate were primary methods. It was Sister Rebecca who came to my rescue. She took my seventh grade and gave me her third grade.

“The superior/principal was my biggest problem — so big that I took a trip on the train to Chicago to meet with Mary Luke in one of her favorite bookstores. I poured out my troubles to Luke. At the end of the year the principal was transferred, and Sister Thomasine Wilcox was appointed superior. My life began to flourish. My next teaching adventure was second grade with 65 precious children and a first-grade teacher who became my lifetime friend — Sister Marian Therese Vella! She taught me all the tricks of the trade and was my neighbor in the classroom and in the convent. She always had words of wisdom when needed. We even ended up studying during the summer and boarding together at St. Louis University. Our relationship continued through many, many years — until one day I had a phone call from Mary Luke Tobin, to give me the very sad news that Theresa Vella had made the decision to leave Loretto. That was one of the saddest days of my life.

“My next assignment was to Holy Family in Denver. My classmate from Nerinx, Georgeann Hanson, was also sent there and we roomed together. Georgeann taught sixth  grade and I was assigned fifth grade. Having the high school right in the next building, we enjoyed watching the high school boys crawl out the window during their religion class with Father Madden. 

“From Holy Family my next assignment in Denver was St. Vincent de Paul as eighth-grade teacher and assistant principal to Sister Mary Lawrence — not to be remembered! But when a phone call came from St. Louis to inform me that my father had been taken to the hospital — but that I need not come, it was Mary Lawrence who immediately shipped me off to St Louis. Thanks to Mary Lawrence I was able to be at the hospital with my mother when dad died.

“I had completed my undergraduate degree at Loretto Heights (on the weekends and summers’ schedule). So, I stayed in St. Louis for two years, teaching at Nerinx Hall and beginning a master’s program in math at St. Louis University. That was a special gift because it kept me in close contact with my mother and the family. On the other hand, besides math classes, I had to teach junior religion classes, which terrified me!

“In 1965 I was reunited with my beloved Rosemary Wilcox (aka Sister Thomasine) who was Superior of the Community and Principal of Machebeuf High School. Those were glorious and memorable days. I taught math classes at the high school, introducing my students to computer programming years before Apple made personal computers available. We time-shared, sending our programs to General Electric computers in Phoenix, and getting results the next day. It was very advanced for the time but extremely primitive by today’s standards. Those were very happy and creative years, where I solidified treasured lifetime relationships. With a change in principals, however, I decided to move on. 

“In 1972 I applied for a teaching position at St. Joseph High School. It was in a poor section of Denver and threatened with closure. Teaching there was such a gift, different from any of my previous teaching assignments. It was a unique experience that I cherished. Sadly, however, at the end of the year the school was closed. As I was exploring the possibility of teaching at Cathedral High School in downtown Denver. I had a phone call from Ann Johnson saying I needed to return to St. Louis because my mother had been very sick. That did it! I returned to St. Louis in 1973 and there I remained until I retired to Loretto Motherhouse in 2017.

“I taught at Nerinx Hall for 26 years and was able to be present to my mother and help my brother with her care until it was beyond both of us. One day when Dick and I were searching for a facility for our mother, Sister Helen Jean asked if we might consider moving our mother to the Loretto Retirement Center on Lafayette. I was thrilled and could not understand why my brother was silent and did not share my joy. Then I realized that Dick thought because Lafayette was a retirement home for nuns, he would never be able to visit his mother again. 

“Mother’s time at Lafayette was short. Her doctor recognized that they were unable to provide the level of care she needed.  God’s hand was in this next change. Dick and I moved Mother to Bethesda Dilworth on Big Bend — only a short distance from Nerinx Hall and not very far from Dick’s dental office. God was certainly taking care of all of us. We were able to be with our mother each day. It was an ideal arrangement that continued until mother’s death on June 10, 1984.

“I had arrived back at Nerinx Hall where I stayed — this time for 26 years as chair of the math and computer departments. I loved the faculty in our department and their enthusiasm for incorporating computers and computer programming. We agreed to make Apple our computer company of choice and off we went!

“Sister Paul Mary Grennan received a huge box of shoes. She and I stood on the street corner outside Nerinx and sold shoes and popcorn — our goal was to eventually purchase a computer. It wasn’t too long before we had enough money to purchase a few Apple computers that slowly grew into an entire Lab. Expansion took many years, of course. It has been a joy to witness at Nerinx the growth of that tiny seed into what is today a sprawling oak tree that embraces the entire campus.

“Gradually, however, it was Earth that seized me and changed my life. Frequently visiting Shaw’s Garden after school and sitting by a stream of water letting all the beauty seep into my mind and heart, I gradually realized teaching at Nerinx Hall was no longer my future. 

“I submitted my resignation to the principal of Nerinx Hall and wrote a letter to our Loretto President, Maureen McCormack. She accepted my application to work on behalf of Earth. So began The Loretto Earth Network.

“That commitment made in 1991 to give one year of my life to the Earth has led to an ever-deepening commitment which is slowly, patiently transforming my life. It is within the context of the Loretto Community that I live out this commitment and find energy and strength from the members of my Community and the many networks of people who share a similar passion. One of my responsibilities as part of the administrative staff of the Loretto Community was to coordinate the work of the Loretto Earth Network (LEN). Since its beginning in August of 1991, LEN has sponsored many retreats, conferences, monthly study groups, seasonal celebrations, a quarterly news letter, a publication on Earth Spirituality by Elaine Prevallet and countless other efforts to integrate the profound and transformative insights of the New Cosmology into our thinking and acting.

“For 30 years now, we have engaged hundreds of Lorettos, co- and vowed, to hop on the ‘Earth Train.’ Since I handed the Leadership of the Earth Network to Jesse Rathburn some years ago, our outreach has expanded, and truly amazing things are happening. What a sacred journey! At the end of 2021, I resigned as a member of the LEN Leadership Team. But only death will separate me from membership in LEN. 

“I am now engaged in a one-person dream regarding our future. As I write, I still have many dreams for the future of Loretto, for the sacred land at Loretto Motherhouse — and specifically that a portion of the Motherhouse might again be devoted to the education of the young and the poor.

“Please keep me and my dream in your prayers!!!”

Sister Nancy’s wake took place May 6, with her funeral May 7, both in the Motherhouse church, followed by a green burial in Our Lady of Sorrows Cemetery on the Motherhouse grounds.

Please keep Nancy, her family and all her loved ones in your prayers. May she rest in peace.