Ursuline bids farewell to Sister Lois, celebrates her sunny legacy
By Emily Zeigfinger
Each student wore yellow, Sister Lois’s favorite color, during the bittersweet occasion of her impending departure and celebration of her many contributions to the Ursuline Academy of Dallas.
In 2010, Sister Lois arrived at the Dallas campus, planning to serve as temporary principal for six months before moving to a different job. However, she ended up staying much longer after becoming the school’s director of mission and heritage.
“I said yes to this because of my commitment as an Ursuline sister to help in our schools if there was a need,” she said. “I have stayed for 15 years and loved every day!”
Sister Lois attended Ursuline Academy in St. Louis while in high school and continued living out the Catholic faith by becoming a nun and a teacher like the sisters around her.
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“As an Ursuline sister, my heart is always happy to teach children and teens to grow into the best person God wants each one to be,” she said. “I felt God calling me to follow in the footsteps of Jesus as a teacher and to bring others to love Jesus.”
Sister Lois is affectionately known at Ursuline for her daily “coffees with St. Angela.”
“St. Angela Merici, who started the Ursuline Sisters in 1535, began our sisterhood especially to help the children and women of her Italian neighborhood,” Sister Lois explained. “I love to share stories about St. Angela with our students and colleagues.”
Sister Lois has continued to live out her calling at Ursuline Academy of Dallas, praying with God, teaching theology classes, and greeting students in the hallways. She finds joy in the rich cultural traditions that relate back to Ursuline’s Catholic heritage, including the Junior Ring Ceremony, which celebrates the junior class, and Intramurals, a friendly competition between grade levels.
Sister Lois will go on to work with the province Ursuline center in Missouri.
“This involves three of us Ursuline sisters serving as the province leadership team, along with a team of wonderful men and women, working with our various schools and other ministries in several states,” she explained.
Sister Lois’s departure occurs alongside a major transition for Ursuline Academy of Dallas. On Jan. 29, a special ceremony was held representing the transfer of sponsorship from Ursuline nuns to the Ursuline Education Foundation (UEF).
With fewer nuns entering the order, Ursuline decided to create the UEF to continue to align the Academy with Catholic traditions and heritage. A sponsor is someone who ensures that the Catholic legacy of Ursuline will continue, but it will not mark any visible change at the Ursuline school itself.
Mandy Briones, dean of students, said, “While she no doubt will do even greater things in her next journey, it’s her small acts of kindness that meant everything to me and to our community.”
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