August 9, 1924 – April 5, 2026
Please pray for the repose of the soul of Sister Marie René Pretti, CSJ, who died on April 5, 2026, at Nazareth Living Center in St. Louis. She was 101 years of age.
Sister Marie René, baptized Ruth, was born on August 9, 1924, in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, to parents John J. and Reketta C. (Moscon) Pretti. She entered the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet in 1942 and was received into the novitiate in 1943. She earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Loretto Heights College in Denver in 1952 and a master’s degree in history from St. Louis University in 1959.
Sister Marie René began her 80 years of ministry as a teacher at Visitation Grade School in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1945. She returned to her home state of Colorado three years later to teach at Catherine of Siena Grade School in Denver. From there, Marie René taught for two years at both St. Joseph Academy in Green Bay, Wisconsin (1955-57), and St. Margaret of Scotland Grade School in St. Louis (1957-59). She went back to Denver and taught at St. Francis de Sales High School for two years.
From 1961 to 1967, she served as a principal and teacher at St. Mary Grade School in Littleton, Colorado. She taught again at St. Joseph Academy in Green Bay for two years, followed by her return to St. Francis de Sales High School as principal until 1973. She then moved to Augusta, Georgia, and taught at Aquinas High School for four years.
In 1977, Sister Marie René went back in her hometown of Glenwood Springs, where she served for the next 16 years at St. Stephen’s Parish and Grade School. She was a pastoral minister for the parish from 1977 to 1981, and then a principal and teacher at the school until 1993.
Sister Marie René moved to Las Vegas and taught junior high at Our Lady of Las Vegas until 1996. The following year, she served as a geriatric companion. In 1997, she began her 12-year ministry as a substitute teacher with the Las Vegas Catholic Schools.
Sister Marie René retired in 2009 and moved to Nazareth Living Center in St. Louis, where she lived out her ministry of prayer and presence.
A Funeral Mass will be held on Wednesday, April 15, 2026, at Nazareth Living Center Chapel, 2 Nazareth Lane, St. Louis, MO 63129. The visitation will be at 9 a.m. CT, followed by the Mass of the Resurrection at 10 a.m. The Mass will be available to view on our CSJ livestream channel https://video.ibm.com/channel/csjsl-general.
Memorial contributions may be made to: Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, St. Louis Province, 6400 Minnesota Ave., St. Louis, MO 63111-2899 or donate online.