June 15, 1937 – June 13, 2025
Please pray for the repose of the soul of Sister Maureen Kottenstette, CSJ, who passed away on June 13, 2025, at Nazareth Living Center in St. Louis. She was 87 years of age.
Sister Maureen Kottenstette, baptized Joan, was born on June 15, 1937, in Denver, Colorado, to parents Francis Joseph and Maurine (Kerrigan) Kottenstette. She entered the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet in 1955 and was received into the novitiate in 1956.
She earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Fontbonne College (now University) in 1960 and a master’s degree in theology from the University of Notre Dame in 1969.
Sister Maureen served her first 10 years of ministry in grade school and junior high education. Throughout the 1960s, she taught at a number of schools, including St. Elizabeth in Kansas City, Missouri; Nativity of Our Lord in Chicago; Ste. Genevieve in Ste. Genevieve, Missouri; St. Lawrence Martyr in Redondo Beach, California; and St. Bede the Venerable in Chicago. She also served as principal and teacher at St. Gregory in St. Ann, Missouri, and St. Patrick in St. Joseph, Missouri.
In the early 1970s, she transitioned into pastoral ministry, serving at St. Francis, St. Therese and St. Gregory parishes in Kansas City and St. Patrick Parish in Denver.
After attending a retreat in Buffalo, New York, with the Movement for a Better World (MBW), an international renewal movement to train and educate the Catholic community on the changes of Vatican II, Sister Maureen discovered a heartfelt understanding of their work and asked to be a staff member of the movement. From 1974 to 1980, she was a retreat team member and was a future planning and leadership training facilitator out of Kenmore, Washington. She traveled to the West Coast and developed parish councils. She also taught future planning to those councils and Catholic schools. As part of her work, she was elected to represent MBW in Trinidad/Tobago; Calgary, Alberta; Bedford, England; and Rome, Italy.
Sister Maureen left the movement and returned to parish work in 1980. She served as pastoral assistant at St. Mary’s in Ponca City, Oklahoma (1980-81); pastoral associate at Holy Apostles in Colorado Springs (1981-84); and pastoral associate at St. James in Denver (1984-85).
She remained in her hometown for the next 33 years, ministering to the dear neighbor in a variety of direct service roles such as a mental health worker at the Boardwalk Community and as a resource development advocacy program director at CHARG Resource Center for the people who struggled with chronic mental illness.
In 1992, Sister Maureen became the executive director for Sacred Heart House, a shelter for homeless mothers with children and single women. She then served at Community Housing Services, Inc. (1998-2000), where she was both a case manager and housing specialist for women on welfare.
From 2002 to 2009, Sister Maureen returned weekly to CHARG to cut hair and, at the same time, occasionally served as house manager in the evenings at Sacred Heart House.
Sister Maureen retired in 2009. She continued to volunteer at Sacred Heart House and served on their board of directors. In 2018, she moved to Nazareth Living Center to carry out her mission of prayer and presence.
“I have had many wonderful and varied ministries, each one giving me the experience and skills needed in the next ministry,” said Sister Maureen. “The one that touched my heart deeply was the time with people dealing with mental illness. I loved the folks so much and had a mutual friendship relationship with many of them. All of that was a gift.”
The Funeral Mass will be held Wednesday, June 25 at 10 a.m. at Nazareth Living Center, 2 Nazareth Lane, St. Louis, MO 63129.
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.