Sister Mary Evangelita

Sister  Mary  Evangelita                ND 3732              ⇒ PDF Download
Dorothy SPECHTHOLD

Immaculate Heart of Mary Province, Covington, Kentucky, USA

Date and Place of Birth                  February 27, 1917   Cincinnati, OH
Date and Place of Profession       August 17, 1940       Covington, KY
Date and Place of Death                June 30, 2014          Covington, KY
Date and Place of Funeral             July 3, 2014              Covington, KY
Date and Place of Burial                July 3, 2014              Convent Cemetery, Covington, KY

Dorothy Spechthold was the second youngest of the six chidren of George and Otillia Stenger Spechthold.  Her oldest brother, Clarence, died at the age of seven years.  Her father was a pharmacist and Dorothy was born in an apartment above her father’s pharmacy.  During an outbreak of influenza, her father contracted the disease and died 3 days later at the age of 39. Her mother was left to raise the five children.

Sister Mary Evangelita attended St. Agnes School taught by the Sisters of Notre Dame.  She was impressed with the joy of the sisters and the loving manner in which they treated one another.  When in high school she prayed three Hail Mary’s each night asking Mary to guard her vocation.  After graduation she completed a course at the Comptometer School and worked for 2 ½ years in the Cost Department of the Cincinnati Milling Machine Company.  Following a time of discernment, Dorothy joined the Sisters of Notre Dame, making her profession of vows on August 17, 1940.

Sister held a variety of ministries over her long and fruitful life.  After receiving degrees in education and administration, she was a teacher and a principal in several schools in Ohio and Kentucky. Fifteen of these years were spent at St. Martin School, Cheviot, Ohio. She fulfilled the role of superior in several of the local houses.  Twice she was elected to the General Chapter in Rome.  From 1965-71, Sister Mary Evangelita served as assistant to the Provincial Superior and also Directress of the Temporary Professed.  Close bonds were formed at this time and several women who left the community still kept in contact with Sister.  These women together with relatives and staff members found that she was not only a good listener, but would respond to them with wisdom and kindness. Sister was friends with many sisters within the community.

After receiving a degree in counseling, Sister Mary Evangelita served as a guidance counselor at Bishop Brossart High School for six years.  Following her ministry in the high school, Sister moved to St. Joseph Heights where she ministered in Lourdes Hall and was Coordinator of pre-retirement, retirement and guidance.  She then coordinated the activities in Lourdes Hall and was a sister visitor there.

Sister Mary Evangelita loved to be with people and to relate stories about the past.  Gradually her hearing diminished as well as her eyesight.  But from the strong relationships she developed, her friends were very faithful in visiting her.  Some continued to watch at her bedside during her final days.  On June 30, 2014, at the age of 97, she slipped home to God.

May God continue to be her joy forever.