Sister Mary Louisa ND 4102 PDF Download
Ruth Agnes HEINL
Mary Immaculate Province, Toledo, Ohio, USA
Date and Place of Birth: January 27, 1927 Toledo, Ohio
Date and Place of Profession: August 10, 1948 Toledo, Ohio
Date and Place of Death: September 30, 2017 Toledo, Ohio
Date and Place of Funeral: October 4, 2017 Whitehouse, Ohio
Date and Place of Burial: October 5, 2017 Resurrection Cemetery, Toledo, Ohio
Indeed, like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand. (Jeremiah 18:6)
On the last morning of September, after a long life of dedicated service, Sister Mary Louisa gave back to the Lord the gift he had given her ninety years ago.
Ruth was one of thirteen children born to Agnes and Bernard Heinl in a close-knit family that she often described as living “comfortably poor.” These years included the Depression years, and then the rationing years of World War II, when food, clothing and gasoline were thinly distributed among all citizens. Sister spoke of a warm relationship with her father, a postal worker whom she accompanied to work at the main branch of the Toledo Post Office where she herself was employed sorting mail. She could have drawn a map of Toledo so well did she know its major areas and streets. She attended St. Ann and Sts. Peter and Paul Elementary Schools with her brothers and sisters, and upon graduation joined her three older sisters at Notre Dame Academy. Ruth was impressed with the Notre Dame Sisters who were her teachers and upon graduation, chose to join them in their mission of service, primarily education, by entering the community in 1945.
Sister Mary Louisa dedicated twenty-two years of teaching in parish schools in Ohio and Michigan. She especially loved teaching second grade and preparing little ones for First Eucharist. During these years she was often asked to mentor beginning teachers–as she herself excelled in this profession. As a helping teacher she is remembered for her respectful manner of nurturing confidence, creativity and independence in the beginning teachers.
In her teaching skills she had the unique gift of being able to reach persons of all age groups. In her second career Sister Mary Louisa spent thirty-one years as Director of Religious Education in various parishes in Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio, and from 1976-1983 she worked in the Toledo Diocesan Offices of Religious Education. In this capacity she was able to educate teachers of religion.
As an attentive listener, Sister would not easily engage in needless conversations. In these latter years when she resided at the Ursuline Center, you would find Sister in her room or a quiet corner working on jigsaw puzzles. But she liked being with people, too. Nothing was more enjoyable then engaging with others in a good, competitive card game.
And now our dear God has called this gentle, loving woman home where for all eternity she will know ever more deeply how wonderfully the good God fashioned her. May she rest in peace.
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