Sister Celeste Marie Reichert, OP, of Dominican Convent, Sparkill, New York, died on June 28, 2011 at Epiphany Convent in St. Louis, MO. Born in St. Louis on January 25, 1930, Doris Jean was the daughter of Richard and Henrietta Bieser Reichert. She entered the Dominican Congregation of Our Lady of the Rosary in Sparkill on September 8, 1948 and became known as Sister Celeste Marie, professing her first vows in 1950 and her final vows in 1955.
Sister earned a BA in Education from Webster College, MO, an MA in Latin from St. Louis University, MO and an MA in Religious Studies from Providence College, RI. During her professional life, Sister Celeste Marie was a teacher in the Archdioceses of NY and St. Louis, and in the Dioceses of Brooklyn and Jefferson City, MO. She taught at St. Mary Magdalen, Springfield Gardens, NY (1950-51); St. James, St. Louis, MO (1951-1958); Holy Rosary, Monroe City, MO (1958-66); Albertus Magnus HS, Bardonia, NY (1966-67); St. Edmund HS, Brooklyn, NY (1967-73); St. Dominic HS, O’Fallon, MO (1973-82); Epiphany School, St. Louis, MO (1982-98). Sister was a secretary at St. Cecilia School, St. Louis, MO (1999-2000). From 2000 to the present she did community and parish ministry in Epiphany parish, St. Louis, MO.
We will remember Sister Celeste Marie for her love of teaching and her many years of dedication in the field of education. She loved being in the classroom and brought an energy and love of learning to her students that they have long remembered. Sr. Celeste Marie had a love for life and shared with us her gift of humor, her wisdom and her acceptance of the will of God in her life. We thank her for her sixty-two years of commitment as a Dominican Sister of Sparkill. May she rest in peace in the arms of the God she served so well.