A funeral for native St. Louisan Loretto Sister Mary Frances (formerly Sister Margaret Mary) Lottes was celebrated Aug. 3 in the Church of the Seven Dolors on the grounds of Loretto Motherhouse in Nerinx, Ky. A longtime theology instructor who also provided spiritual guidance, Sister Mary Frances died July 31 at Loretto Motherhouse Infirmary. She was 97 and in the 74th year of her life as a Sister of Loretto at the Foot of the Cross.

Sister Mary Frances was born Aug. 23, 1922, in St. Louis and baptized at St. Rose Church. She graduated in 1941 from Nerinx Hall High School in Webster Groves. She entered the Sisters of Loretto in 1946, was received into the congregation Aug. 15 of that same year, and made her first vows in 1948 and her final vows in 1951. Sister Mary Frances earned a bachelor’s degree in English, with minors in philosophy and education, in 1954 from Loretto Heights College in Denver. She also earned a Magisterium in Scientiis Sacris in 1960 from Regina Mundi in Rome.

In the St. Louis Archdiocese, Sister Mary Frances was appointed to the faculty of Webster College (now University) and lived at the Loretto House of Studies, both in Webster Groves, and taught theology courses to the newly professed junior sisters (1960-63). She served as academic dean at Webster College in 1963.

Elsewhere, Sister Mary Frances taught at Holy Family School, Denver (1948-51); St. Joseph’s School, Rawlins, Wyo. (1951-53); St. Mary’s Academy Grade School, Denver (1953-55); and St. Mary’s Academy High School, Denver (1955-57). She also taught theology at Bellarmine College, Louisville, Ky. (1970-73) and St. Catherine Junior College, Springfield, Ky. (1973-74), and was a visiting lecturer at St. Paul School of Theology, Kansas City, Mo. (1987-88).

Sister Mary Frances was assistant general on the General Council of the Sisters of Loretto (1964-70), served as Loretto’s novice mistress (1970), and was a member of the liturgical commission and consultant to parish worship committees for the Louisville Archdiocese in Kentucky (1970-77). At the Women’s Spiritual Center, Santa Fe, N.M., she provided spiritual guidance (1988-94). In 1999, Sister Mary Frances moved to Loretto Motherhouse Infirmary, where she remained engaged in spiritual guidance until the mid-2000s.

Sister Mary Frances was buried in the Loretto Motherhouse Nature Preserve Cemetery.