Sr. MarkusA memorial Mass for Sister Carol Markus was celebrated on Jan. 22 at the Cathedral of St. Peter in Belleville, Illinois. Sister Carol of the School Sisters of Notre Dame died Jan. 10 in Aviston, Illinois. She was 83 years old.
A memorial Mass also was celebrated Jan. 26 at Theresa Center in St. Louis.
Carol Catherine and her twin sister, Joan Catherine, were born Nov. 4, 1938, to Genevieve (Kues) and Leo Markus in Aviston. The family of five girls and one boy were raised on the family farm in Aviston. Carol and her twin, Joan, and a younger sister, Theresa, entered the School Sisters of Notre Dame. Carol attended St. Francis of Assisi School, which was staffed by the sisters. She felt drawn to religious life through their example. She also credited her vocation to the prayers of her grandmother and mother, who prayed daily for a religious vocation in the family. Carol began her high school education at Aviston Community High School.
In her sophomore year, she transferred to the aspiranture at Sancta Maria in Ripa in St. Louis. Carol and Joan received the candidate’s bonnet at their home parish in Aviston on Aug. 29, 1956. Carol was received into the novitiate on July 30, 1957, and given the name Miriam Gabriel. She professed first vows on July 31, 1958, and final vows on July 31, 1964. Later, she returned to her baptismal name.
Sister Carol earned a bachelor’s degree in theology from the former Notre Dame College, St. Louis, in 1961; a master’s degree in education-guidance counseling from Saint Louis University in 1975; and a master’s degree in religious studies from Incarnate Word College, San Antonio, Texas, in 1984.
In the Archdiocese of St. Louis, Sister Carol taught at Sacred Heart School in Valley Park and St. Michael in Shrewsbury and was principal at St. Gertrude in Krakow. She also taught at schools in Illinois and California.
After 20 years in Catholic education, she felt a call to respond to the poor. Following a sabbatical, Sister Carol began 10 years of pastoral ministry with Native Americans in Arizona and South Dakota.
After a year of renewal in Mexico, Sister Carol returned to the Southwest to serve as the director of religious education at parishes in Arizona, California, Texas and later in Illinois. She also was a director of adult formation in Arizona.
In 2015, Sister Carol returned to the Midwest. In her retirement years, she volunteered as an activity coordinator at the Cottages at Cathedral Plaza in Belleville, Illinois; she was also co-coordinator of the Parish School of Religion at the St. Augustine Campus in Belleville and area coordinator of SSND Associates.
As her health failed, Sister Carol was placed on hospice. At the time of her death, she was at the home of her sister, Julie, in Aviston. Her twin sister, Sister Joan, was at her bedside when God called her home.
She is survived by her twin sister, Sister Joan Markus, SSND; and three other sisters, Sister Theresa Markus, SSND, Julie Stockmann and Ann Munie.
Sister Carol donated her body to Saint Louis University School of Medicine.