A funeral Mass for native St. Louisan Sister Gabriel Mason, SL, was celebrated May 19 in the Church of the Seven Dolors on the grounds of Loretto Motherhouse in Nerinx, Kentucky. Sister Gabriel died May 15 at Loretto Living Center at the Loretto Motherhouse. She was 95 and in the 68th year of her Loretto commitment. Among her ministries, she served as manager of Hosea House in St. Louis and taught and served as a counselor for many years in the Denver area.

Sister Gabriel was born Margaret Mary Mason (“Peggy” to her family and friends) June 28, 1927, in St. Louis to Margaret (Coan) and Gerard F. Mason. In Webster Groves, she attended Holy Redeemer School, Nerinx Hall (class of 1945) and Webster College (now University), where in 1949 she earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology with a minor in history. She was received into the Sisters of Loretto at the Foot of the Cross on May 24, 1955. Sister Gabriel earned a master’s in psychology in 1961 from Saint Louis University.

In the St. Louis Archdiocese, Sister Gabriel served as community consultant to the Loretto president from 1986-93. She also served at Lafayette Retirement Center (1986-88) and as manager at Hosea House, where she worked with women and children in crisis (1989-93).

For about the first 10 years of her ministry, Sister Gabriel taught psychology and was a counselor at Loretto Heights College (LHC) in Denver. She considered her work there as one of the most fulfilling roles of her life. In 2013, she was honored with LHC’s Lumen Christi Outstanding Faculty Award. Sister Gabriel worked in Denver with several poverty programs during the 1970s, teaching at-risk students and assisting families with emergency needs at Catholic Charities. Among other ministries in the Denver area, she served for two years as a counselor at St. Mary’s Academy, began a new teaching program for Montview School for Girls, taught GED prep courses to adults at the Community College of Denver and taught special needs adults at the Bridge Project (1997-2003). After retirement in 2004, she studied astronomy and physics and became a docent at the Space Odyssey Exhibit at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. She moved in 2013 to Loretto Motherhouse, where she served her community and pursued her love of the universe and fishing.

She was preceded in death by her parents and six siblings, George Mason, Gerard “Dukie” Mason, Chickie Crockett, Betty Crossman, Heloise Dubbs and Larry Mason. She is survived by cousins, nieces and nephews.

Burial was in Our Lady of Sorrows Cemetery on the Loretto Motherhouse grounds.