Mary Adelaide Maloney was born Sept. 30, 1931, in St. Mary’s, Missouri, fourth of 12 children born to Clarence L. and Mary Adelaide (Bartels) Maloney. After two summers as a nurses’ aide at St. Mary’s Hospital in St. Louis, she entered the Sisters of St. Mary in 1949. She received the name Sister Kathleen Mary, and she professed final vows in 1955.

Sister Kathleen Mary earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing through Saint Louis University (1956); certification in respiratory therapy through the University of Chicago Hospital and Clinic (1971); and certification in gerontology through St. Mary of the Woods College in Terre Haute, Indiana (1984).

Sister Kathleen Mary served as a supervisor at Cardinal Glennon Children’s Medical Center from 1956-61. She supervised central supply at St. Joseph Hospital in St. Charles (1961-68). She set up a respiratory therapy department at St. Clare Hospital in Baraboo, Wisconsin (1969-70) and served in respiratory therapy at St. Joseph Hospital in St. Charles as well (1970-72). She cared for her mother (1968-69, 1970-71) and also for her father (1972).

She provided home health nursing for Cardinal Ritter Institute in St. Louis from 1973-84, enjoying the work immensely. From 1985-91, she served as general assistant at St. Mary of the Angels Convent (the sisters’ motherhouse), driving sisters, handling the switchboard and lobby, and coordinating health care decisions. She also volunteered at Doorways, a residential program for people with AIDS, played the piano at SSM Rehabilitation Institute during the patients’ dinner, and volunteered at Our Little Haven, a residence to care for infants and children younger than school-age.

She moved to Conway Manor, a Dolan Home residence in Creve Coeur, in July 2011, and moved to The Sarah Community in September 2017.

A Mass of Farewell will be held in the chapel at The Sarah Community, on the campus of SSM DePaul Health Center in Bridgeton, at a future date. A private burial will take place at Resurrection Cemetery in St. Louis.