The oldest of four children, Sister Therese Mary was born Sept. 1, 1929, to Lillian (James) and Clement Rebstock in Carmi, Illinois. She was baptized Nov. 3, 1929, at St. Polycarp Church and named Lois Jeanne.

Lois began her educational journey at the age of 5 when she entered Carmi Public School under the guidance of her aunt. The Adorers of the Precious Blood Sisters from Ruma, Illinois, came for religious instruction Saturday mornings. She attended Carmi Township High School for two years. Through some friends, her parents heard of the Academy of Notre Dame in Belleville, Illinois, and enrolled Lois as a boarding student. She had often thought of being a teacher and her two years at the Academy under the guidance of the School Sisters of Notre Dame confirmed this desire.

Lois entered the candidature at Sancta Maria in Ripa on Aug. 28, 1946. After two years of study at Notre Dame Junior College, she was missioned to St. Joseph in Apple Creek to teach fifth and sixth grades and music. She was received into the novitiate July 28, 1949, and given the name Therese Mary. She pronounced first vows July 29, 1950, and final vows on July 29, 1956.

Sister Therese Mary received a bachelor’s degree in English from the former Notre Dame College in St. Louis in 1957, a master’s degree in English from Saint Louis University in 1964 and a doctorate in education from Walden University in Minneapolis in 1990.

She spent over 50 years in Catholic education as an elementary, secondary and college educator, a principal and a consultant at the St. Louis archdiocesan education office. She taught elementary children at St. Mary in Eldorado, Illinois; Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Indio, California; Holy Ghost and Our Lady of Loretto in St. Louis; St. Martin in Jefferson City; St. Augustine in Breese, Illinois; St. James Catechetical Center in Coolidge, Arizona; and St. Luke in Belleville, Illinois. She was principal at Our Lady of Loretto and St. Luke. She taught secondary students at the Academy of Notre Dame in Belleville and was on the staff of John Paul Catholic High School in DuBois County, Indiana. From 1971-74, she was a language arts consultant for the Catholic schools in the St. Louis Archdiocese.

Sister Therese Mary also served 18 years as a college teacher in Japan at Notre Dame Women’s College (now University) in Kyoto and Nanzan University in Nagoya. Returning to the United States, she taught at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota; Oakland City University in Oakland City, Indiana; and St. Meinrad College in St. Meinrad, Indiana. She was a director of religious education at St. Joseph in Jasper, Indiana, for seven years.

In 1999, she began to research the history of the former St. Louis Province. The six-volume history, “Called and Sent: A Charism of Service,” was completed in 2004. She continued to do research on a variety of topics during the following years. From 2007-20, she was a lecturer for the Thomas Merton Lecture Series.

In 1969, she was on the preparatory committee for the formation of the Mission Secretariate, an interim commission formed by the 13th General Chapter.

She was a vibrant person who readily engaged in conversation on a variety of topics. She had a great devotion and love for the Eucharist. She loved her family and assisted them whenever it was possible for her to do so. She was a person who needed to have a job to keep her mind engaged. She had a great admiration for Thomas Merton and delighted in sharing the results of her research. When she could no longer do research, she began to collect the homilies at The Sarah Community in Bridgeton with a goal of distributing them and eventually organizing them into a book for publication.

As her health failed, she was missioned to Veronica House at The Sarah Community in 2016 and to Anna House in 2022. In October 2023, she was diagnosed with leukemia and placed on hospice.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her brothers, Donald and Phil; and her sister, Mary (Tom) Eversman.

She is a participant in the RUSH University Religious Orders Alzheimer’s Study and was cremated. Burial of the cremains was in the Sancta Maria in Ripa cemetery.