The Memorial Mass for Patricia Steppe, RSCJ, will be held Sunday, December 1, 2013 at 3 p.m. in the Shrine of St. Philippine Duchesne.
Sister Patricia Steppe, former Headmistress of the Academy of the Sacred Heart, passed into God’s Loving and Gracious Arms Sept. 4 in Atherton, Calif.
In a message to faculty and staff, Sister Maureen Glavin explained that Sister Steppe’s “claim to fame is that she saved this school from closure. If it were not for Sister Steppe, this school would not even be here today! We owe her a great debt of gratitude.”
In a draft of the school’s history to be published for our bicentennial, Jane Cannon writes, “The carpeted staircase that leads from the parlor hallway to the Primary classrooms on the second floor was named The Steppe Stairs in 2004 in honor of Sister Steppe, who served as Headmistress from 1972 to 1984 and returned to the Academy in 1994 as Academic Assistant. It was the desire of the administration to recognize the woman who had taken on the challenge of preserving the school in the wake of the high school’s closure, effecting a new high level of academic excellence for the grade school and opening the school to boys.
“A quintessential teacher herself, she bettered the skills of her faculty and found creative ways to teach the most ordinary subjects. ‘Learn by the Month’ programs and spring musicals were her specialties, and she ensured that end-of-year awards recognized the uniqueness of each child in the school. In an era when frugality was de rigueur, she expanded the minds of the children and bought for their school a new reputation of achievement. In 2007 Sister Steppe retired to the Oakwood Community in Atherton, Calif.”
May she rest in peace.
Born: March 27, 1928
Entered: August 14, 1960
First Vows: March 20, 1963
Final Profession: May 11. 1969 – Shrine of St. Rose Philippine Duchesne, St. Charles, Missouri
Read more at rscj.org.
Sister Anna Mae Marheineke, Sister Marie Louise Fitz-William and Sister Patricia Steppe at a track meet at Saint Louis Priory School in 1980
