Sister Mary Catherine Grief, baptized Mary Martha, and formerly known as Sister Catherine Labouré, died peacefully May 19, 2025, at St. Francis Home, Fond du Lac, WI.
Mary Martha was born in Oak Park, IL, on September 5, 1931, to Ernest Leo and Evelyn Ann Mieling Grief. From an early age, she felt a call to be a religious sister. Meeting the Sisters of St. Agnes while attending Immaculate Conception High School in Elmhurst, IL, deepened her desire to pursue religious life. In September 1950, one year after her high school graduation, Mary Martha entered St. Agnes Convent. She made her first profession of vows in the Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes as Sister Catherine Labouré on August 15, 1953, in Fond du Lac, WI. Sister legally changed her name to Mary Catherine years later, combining her given and religious names.
Throughout her years in ministry, Sister Mary Catherine lived in a variety of settings, caring for the physical, social, and spiritual needs of people as a registered nurse, as a nursing instructor, and as a pastoral minister. Sister Mary Catherine received a BS in Nursing and Nursing Education from Marian College, Fond du Lac, WI. She earned her MS in Nursing from Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI. She began her healing ministry by serving as a registered nurse at St. Agnes Hospital in Fond du Lac (1956–1961). In 1961 she became a nursing instructor at St. Agnes School of Nursing, Fond du Lac, and continued in this role at Marian College, Fond du Lac (1964–1969). In 1969, Sister moved to Kansas to serve as the Director of the LPN Program, Instructor of Maternal and Infant Health, and Nurse Educator at Colby Community College (1969–1978).
Following her years in Colby, she spent time in various roles in healthcare in Kansas, California, and Wisconsin while being drawn from active nursing to serve the spiritual needs of children, youth, and adults. In 1981, she accepted the position as youth minister at Sacred Heart Parish in Colby, KS. For the next thirty years she found great joy as a pastoral associate, social worker and hospice care provider in parishes, prisons, and social service agencies in Kansas, North Carolina, and Florida. Beloved among these experiences, were the seventeen years she served as Coordinator of Ministry to the Sick and Homebound at St. Joseph Parish, Hays, KS.
Sister Mary Catherine returned to Fond du Lac in 2011, lived at the CSA motherhouse, and volunteered at St. Francis Home. In April 2019, Sister joined the CSA retirement community at Nazareth Court and Center, Fond du Lac. As her health declined, she became a resident of St. Francis Home where she received loving care until the time of her death.
Sister Mary Catherine was preceded in death by her parents, her sister Madeline Ann Grief, and her beloved brother and sister-in-law Leo and Maris Grief.
Sister is survived by her nieces, nephews, their families, and by the Sisters of St. Agnes with whom she lived, prayed, and ministered.
Services for Sister Mary Catherine will be held on Friday, May 30, 2025.
Visitation will be held from 11:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. at Nazareth Court and Center, 375 Gillett Street, Fond du Lac, WI.
The Liturgy of Christian Burial will be at 2:00 p.m. at St. Francis Home Chapel, 33 Everett Street, Fond du Lac, WI, with Fr. Thomas Zelinski, OFM Cap., presiding. Burial will take place at St. Joseph Springs Cemetery, Fond du Lac, WI, at a time to be determined following cremation.
Memorials may be directed to the CSA Mission Advancement Office, 320 County Road K, Fond du Lac, WI 54937.
The Sisters of St. Agnes and the Grief family are grateful to the nurses and staff of Nazareth Court and Center, St. Francis Home, and Hospice Hope for their devoted care of Sister Mary Catherine.
Zacherl Funeral Home is serving the Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes.