Please click here to view the Funeral Mass for Sr. Mary Pauline on Thursday, August 7, 2025 at 10 a.m. at the Nazareth Living Center Chapel.

Please pray for the repose of the soul of Sister Mary Pauline Oetgen, CSJ, who passed away on July 4, 2025, at Nazareth Living Center in St. Louis. She was 98 years of age.

Sister Mary Pauline, baptized Margaret Mary, was born on June 19, 1927, in Savannah, Georgia, to parents Glenn and Helen (McCormick) Oetgen. She entered the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet in 1944 and was received into the novitiate in 1945. She received a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from the College of St. Teresa (now Avila University), Kansas City, Missouri, in 1960 and a master’s degree in elementary education administration from the University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana, in 1966.

Sister Mary Pauline served all her 70 years in education in Georgia. She worked at many schools throughout her service, returning to some of them multiple times over the years.

She began her ministry in Atlanta in 1947 as a teacher at Sacred Heart Grade School, followed by Mt. St. Joseph Grade School (now St. Mary on the Hill) in Augusta, Georgia, from 1949 to 1955.

In 1955, she taught at St. Joseph Grade School in Marietta. After five years, Sister Mary Pauline went on to serve at St. John the Evangelist Grade School, where she was a teacher and principal until 1966. She returned to Atlanta and taught at Blessed Sacrament Grade School for two years.

Sister Mary Pauline was a teacher and principal at Sacred Heart Grade School in Savannah for a year before moving to Augusta. There, she served at St. Mary on the Hill Grade School as a teacher (1969-71) and principal (1971-75). She was then a teacher at St. Francis Xavier Grade School in Brunswick for the next 14 years.

In 1989, Sister Mary Pauline returned to Valdosta, where she completed her ministry in education and retired. She was principal at St. John the Evangelist Grade School for 13 years. After nearly a year-long sabbatical, she retired in 2004 and served as a volunteer.

In 2019, she moved to Nazareth Living Center in St. Louis and continued her mission of prayer and presence.

The Funeral Mass will be held Thursday, August 7 at 10 a.m. at Nazareth Living Center, 2 Nazareth Lane, St. Louis, MO 63129.  Her cremains will be buried at Resurrection Cemetery.

Memorial contributions may be made to: Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, St. Louis Province, 6400 Minnesota Ave., St. Louis, MO 63111-2899.