Sister Mary Ann Szydlowski, D.C., died on January 18, 2023, at The Sarah Community in Bridgeton, Missouri.
Sister was born March 7, 1932, in St. Louis, Missouri. She was one of four girls and four boys born to Mary Helen (Kuciejczyk) and John Szydlowski Sr., both of St. Louis. She graduated from Labouré High School, St. Louis, in 1949 and entered the Daughters of Charity in 1951.
Sister studied nursing at St. Joseph Hospital in Chicago, Illinois. In 1956, Sister served as a Med/Surgical Nursing Supervisor at the hospital. After earning her nursing degree from Saint Louis University in 1958, Sister Mary Ann served in supervisory nursing roles at Providence Hospital, Waco, Texas (1958-1961); Charity Hospital, New Orleans (1961-1965); and St. Mary’s Hospital, Evansville, Indiana (1965-1968). She served as Director of Nursing Service at St. Anne Home in St. Louis for six years. She earned her MS in Nursing Home Administration at North Texas State University, Denton, Texas in 1977. Sister then served in nursing home administration in North Dakota and New Orleans. In 1979, Sister returned to Marillac Provincial House in St. Louis as a Consultative Retirement Coordinator. For a short time, Sister Mary helped Cambodian Refugees in Thailand.
In 1987, Sister was missioned to San Antonio, Texas where she was the Clinic Nurse Coordinator for Daughters of Charity Services of San Antonio. Sister served two years in health ministry in Angola, Africa. From 1998 until 2007, Sister Mary Ann served as Community Coordinator for the Daughters of Charity in retirement at The Sarah Community; then, in 2008, she answered the call to serve in the Cook Islands, New Zealand. Upon her return to the St. Louis area in 2011, Sister served at Holy Spirit Parish in Maryland Heights, Mo., in ministry to the elderly, as Moderator for the Ladies of Charity, and as a food pantry volunteer. Sister Mary Ann had lived at The Sarah Community since April 2013.
A Wake Service was held on Monday, January 23, 2023, followed by the Mass of Christian Burial at the Marian Chapel of The Sarah Community in Bridgeton, Missouri. Burial took place the following day at Marillac Cemetery in Normandy.
Sister Mary Ann is preceded in death by her parents as well as her brothers John G. Szydlowski Jr., Theodore E. Szydlowski, Reverend Robert Szydlowski and Stanley J. Szydlowski. She is survived by her sisters: Jayne Szydlowski, Sister Mary Camille “Loretta” Szydlowski, SSND, and Elizabeth “Liz” Rimini, along with extended family and her Sisters in Community.