A Mass of Christian Burial for Sister Amelia Lenz, D.C., was celebrated Feb. 8, 2014, at the Marian Chapel at the Sarah Community in Bridgeton, Mo. Burial was Feb. 12 at 9 a.m. at Marillac Cemetery in Normandy, Mo.
Sister Amelia died Feb. 5, 2014, at 101 years of age. In September 2013, she celebrated 81 years of vocation as a Daughter of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul.
Born Aug. 22, 1912, in St. Louis, Mo., Sister Amelia was the oldest of one brother and five sisters born to Albertina Blank and Louis Alexander Lenz in St. Louis. She was baptized Amelia Marie Lenz.
Sister Amelia entered the Daughters of Charity in Normandy in 1932. After completing her secondary education at St. Patrick High School in Chicago, Ill., she studied nursing at DePaul University in Chicago and earned her Bachelor of Science in nursing education in 1950.
Sister Amelia’s first assignment was to Hotel Dieu Hospital in New Orleans, La., where she served from 1938 to 1946. She was then missioned to St. Margaret Hospital in Montgomery, Ala., where she served in nursing from 1946 to 1957. In 1957, Sister Amelia began 22 years of nursing at the National Hansen’s Disease (previously known as Leprosy) Center in Carville, La. From 1957 until 1979, Sister served in various nursing roles there—nurse, head nurse, surgical nurse and clinical nurse. In 1979, Sister Amelia was missioned to serve as a front desk receptionist at DePaul Health Center in Bridgeton and served there, first full-time and then part-time as a volunteer, for many years until she was 95 years of age. In total, Sister Amelia volunteered more than 19,000 hours at DePaul. Sister Amelia then entered the Ministry of Prayer at Sarah Community in Bridgeton where she served until the time of her death.
Sister Amelia is survived by one brother, Louis (Margie) Lenz of Red Bud, Ill.; and two half-sisters, Berenice Busch of Cahokia, Ill., and Mary Jane Przygoda of Affton, Mo., and her Sisters in Community.