Sister Dorothy Beatrice Schonlau SSMO

Born on August 27, 1936, in Peoria, Illinois, Sr. Mary Grace was one of three children born to Edward and Virginia Schonlau. By the time she was in the sixth grade, her family had moved to Tillamook, Oregon, where she attended Sacred Heart School and Tillamook Catholic High School. For the last two and a half years of high school she attended St. Mary of the Valley High School (Valley Catholic).

Following the example of her aunt, also known as Sr. M. Grace, a Sister of St. Joseph of Wichita, Kansas, Sr. Grace entered the Sisters of St. Mary of Oregon in 1953. After completing her novitiate year, she attended Marylhurst, earning a BS degree in Education. Subsequently, she attended Gonzaga University and earned a MS in Mathematics in 1968. In 1985, after summer school sessions at St. Mary’s College in Moraga, California, she graduated with a MA in Theology.

Sr. Mary Grace’s educational background equipped her well for the variety of ministries she undertook. First, she taught in elementary schools: St. Cecilia, Beaverton; Sacred Heart, Tillamook; St. Andrew, Portland; and Our Lady of Sorrows, Portland. She served as principal and teacher at St. Pius X School in Portland. Her ministry as a high school teacher took her from Regis High School in Stayton to Tillamook Catholic High School, and to La Salle High School in Milwaukie. From 1984 until 1999, Sr. Mary Grace served as Director of Religious Education and Faith Formation in two locations: Our Lady of the Mountain Parish in Ashland and St. Henry Parish in Gresham.

In addition, Sister served on the Archdiocesan board of Education (1984-88); as a Religion Consultant in the Archdiocese for Silver Burdett Ginn (1991-99); Coordinator of the Retirement Fund for Religious (1999-2007) and as a mentor for new Directors of Religious Education in the Archdiocese of Portland (1993-95).

Sister Mary Grace Schonlau died on Friday, January 2, 2015, at St. Vincent Hospital.

Vigil Service – Wednesday, January 7 at 7:00 p.m. – SSMO Motherhouse Chapel

Mass of Christian Burial – Thursday, January 8 at 4:00 p.m. – Motherhouse Chapel

Interment – Friday, January 9 at 9:00 a.m. – Sisters’ Cemetery

Sister Mary Grace requested that memorial offerings be directed to the

Franciscan Friars of the Atonement at P.O. Box 300, Garrison, New York 10524-0301

May she rest in peace!