Sister Therese Marie Hawes, PBVM
Sister Therese Marie Hawes, PBVM, 85, died Friday, December 8, 2017 at Mount Loretto Motherhouse in Dubuque. Funeral services were held Wednesday, December 13 at Sacred Heart Chapel, Sisters of the Presentation, with burial in Mt. Olivet Cemetery, Key West. Leonard Funeral Home, Dubuque assisted with arrangements.
Sister Therese Marie, daughter of John and Ellen (Conway) Hawes, was born Teresa Maria Hawes September 5, 1932 at Wexford. She entered the Sisters of the Presentation September 8, 1949 and professed her perpetual vows June 19, 1955.
She received a Bachelor of Arts in General Science from Clarke University, Dubuque and a Master of Arts in Education from the University of Iowa. Her ministries of teacher (K-8) and principal took her to Clare, Sheldon, St. Columbkille (Dubuque), Monona, Humboldt and Cedar Falls, all in Iowa. She served as Formation Director of the Sisters of the Presentation from 1964-1967 and she ministered in Entre Ríos, Bolivia, working as a rural pastoral missionary for the last 32 years of her ministerial life.
Sister Therese Marie retired to Mount Loretto in 2006 and celebrated her 60th Jubilee in 2009. She was an artistic and very hands-on missionary with great attention for those undergoing life’s difficulties. She always included others in such innovative initiatives as creating gigantic colorful banners to lend color and inspiration to the limestone walls of the Entre Rios church or to assist her in beating her Mexican fudge and baking in late evening. Her empathetic heart led her to spend hours at the door of the Presentation house in Entre Rios listening to the troubles, griefs and needs of the poor of the O’Connor Province.
Surviving is her sister, Joan Rydz; her brothers, Monsignor Cletus, Father Donald and Cyril; her sister-in-law, Jane Hawes, nieces, nephews, and the Sisters of the Presentation with whom she shared her life for 68 years. She was preceded in death by her parents; her brother, Gerald; and a brother-in-law, Robert Rydz.
Memorials may be made to the Sisters of the Presentation, 2360 Carter Road, Dubuque, IA 52001 or online at www.dubuquepresentations.org.
