A funeral Mass was celebrated Nov. 26 for longtime educator Loretto Sister Jane (formerly Sister John Dennis) Clark, who served at Loretto Academy High School in El Paso for four decades. The Mass took place at the Church of the Seven Dolors on the grounds of Loretto Motherhouse in Nerinx, Ky. Sister Jane died Nov. 17 at Loretto Motherhouse Infirmary. She was 90 and in her 68th year as a Sister of Loretto at the Foot of the Cross.
Sister Jane was born Sept. 7, 1926, in Lebanon, Ky., the daughter of Lucy (Thomas) and J.D. Clark. She entered the Sisters of Loretto at the Foot of the Cross in 1948. She was received into the Loretto Novitiate April 25, 1949, when she took her father’s name, John Dennis, as her religious name. Sister Jane made her first vows Aug. 15, 1951, and her final vows Aug. 15, 1954. She earned a bachelor’s degree in English, with minors in Spanish and philosophy, in 1948 from Webster College (now University) and a master’s in education in 1960 from Marquette University in Milwaukee.
Sister Jane arrived at Loretto Academy in 1964. She first served as assistant principal and counselor, in addition to being the head of the English Department and boarders. In 1967, she was named high school principal. She served in this capacity for nine years, then as assistant principal and counselor again. From 1976 until 2004, she served the school and the El Paso Loretto Community, doing whatever was needed doing. She provided great support to whomever was in charge. Always interested in computer developments, Sister Jane brought Loretto Academy into the computer world, initially doing school scheduling through computer punch cards and later teaching herself new computer applications to organize the scheduling and create report cards.
One of Sister Jane’s Loretto Academy colleagues, Johanna Brian, recently wrote of Sister Jane, “What a gift! I’ll never forget her unflappable cool, her elegant stride, her ghost of a smile, her explosive on-time laugh, her expertise with all things electronic.”
Elsewhere, Sister Jane’s first teaching assignment was at Loretto Academy in St. Louis, where she taught English for one year. The next eight years she taught English and Spanish at Immaculate Conception High School in East Las Vegas, N.M. She was assigned to Machebeuf High School in Denver for one year in 1960 and to St. Agnes High School in Springfield, Mo., from 1961 to 1964.
Sister Jane retired to Loretto Motherhouse Infirmary in 2004, where she served her community until her death. Her cremains were buried at Loretto Motherhouse Cemetery. Sister Jane was preceded in death by her parents and her two older brothers, John Dennis Clark Jr. and Father Thomas Clark of the Louisville, Ky., Archdiocese. She is survived by her younger sister Lucy Salot of Louisville. Memorials in Sister Jane’s name may be sent to the Loretto Community, care of the Loretto Development Office, 4000 S. Wadsworth Blvd., Littleton, CO 80123-1308.
Sister Jane was born Sept. 7, 1926, in Lebanon, Ky., the daughter of Lucy (Thomas) and J.D. Clark. She entered the Sisters of Loretto at the Foot of the Cross in 1948. She was received into the Loretto Novitiate April 25, 1949, when she took her father’s name, John Dennis, as her religious name. Sister Jane made her first vows Aug. 15, 1951, and her final vows Aug. 15, 1954. She earned a bachelor’s degree in English, with minors in Spanish and philosophy, in 1948 from Webster College (now University) and a master’s in education in 1960 from Marquette University in Milwaukee.
Sister Jane arrived at Loretto Academy in 1964. She first served as assistant principal and counselor, in addition to being the head of the English Department and boarders. In 1967, she was named high school principal. She served in this capacity for nine years, then as assistant principal and counselor again. From 1976 until 2004, she served the school and the El Paso Loretto Community, doing whatever was needed doing. She provided great support to whomever was in charge. Always interested in computer developments, Sister Jane brought Loretto Academy into the computer world, initially doing school scheduling through computer punch cards and later teaching herself new computer applications to organize the scheduling and create report cards.
One of Sister Jane’s Loretto Academy colleagues, Johanna Brian, recently wrote of Sister Jane, “What a gift! I’ll never forget her unflappable cool, her elegant stride, her ghost of a smile, her explosive on-time laugh, her expertise with all things electronic.”
Elsewhere, Sister Jane’s first teaching assignment was at Loretto Academy in St. Louis, where she taught English for one year. The next eight years she taught English and Spanish at Immaculate Conception High School in East Las Vegas, N.M. She was assigned to Machebeuf High School in Denver for one year in 1960 and to St. Agnes High School in Springfield, Mo., from 1961 to 1964.
Sister Jane retired to Loretto Motherhouse Infirmary in 2004, where she served her community until her death. Her cremains were buried at Loretto Motherhouse Cemetery. Sister Jane was preceded in death by her parents and her two older brothers, John Dennis Clark Jr. and Father Thomas Clark of the Louisville, Ky., Archdiocese. She is survived by her younger sister Lucy Salot of Louisville. Memorials in Sister Jane’s name may be sent to the Loretto Community, care of the Loretto Development Office, 4000 S. Wadsworth Blvd., Littleton, CO 80123-1308.
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