Sister Loretta Thul, RSM

SISTER LORETTA THUL, RSM

Cedar Rapids

Sister Loretta Thul, RSM, 89, died on April 10, 2022, at Hallmar Care Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, after a brief illness. Services will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday, April 19, at the Sacred Heart Chapel, by the Rev. Jack Flaherty. Burial will be at the Mount Calvary Cemetery in Cedar Rapids. Family may call on Monday, April 18, at the Sacred Heart Chapel, with a wake service at 6 p.m. Arrangements are with Teahen Funeral Home and Cremation Services. Services are for immediate family only and masks are required at the services.

Sister Loretta was born on Sept. 30, 1932, in Clarion, Iowa, the daughter of Peter and Mary (Ledden) Thul. She attended St. John Elementary in Clarion, Iowa, and graduated from Clarion High, in Clarion, Iowa, in 1951. After high school, Sister Loretta started her career as a licensed practical nurse. She completed a program at St. Thomas Mercy Hospital in Marshalltown, Iowa, in 1953. She entered the Cedar Rapids Regional Community of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas in 1959.

Sister Loretta earned a B.A in history at Mount Mercy College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in 1971. She continued her education in Pastoral Care at Mount St. Joseph College in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1988.

From 1962 to 1978, she taught in the following parochial schools: St. Matthews, Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Sacred Heart, Waterloo, Iowa; Immaculate Conception, Cedar Rapids, Iowa; St. Patrick's, Garryowen, Iowa; St. Benedict's, Decorah, Iowa; and St. John's, Waterloo, Iowa. She worked as a driver and coordinator of maintenance and housekeeping at Sacred Heart Convent from 1978-86. She worked in Pastoral Care as a Chaplain at Mercy Hospital-Anderson in Cincinnati, Ohio, from 1988-2003.

Upon her retirement, Sister Loretta returned to Cedar Rapids, Iowa. She volunteered at St. Vincent de Paul and Mercy Medical Center. Sister Loretta was known for her love of gardening and her kind heart. Sister Loretta was a vowed member of the Sisters of Mercy for 63 years.

In addition to the Sisters of Mercy, Sister Loretta is survived by sisters, Margaret Trca of Garner, Iowa, and Delores Brenny of San Jose, Calif.; sister-in-law, Agnes Thul, Clear Lake, Iowa; and numerous nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Peter and Mary; and siblings, Betty Schneider, Angela Strassman, Paul Thul and Pat Thul.

Memorials may be sent to the Sisters of Mercy at 1125 Prairie Dr. NE, Cedar Rapids, IA 52402.

Online condolences can be left at www.teahenfuneralhome.com.