Dominican Sister of Peace Denise Mueting, 87, died July 28, 2026, at Sansbury Care Center in St. Catharine, Kentucky. She was born in Axtell, Kansas. In 1965, she professed her rite of perpetual profession as a Dominican Sister.
She ministered as schoolteacher in Clonmel, Willowdale, Great Bend, and Hutchinson, KS and in Westminster, CO. She served for a time at the Active Spirituality Program in Cincinnati, OH, and then returned to Kansas to teach primary grades in Garden City and Haysville. She eventually returned to Colorado to minister at the Archdiocesan Housing and The Gardens at St. Elizabeth Retirement Center in Denver. She remained in Colorado until she retired and made the Great Bend Kansas Motherhouse home in 2020.
In 2026, Sr. Denise moved from Great Bend, Kansas to Sansbury Care Center, where she began a ministry of prayer and presence. She died unexpectedly after her move to Kentucky.
Sr. Denise earned a Bachelor of Science in Education from Sacred Heart College in Wichita, KS and a Master of Arts in Education from Cardinal Stritch College in Milwaukee, WI.
A Vigil Service and Sharing of Memories was held August 4, in the Chapel of the Plains, Great Bend Motherhouse and her Mass of Resurrection and burial took place in Kansas. A Memorial Mass for Sr. Denise was also held at Sansbury Chapel in Kentucky.
Dominican Sisters of Peace Prioress Pat Twohill wrote, “Sr. Denise promoted inner peace and justice to the marginalized elderly while in Denver… but she was not all work and no play. She loved her breakfasts with Sisters, hiking, reading and she even took dance lessons.”
During her Memorial Mass in Great Bend, Sr. Rene Weeks, OP, delivered a reflection saying, “When Sr. Denise entered the congregation, her choice of teaching came easily. For almost 30 years she taught primary grades in Kansas as well as Colorado. Her ministry never ended in the classroom. She enjoyed participating in other activities of the parish as well.”
She always rooted her life in her call to be Dominican and Sr. Denise wrote, “My Dominican community means everything to me.”
Sr. Denise Mueting is survived by her brother Tom Mueting and her sisters Mary Lee Beckman, Elaine Brown, Janet (Lester) Fangman, Gladys Rottinghaus, Pat Claas, Helen Mueting, OSB, Rita (Ron) Potter, sister-in-law Darla Mueting, numerous nieces and nephews, and the Dominican Sisters of Peace.
Memorial gifts in Sr. Denise’s memory may be sent to Dominican Sisters of Peace, Office of Mission Advancement, 2320 Airport Dr., Columbus, OH 43219-2098. To make a secure online donation please go here.
Rest in Peace, with your God, Denise! so enjoyed time I spent with you!
Esther