
Dominican Sister of Peace Lois (Rita Clare) Pineau, OP, (85) died at the Sansbury Care Center in St. Catharine, KY, on November 29, 2017. She was born in 1932 to Emma B. McNally and Wilfred Joseph in Cambridge, MA. She entered Dominican life in 1952 at the convent of St. Catharine, now the Dominican Sisters of Peace, and lived a consecrated life for 65 years.
Sr. Lois held a Bachelor of Arts in History and Education from Siena College in Memphis, TN. She was a teacher and school administrator for more than 20 years, serving in New York, West Virginia, Kentucky, Massachusetts, and Puerto Rico. She also served as the Prioress and as the plant manager for the St. Catharine Motherhouse at different periods during her life.
In the reflection at her funeral service, Sr. Lois was remembered as a generous person who wanted to help the poor from her youngest days. Her sister said that even as a child, Lois would find pennies and want to use them to help the poor. This richness of spirit was illustrated by her work with the elderly, as founder of the Ecumenical Center for the Elderly in Watertown, MA and the homeless, working with the Pine Street Inn, Boston, MA, and Habitat for Humanity in Watertown, MA, and the blind, at the Perkins School for the Blind, also in Watertown, MA.
Sr. Lois entered a ministry of prayer and presence at St. Catharine, KY in 2006.
Sr. Lois was preceded in death by her parents, Emma B. (McNally) and Wilfred Joseph Pineau. She is survived by two sisters, Rita Pineau and Lorraine Dienst, as well as several nieces and nephews.
A Vigil of Remembrance was held on Wednesday, December 6 at the Sansbury Care Center Chapel. The Funeral was held Thursday, December 7, at Sansbury Care Center Chapel. Sr. Lois was interred at St. Catharine Motherhouse cemetery.
Memorial gifts in Sr. Lois’ memory may be submitted securely online or sent to:
Dominican Sisters of Peace
Office of Mission Advancement
2320 Airport Drive
Columbus, OH 43219
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I knew this religious woman as Sister Rita Clare she taught me in the 7th grade at Our Lady of Lourdes Queens Village NY. Sister had taught at OLL earlier. She returned to OLL from Puerto Rico. She was kind and generous. I can’t imagine what it was like to teach 60 of us in one class.