Sister of Loretto Mary Rhodes Buckler, a former Presentation Academy teacher, died Aug. 12 at the Loretto Motherhouse in Nerinx, Ky. She was 93 and in her 64th year as a Sister of Loretto at the Foot of the Cross.
Sister Buckler, a native of Loretto, Ky., was a high school teacher for more than 50 years, including 17 years at Presentation Academy, where she taught from 1972 to 1990. She also taught at the old Loretto High School in Louisville and Bethlehem Academy in St. John, Ky.
According to a release from the Loretto Community, Sister Buckler “was known for her love of English and American literature and spurring on high school students to become good journalists.”
She taught British and American literature and Latin at high schools in Colorado, Illinois, Kentucky and England. She also served as academic dean of Webster College in St. Louis from 1963 to 1969.
Sister Buckler served for several years as an editor of “Interchange,” the Loretto congregation newsletter and served for most of her life as an advocate for equal rights and the environment. During her time in Louisville, she also volunteered at the Kentucky Center for the Arts and Actors Theater.
The Kling Center, a local home for senior citizens, honored Sister Buckler in 2002 with the Arthur S. Kling Award for her leadership on its board of directors and other civic and religious organizations.
She retired in 2006 to the Loretto Motherhouse and moved to the infirmary in 2007, where she served in a ministry of prayer and presence.
She is survived by her sister, Nancy Buckler of Evanston, Ill.; sister-in-law Dorothy Buckler of Springfield, Ky.; her nieces and nephews and the Loretto family.
The Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated Aug. 16 at the Loretto Motherhouse with burial in the Loretto Community’s cemetery on the Motherhouse grounds.
A memorial Mass will be celebrated Sept. 5 at 7 p.m. in the chapel of the Loretto Center in Littleton, Colo.
Donations in memory of Sister Buckler may be sent to the Loretto Community, care of the Loretto Development Office, 4000 S. Wadsworth Blvd., Littleton, Colo., 80123-1308, or by clicking on “Give to Loretto” on the right-hand column of the Loretto website, www.lorettocommunity.org.
