Sister Mary Laetitia KONECNY

KONECNY, TRAVIS, HOCHMAN

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 7/18/2009 at 11:30:42

Gazette, The (Cedar Rapids-Iowa City, IA) December 27, 2003

Sister Mary Laetitia Konecny, 97, died Dec. 26, 2003, in Queen of Angels Health Center, Sacred Heart Convent following a long and faith-filled life. Services - 2:30 p.m. Monday, Sacred Heart Convent Chapel, by the Rev. David Ambrosy. Burial - Mount Calvary Cemetery. Friends may call after 2 p.m. Sunday at the chapel, where a wake service will be conducted at 7 p.m. Teahen Funeral Home is serving the family.

In addition to the Sisters of Mercy, Sister Mary Laetitia is survived by a sister, Anne B. Travis; a sister-in-law, Ruth Konecny; and nieces and nephews. Sister was preceded in death by her parents, Thomas and Apolonia; and three brothers, John C., Thomas and Francis K.

Sister Laetitia was born March 23, 1906, in Nivnice, Moravia, Bohemia, the daughter of Thomas and Apolonia Hochman Konecny. The family moved to the United States in 1913, settling in Cedar Rapids. She entered the Sisters of Mercy on June 14, 1923, and professed perpetual vows July 16, 1929. Sister Laetitia received her teacher's certificate in Iowa and her B.A. from Mount Mary College in Milwaukee. She also attended Mount Mercy College in Cedar Rapids and Loras College in Dubuque. Sister's ministry was elementary education. She taught in the following Iowa schools: Immaculate Conception, St. Wenceslaus, All Saints and St. Matthew in Cedar Rapids; St. John and Sacred Heart in Waterloo; Immaculate Conception in Charles City; St. John in Clarion; St. Patrick in Anamosa; Sacred Heart in Oelwein; St. Benedict in Decorah; St. Cecilia in Ames and St. Nicholas in Evansdale.

After retiring in 1973, Sister Laetitia began a new ministry, planting trees and flowers on the convent grounds for the enjoyment of the retired sisters living at Sacred Heart. She spent many hours tenderly nurturing her lovely roses and feeding the birds and small animals. Sister's heart was full of reverence for the gentle beauty of God's creation and her greatest joy was sharing that beauty with others through her teaching and her special garden. Memorials may be sent to Sisters of Mercy, 1125 Prairie Dr. NE, Cedar Rapids, IA 52402.