Sister Dolores taught for 54 years, 21 years in Columbus

Sister Dolores Smagacz, a member of the Sisters of St. Francis of Perpetual Adoration who taught for 21 years in Columbus, died Feb. 28. She was 84.

A funeral Mass was held March 3 at St. Francis of Assisi Church with interment at St. Francis Cemetery, both in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

A native of Columbus who grew up in St. Bonaventure Parish, Sister Dolores entered religious life and professed first vows in 1952. She professed final vows in 1959.

During her 54-year teaching career, Sister Dolores taught at St. Bonaventure School in Columbus from 1987 to 2008. She also taught 32 years in New Mexico and one year in Colorado.

She retired from teaching in 2008 and moved to her order’s motherhouse, Mount St. Francis in Colorado Springs, where she continued serving, first as coordinator, then as vicar of the sisters in Mount St. Francis Nursing Center, from 2009 to 2018.

She was preceded in death by parents, John and Cecilia (Kresha) Smagacz, and sisters Sylvia Smagacz and Dolores Wetgen. She is survived by an aunt and several cousins.

Memorials can be sent in care of Sister Marietta Spenner, provincial of the Sisters of St. Francis of Perpetual Adoration, 7665 Assisi Heights, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80919.