Sister Dorothy Gabel was a science instructor, researcher and author

Sister Dorothy Gabel of the Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa served God and her students as a science teacher, researcher and author.

Those students included some at the former Cathedral High School in Omaha.

Sister Dorothy, also known by her religious name, Sister Marie Carl, died Oct. 30 at St. Dominic Villa in Hazel Green, Wisconsin. She was 84.

A funeral Mass was held at the Dominican motherhouse in Sinsinawa, Wisconsin, on Nov. 11, followed by burial at the motherhouse cemetery.

“Sister Dorothy shared what she gleaned from her research with children, grad students and teachers and was a requested speaker around the world,” the Dominican Sisters said in announcing her death.

The native of Amityville, New York, spent 61 years in religious life. She made her first profession in 1959 and her perpetual profession in 1964.
She taught science, especially chemistry, to high school students for 11 years and to college students for 32 years in Wisconsin, Indiana, the District of Columbia and Nebraska, including from 1966 to 1970 at Cathedral.

“An accomplished science and education author, she was passionate about students learning science and doing research to investigate the processes of both teaching and learning,” her community said.

“Her driving force was to use research to shape classroom practice.”

“Her ‘Handbook of Research on Science Teaching and Learning’ (National Science Teaching Association, 1994) is considered a classic reference for researchers,” according to the sisters.

Sister Dorothy taught at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, for decades. When she began in 1974, she was the only woman in the science department. She later mentored other women as they joined the faculty.