Sister Elizabeth Heese served three archdiocese schools

Sister Elizabeth Heese, a member of the School Sisters of St. Francis, impacted Catholic schools in the archdiocese for decades as a teacher and administrator.

She also served as leader for her religious order.

Sister Elizabeth is being remembered after her death Jan. 8 at Sacred Heart retirement home and healthcare center in Milwaukee. She was 89.

A funeral was held Jan. 23 at St. Joseph Chapel in Milwaukee, followed by burial at Mount Olivet Cemetery, also in Milwaukee.

The Earling, Iowa, native entered the School Sisters of St. Francis in 1956, made her first profession of vows in 1958 and her final vows in 1964.

Sister Elizabeth began serving as an educator in 1959 and helped form Catholic school students in Nebraska, Wisconsin, Illinois and Iowa.

In the Archdiocese of Omaha, she was a teacher at the former Archbishop Ryan High School in Omaha from 1963 to 1967, principal at Pope John XXIII High School in Elgin from 1967 to 1973 and principal at Ryan from 1980 to 1983. She later became assistant principal at Our Lady of Lourdes School in Omaha from 1989 to 1990 before becoming principal there until 1996.

Sister Elizabeth served as provincial executive of Our Lady of the Angels Provincial House from 1973 to 1980; a member of the leadership team of her congregation’s United States Province from 2003 to 2011; director of the province’s managed health and housing from 2011 to 2016; a board member board for a memory care convent in Greenfield, Wisconsin, from 2016 to 2023; minister of prayer and presence at the Sacred Heart retirement community until her death.

She is survived by her sister-in-law, Jean Heese of Fairfax, Iowa; nieces and nephews; many friends; and the School Sisters of St. Francis community, which she was a part of for 69 years.