Sister Laetitia Chavez, OSB, 97, a Benedictine sister of Mount St. Scholastica, Atchison, Kans., died Wednesday, May 29, 2024, at the monastery. The vigil service will be Sunday, June 9, at 7:00 p.m. in the monastery chapel, and the Mass of Resurrection will be celebrated there on Monday, June 10, at 10:30 a.m.
Sister Laetitia was born in Denver, Colo., on May 8, 1927, to Isidoro and Isabelle Muniz Chavez, the youngest of a very large blended family. After graduating from Loretto Academy in Sante Fe, New Mexico, she entered the Mount community in 1947. She made her monastic profession in 1948 and earned a B.S. in education from Mount St. Scholastica College. She was a master teacher of the primary grades for 41 years in parish schools in Missouri and Kansas. After retiring from full-time teaching, she became the lead teacher for the “Mount Mini Pre-School” at the monastery. In her later years, she participated in varied services at the monastery such as working as receptionist, canning, and mending. A quilter par excellence, her meticulous works were popular auction items at the Night of Dreams benefit event for many years.
Sister Laetitia was preceded in death by her parents, by half-brothers Emil, Charles, John and Jim LaBadie, and Dell, Ned and Fidel Chavez, half-sisters Ortencia, Altagracia and Fidelia Chavez and Mary Gonzales, a sister Clotilda Chavez and a brother Anthony Chavez. She is survived by nieces, nephews, and her monastic family. Arensberg Pruett Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
