Sister Elaine Hagedorn Obituary

Sister Elaine Hagedorn, CHM, 88, died August 20, 2024, at the Jewish Senior Life Center in Des Moines, Iowa. Services will take place at Holy Trinity Catholic Church, Des Moines Iowa. Visitation will be held Sunday, August 25, from 4-6 p.m., with vigil service starting at 6 p.m. Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Monday, August 26, at 10:30 a.m., with Fr. Steve Orr as celebrant and Fr. Dave Polich as homilist. There will also be services held at Humility of Mary Center in Davenport, IA Tuesday August 27 and Wed. August 28.

Elaine Claire Cecilia Hagedorn was born October 27, 1935, in Denison, Iowa to Lester Paul and Grace Cecelia (Pardee) Hagedorn. She entered the Congregation of the Humility of Mary in 1957 and professed vows in 1960 as Sister Marie Paul.

Sister Elaine studied elementary education at Ottumwa Heights College in Ottumwa, Iowa, and completed her BA at Marycrest College in Davenport, Iowa, in 1966. She continued post-graduate studies during her summers until 1980. Subjects included education, social action, theology, and catechetics at the University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, Drake University, Des Moines, the University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Ind., St. Mary College, Great Bend, Kan., Creighton University, Omaha, Neb., St. Norbert College, DePere, Wisc., and Mundelein College, Chicago, Ill.

From 1961-1971, Sister Elaine served in Iowa Catholic schools as a teacher at St. Patrick School in Ottumwa, St. Joseph School in Dunlap, and St. Mary School in Marshalltown. She was also principal at St. Mary School and St. Henry School in Marshalltown. Beginning in 1971, Sister served in the Des Moines area as an area coordinator for the Diocesan Social Action Office, a meal deliverer for Meals on Wheels, and served for 30 years as a pastoral minister and religious education coordinator for Visitation Church, now Our Lady of the Americas, where she continued as a volunteer after retiring. Her volunteer work included ministering to the homebound, preparing wakes and funerals, and providing transportation to medical appointments. When necessary, she mediated between shut-ins and appropriate governmental, medical, or professional agencies.

Sister was highly involved in social justice and policy reform in political and secular circles. She was a member of the Catholic Committee on Urban Ministry, the Justice for Women in the Church Task Force, the Catholic Peace Fellowship, and the Peace and Justice Committee of the Sisters Council. Sister served on the board of the Catholic Peace Ministry, the Des Moines Faith Committee for Peace, the Des Moines Sister’s Council, and the Diocesan Finance Council, and was a moderator for the Catholic Women’s League. In 2012, she was a speaker at the “Go Ahead—Dream” rally in support of the DREAMers’ deferred action program. As part of the NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice, she took part multiple times in the “Nuns on the Bus” and actively engaged agencies and political figures at the local and national levels to challenge injustice and inequality. She regularly joined with other community and faith leaders to call upon leaders at the state and federal levels to enact reforms to better the lives of all people.

Sr. Elaine was awarded the Msgr. Marvin A. Mottet “Footsteps” Award in 2008 for exemplifying the “two feet” of Catholic Social Teaching, Charity and Justice. The Diocese of Des Moines awarded her a Recognition of Service to Youth to honor 40 years of service. She received the Papal Award for her Service to the Church. In 2024, she and her sister, Marilyn Jean Hagedorn, CHM, received the Bishop Dingman Peace Award, from the Catholic Peace Ministry.

Sister Elaine enjoyed sports, entertained others with her quick wit and sense of humor, and when the occasion called for it, Sr. Elaine even dressed up as a clown or Santa Claus. “Each situation calls for a different response,” she said, “whether it be joyful or prayerful.”

Sr. Elaine is preceded in death by her parents, sister Mary Jo (Hagedorn) Reed, brother-in-law Jim Reed, and step-nephew Rich Reed. She is survived by her sister Sr. Marilyn Jean (Jeanie) Hagedorn, CHM, step-nieces Cindy Reed, Christi Young, Chuck Reed, and many cousins, and also her CHM community, with whom she shared life for 67 years.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Congregation of the Humility of Mary or to a charity of your choice.

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