Sr. Jean Dietrich SSND to remain in Jefferson City in retirement

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Sister Jean Dietrich of the School Sisters of Notre Dame (SSND) is stepping down but not stepping away from Helias Catholic High School in Jefferson City.

Nearly 40 years after joining the school’s leadership team, the longtime principal and current office administrator, liaison to Catholic Charities of Central and Northern Missouri (CCCNMO) and frequent substitute teacher is retiring from full-time work.

“You know, I’ll still volunteer here as needs come,” she stated. “I also want to spend some time down at Catholic Charities. I’ve worked in the food pantry there a few times and I really did enjoy that.

“And I want these kids to know that I know them and I love them, and I’m still going to be at their events,” she said.

At least for now, Sr. Jean is the last of many SSNDs to serve full-time as educators and administrators at Helias Catholic.

“Our role as School Sisters is transforming the world through education,” Sr. Jean pointed out. “You do that one kid at a time. And you know, I think that’s what we’ve been doing.”

The school, opened in 1956, and its predecessor, St. Peter High School, which opened in 1931, were originally staffed by SSNDs and De La Salle Christian Brothers.

Last year, Bishop W. Shawn McKnight presented honors from Pope Francis to Sr. Jean and Brother Stephen Schonhoff, the last De La Salle Christian Brother on the school’s faculty, who accepted on behalf of their respective congregations.

Sr. Jean arrived at Helias Catholic in 1983 to serve as assistant principal and a part-time chemistry teacher.

She continued as assistant principal until 1994, then as principal until 2015, and again as assistant principal until 2017.

“I’ve always liked the people I’ve worked with,” she said. “I’ve always learned from every one of them and hopefully been able to help them, too.”

“It’s been wonderful,” she stated. “And the kids have been great!”

She can’t recall a single time she has asked a student to help her do something, and had that student say “no.”

“Not once!” she said. “And we’re not talking about the most glamorous stuff — picking up trash or whatever. But they’ve always taken the time to help.”

In God’s presence

Growing up in Quincy, Illinois, Sr. Jean wanted to be like the School Sisters of Notre Dame who taught her at Quincy Notre Dame High School.

The SSND congregation was founded in Germany to promote the unity for which Jesus entered this world. Most of the sisters are involved in education or parish ministries. 

Sr. Jean noted that assisting people in need — especially families, mothers and children — has always been a pillar of the SSND mission.

“When I pray with the kids, I usually try to remind them that we are always in God’s presence, we’ve all been endowed with talents and gifts,” said Sr. Jean. “And … we’re responsible to use those gifts to serve other people and give God glory.

“I think if we send kids out of here knowing that and believing that about themselves, we’re going to make a difference,” she stated. “That’s what we’re all about.”

She has been living and working in Jefferson City long enough that it feels like home to her.

She enjoys interacting with adults whom she got to know as students.

“They’ve got kids here now!” she said. “And some are even older.”

She recently saw the child of a Helias Catholic graduate get baptized in church.

“And you know that makes me really glad to see that the faith is still living and active and being practiced in kids that have graduated from here,” she said.

First things first

Sr. Jean acknowledged that lately, it’s been getting more difficult to remember all of the students’ names.

“One of the most important things we can do for kids is to know them by name,” she insisted. “That’s one way we can bring Jesus to them because that’s what he does with each of us.

“We help to bridge that gap and help them understand what it means for God to call them by name,” she said.

She believes her role at Helias Catholic has always been to be an advocate for the students.

“First and foremost, we’ve always got to be thinking about what’s best for the kids,” she stated. “People here are doing that, and I love to see it.”

Her prayer has always been for the students to stay faithful to the Lord — “that they don’t get caught up in only academics, athletics or whatever — although that’s also important.”

“But ultimately, what we’re doing here is working together on refining our life with God,” she said. “That’s got to come first. That’s what makes us Catholic.”

That, along with apostolic zeal.

“It’s not just you and God,” she pointed out. “You have to go out and spread it among everyone God sends your way.”

“In God’s time”

Over a half-century into her life as a religious sister, Sr. Jean got to teach theology for the first time last semester.

“The best part of it was the good conversations we had,” she said. “We learned together.”

She has found that effective catechesis has to be “a happy marriage between content and being led into a deeper relationship with Jesus.”

“When you’re teaching theology, it’s always important to connect head and heart,” she said. “And after you’ve made that connection, you’ve got to put it into action.”

Now, as one phase ends and another begins for her, St. Jean asks for prayers to be “blessed with health to do whatever the Lord is calling me to do.”

She called to mind an SSND saying that “whatever is going to happen will be in God’s time.”

“You know, you often make plans, and then God tells you what the real plans are,” she said. “So, I ask for prayers to be able to recognize what God is calling me to at this point in time, and do it.”

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