Rest in peace, Sr. Pat Hall SSND, formerly of Rolla, Columbia

It was all still so new after the (Second Vatican) Council. People were just beginning to wake up and were searching for ways to take ownership of their faith.”

Sister Pat Hall SSND

Sister Patricia Hall, 89, a School Sister of Notre Dame who served in the Jefferson City diocese from 1994 to 2009, died peacefully on July 13, at Anna House at The Sarah Community in Bridgeton, with a sister and staff member praying with her.

Her Funeral Mass was celebrated on July 28 in the Theresa Center Chapel at Sancta Maria in Ripa, with Father Dennis Schaab presiding.

Her earthly remains were buried in the Sancta Maria in Ripa cemetery.

Sr. Pat was born on Nov. 16, 1936, in St. Louis, the third of four children of Marie (Rice) and Kenneth Hall.

Along with several other girls from Our Lady of Sorrows Parish in St. Louis, she enrolled at Notre Dame High School at Sancta Maria in Ripa.

The example of her SSND teachers in grade school and high school inspired within her a call to religious life.

She entered the SSND candidature at Sancta Maria in Ripa on Sept. 2, 1954.

She was received into the novitiate on Aug. 2, 1955, and given the religious name Mary Rosemond.

She professed first vows on Aug. 3, 1956, and final vows on Aug. 3, 1962.

She later returned to her baptismal name and preferred to be called Sister Pat.

She held a bachelor’s degree in English from the former Notre Dame College in St. Louis, a master’s degree in library science from Rosary College in River Forest, Illinois, and a master’s degree in religious studies from Saint Louis University in St. Louis.

She taught in several elementary schools in the St. Louis archdiocese, then served as a librarian and teacher at Notre Dame High School in Burlington, Iowa.

While teaching religion at St. Francis Borgia High School in Washington, Missouri from 1970-1974, she participated with adults in “Living Room Dialogs” and recognized a call to adult faith formation.

She continued in that ministry at St. Joseph Parish in Manchester and at Seven Holy Founders Parish in Affton.

In 1977, she was asked to establish and develop the Media Center for Religious Education in the St. Louis Archdiocesan School Office.

During this time, she was a member of the diocesan Religious Education Department, often assisting with sacramental preparation.

While serving as a member of the Archdiocesan Committee for Christian Initiation, she established the Office for the Catechumenate for the St. Louis archdiocese.

This office provided resources and opportunities for the implementation of the new document on the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA).

“All of those ministries shared the focus of ‘making one’ with collaboration, building community and bringing the world vision that is the gift of our international congregation,” she stated in 2007.

Her involvement with implementing the RCIA document had the most profound effect on her life. She helped pioneer this new process for welcoming adults into the Church.

During that time, she had the opportunity to learn from some of the visionaries who established the North American Forum on the Catechumenate.

It was an enriching experience as she worked in a spirit of mutuality and collaboration, which are SSND hallmarks.

After a sabbatical in 1993, Sr. Pat spent several months at the Catholic Center in Springfield, Missouri.

The next five years found her in pastoral ministry at St. Patrick Parish in Rolla, followed by 10 years in pastoral ministry at Sacred Heart Parish in Columbia.

She continued her ministry from 2009 to 2019 at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish in Springfield.

There, she also served on the bishop’s commission of ongoing dialog of Roman Catholics and Pentecostals in the Springfield area.

In 2019, Sister Pat moved to Sancta Maria in Ripa, where she volunteered in the Ripa library and served in various other areas of community service.

As her health began to fail, she retired to Veronica House at The Sarah Community in Bridgeton in May 2024.

She transferred to Anna House at The Sarah Community in January 2026 and celebrated her 70-year Jubilee of religious profession with the community there in April.

She died peacefully in the early morning of July 13.

Sr. Pat is remembered as a gentle, caring person with a calming presence.

She was sensitive to the needs of others and generous in offering to assist them with her gifts and skills.

She was extremely organized, very knowledgeable regarding resources for adult faith formation programs, and encouraging and supportive of new endeavors.

She was creative in the visual and verbal presentations she offered.

She was devoted to her family and her community members.

Preceding her in death were her parents; her sister, Barbara Tarantola; and her brothers, Kenneth and David.

Surviving are nieces, nephews, extended family members, sisters in community, SSND associates and friends.