Maryknoll, NY: Sister Marie de Lourdes Nassauer died on October 17, 2016 at the Maryknoll Sisters Center, in Maryknoll, NY. She was 86 years old and had been a Maryknoll Sister for 69 years.

Sister Marie was born on January 19, 1930 in Brooklyn, NY to parents Eva and Stuart Nassauer. She was baptized as Marie de Lourdes. She had two brothers, and one sister. Her parents, her sister Joan and her brother Fred have all predeceased her; but, her brother Stuart Nassauer of East Hampton, NY survives her.

In 1947, she graduated from Seton Hall High School, Patchogue, NY. She then joined the Maryknoll Sisters Congregation, on September 6, 1947 from St. Lawrence Parish in Rockville Centre Diocese, NY. At her Reception, she was given the religious name, Sister Mary Frederick. She made her First Profession of Vows on March 7, 1950 at the Maryknoll Sisters Center in Maryknoll, NY and her Final Vows on March 7, 1953, also at the Maryknoll Sisters Center.

From 1949-1953, while staying at the Maryknoll Sisters Center she earned a Bachelor of Education Degree from Maryknoll Teachers College.

In 1953, after her Final Vows, Sister Marie was assigned to teach in St. Ann’s Primary School in Louis, MO. In 1956, she was assigned to Maryknoll Primary School in Los Angeles, CA. A couple of years later, in 1958, she received her first overseas assignment to Chile, South America where she worked among the needy with primary school children in parish schools. In 1973, she returned to the Maryknoll Sisters Center to serve in the Personnel Department for two years.

After earning her Licensed Practical Nursing Degree (LPN) in 1976, Sister Marie returned to Talca, Chile to use her newly acquired nursing skills to minister to the sick. In 1979, the Maryknoll Sisters Chile Region opened a new mission in Salamanca, Chile; where she engaged in pastoral work until 1991.

Sister Marie also served as a Regional Council Member on the Maryknoll Sisters Chile Regional Governing Board from 1987 -1989. She also served as Administrator of the Chile Region’s Center House in Santiago from 1991 to 1995. In 1996, she returned to the Maryknoll Sisters Center where she volunteered as assistant sacristan until 2006 and in the center library until 2014.

In 2015, due to failing health, Sister Marie retired to the Maryknoll Sisters Home Care Unit in the Maryknoll Sisters Center.

Sister Marie died on October 17, 2016 and generously donated her body to science.

A Wake and Vespers Service will be held in the Main Chapel at the Maryknoll Sisters Center in Maryknoll, NY on November 3, 2016 at 4:15 P.M

A Memorial Mass will be celebrated on November 4, 2016 at 11:00 A.M. also in the Main Chapel at the Maryknoll Sisters Center in Maryknoll, NY.