65th anniversary: Sr. Dolores Bozif, formerly of Fulton, still loves being a sister

The years have been kind to Sister Dolores Bozif SCC, who spent 15 of them at St. Peter Parish in Fulton.

“As a semi-retired sister, I have plenty to keep me occupied,” she recently stated.

The St. Louis native is noting her 65th anniversary as a Sister of Christian Charity.

“I enjoy gardening, reading, making puzzles and doing various crafts, such as crocheting, embroidery, painting with watercolors and quilling,” said Sr. Dolores. “I also enjoy baking cookies for the sisters. Visiting new places, especially historical sites, is exciting for me.”

Her time in Fulton was varied and fruitful.

She served as a pastoral minister at St. Peter, beginning in 1992.

In 1994, while continuing her parish work, she branched out as a fifth- through eighth-grade teacher at St. Peter School.

She taught fifth- and sixth-grade social studies and fifth- through eighth-grade art in 2006 and 2007 before moving on to her next assignment.

She has been living since 2024 in the Sisters of Christian Charity Retirement Community of the Holy Spirit in Northfield, Illinois, near Chicago.

“Since my retirement from teaching and school activities, I have helped with religious education in parishes and doing ministry for our sisters,” she noted.

Since 2020, she has been serving as director of the Prayer Companions of Pauline in Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota and Missouri.

Named in honor of the foundress of the Sisters of Christian Charity, the Companions of Pauline are lay associates who share in a relationship of prayer and spiritual support with the sisters and with one another.

Sr. Dolores entered the Sisters of Christian Charity and received her religious habit on Aug. 21, 1961.

She professed first vows exactly two years later and professed final vows on Aug. 15, 1969.

The Sisters of Christian Charity (sccus.org) are a congregation of religious sisters founded in 1849 by Blessed Pauline von Mallinckrodt in what is now part of Germany.

Its members seek union with God, to surrender to his will alone and to share Christ’s love with everyone in cheerful, wholehearted service.

“It is a great grace that God should permit us to assist in the spread of his Kingdom,” Mother Pauline would say.

The Congregation is now present on four continents: North and South America, Europe and Asia.

The sisters’ work includes education, healthcare, social work and a diverse array of other ministries.

Elsewhere in Missouri, Sr. Dolores taught at the former St. Augustine School in St. Louis in 1971 and taught special education at the St. Vincent Home for Children in St. Louis from 1982-1992.

She has also served as a Catholic school educator in Arkansas, Illinois, Louisiana and Minnesota; in parish ministry in Louisiana; and as a sacristan, receptionist, household and gardening duties at Sacred Heart Convent in Wilmette, Illinois.

She holds a bachelor’s degree from Mundelein College in Chicago and a master’s degree from Loyola University of Chicago.

She enjoyed her time in Fulton and is grateful to all the people who welcomed, befriended and collaborated with her and her fellow SCCs there.