Patricia Pfeifer, CSJ

Patricia Pfeifer, CSJ

Patricia Pfeifer was a woman of deep faith and prayerfulness; she was a lover of nature, art, and anything that is of God; she had a great sense of humor; and an undaunting courage to follow wherever the Spirit chose to lead her. Born in North St. Paul to John and Caroline (Werner) Pfeifer, on July 16, 1929, she died peacefully at Carondelet Village in St. Paul, on September 14, 2025. Pat was taught in grade school by the Franciscan Sisters of Rochester, whom she said “planted the seeds” for religious life. Later she attended St. Joseph’s Academy where she came to meet the Sisters of St. Joseph, and following the strong call she had from her youth, Pat entered the CSJ Community in 1947, and was given the name Mary Caroline. She earned a BA in English and Elementary Education from the College of St. Catherine in St. Paul. MN (1958), and an MA in Theology from the University of Notre Dame, South Bend, IN (1970). From 1951 to 1968 Pat was missioned to serve as teacher at many CSJ sponsored schools including St. Columba, St. Therese, and Cathedral School in St. Paul; St. Thomas Aquinas in St. Paul Park; St. Anne in LeSueur; St. Stephen in Minneapolis; and Good Shepherd in Golden Valley. In 1969 She became Principal at Cathedral School in St. Paul, where she helped to develop and implement “Project Discovery” for the ever changing cultural dynamics of the St. Paul inner city schools. In 1976 Pat became the first woman religious to serve as Assistant Director of Vocations for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. In 1987 she made the move to the Superior Diocese with good friend Monica Fredrick, CSJ, where she taught and served as pastoral minister for the Holy Family cluster of parishes. Reflecting on her ministry and spirituality, Pat said, “I love the people. I think of myself as a vowed woman with an ever deepening commitment to love.”

Pat is preceded in death by her parents; her sisters Carol McHardy, Katherine VanderWyst, and

Mary Jane Thielen; her brothers Donald and Edward Pfeifer; and is survived by many nieces, nephews, grand, and great-grandnieces and nephews; dear friends; and the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet and Consociates. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Thursday, October 2, 2025 at 11:00 AM in Our Lady of the Presentation Chapel, 1884 Randolph Avenue, St. Paul, with burial following at Resurrection Cemetery in Mendota Heights. Memorials in her honor preferred to the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, St. Paul Province Retirement Fund.

Dear Pat, rest in love and peace.