Sr. M. Rachel Lawler, ASC

SISTER MARY RACHEL LAWLER, ASC, 95, of the Adorers of the Blood of Christ, died peacefully at 10:09 pm, Wednesday, December 24, 2025, at the Benedictine Living Community at the Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows, Belleville, Illinois.

One of eight children, she was born on September 9, 1930, to the late Joseph and Teresa (nee Drone) Lawler of Ponds/Ridgeway, Illinois, where her family attended St. Patrick Church.

Sr. Rachel made her first profession on July 1, 1949, and her final vows on July 1, 1954, both in Ruma, IL. She had been professed for 76 years.

Sr. Rachel received her Certification from the School of Social Work at St. Louis University in 1956 and an additional Certificate from the University of Louisville, Kentucky School of Social Work in 1966. She was also certified in Residential Child Care through the program at Washington University in St. Louis in 1971.

Sr. Rachel’s ministry was one of caring service. At the Catholic Children’s Home in Alton, Illinois, she began as housemother for 15 third and fourth-grade girls. For 21 years, she was a housemother in the kindergarten department. She recalls that “the number of children changed from year to year and sometimes we had the nursery tots as well, so the number ranged from 12-36 boys and girls, ages two to five.” She also assisted with laundry and in the dining room, including supervising children during their meals.

While she maintains that her ministry at the Children’s Home included some of the happiest years of her life, she had a missionary spirit and also greatly enjoyed working in Liberia, serving in Gardnersville, then in Grand Cess, for a total of 11 years. Living with young people, as she had for 25 years in the Catholic Children’s Home, she was always teaching in some way. When she met with girls and women in Liberia, she taught them to sew, crochet, knit, and embroider. She also helped them with cooking skills and taking care of the house. For a few years, when the sisters were unable to get propane gas, Sr. Rachel built a mud stove on which to cook and boil water. Even bread, cakes, and pies were made using this creative alternative.

Sr. Rachel’s education in Social Services was valuable as Administrator of Hope House in Springfield, Missouri, a residence for women and children. Her culinary knowledge and creativity were also helpful during her years at Nazareth Living Center in St. Louis, where she served in the Food Service department.

When she returned to the Ruma Center in 1999, she was named the Coordinator of Transportation for the sisters, a job she held for 20 years. She also combined being a chauffeur herself with this administrative position. In her spare time, she continued one of her favorite hobbies, sewing.

Her move to Benedictine Living Community in 2022 gave her more time to pray and to continue her hobbies of reading good books, knitting, crocheting, and sewing. She crocheted hats and baby blankets for those who needed them. Her focus was especially on the poor. One of her favorite projects, however, was sewing dresses for little girls in Liberia, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and the local St. Vincent de Paul Society. Girls in these countries are proud of their ‘Sister Rachel originals.”

Of the seven girls in the Lawler family, four joined a religious community. Sr. Rachel was preceded in death by her parents, her brother, William (Allie Lee) Lawler, her sisters, Sr. Mary Alma Lawler, OSM, Sr. Mary Lorita Lawler, OSF, and Elizabeth Louise (Jack) Cook, and brother-in-law, Robert Frederickson.

She is survived by her sisters - Sr. Mary Gabriel Lawler, OSM, Theresa Ann (Cletus) Drone, and Margaret Frederickson, many nieces, nephews, great nieces and nephews, and the ASC community.

Funeral Mass:

  1:30 pm, Tuesday, December 30, 2025

  Benedictine Living Community Chapel at the Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows

  726 Community Drive, Belleville, Illinois

Officiating:

  Fr. Carl Scherrer

Visitation:

  Tuesday – 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm

  Benedictine Living Community Chapel at the Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows

Interment:

  ASC Convent Cemetery

  Ruma, Illinois

Donations in memory of Sr. Rachel may be sent to the ASC Retirement Fund, 4233 Sulphur Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63109, or online at www.adorers.org “Support our Ministries”