Sister Dolores Poelzer, MM

Born: September 1, 1933
Entered: September 2, 1956
Died: February 25, 2025

In 1975, Sister Dolores wrote a brief bio of herself which she closed with, “Although the tree of my life will have been sun-nurtured and rain-nourished, as well as sometimes bark-bruised and wind-buffeted, I hope that when the Risen Christ asks me whether I came really to believe that God loves us, I will be able to answer, YES!” On February 25, 2025, at 10:15 A.M., when Dolores slipped into the fullness of God’s love, those who were blessed to be with her must surely have heard her resounding joy.

Dolores Therese Poelzer, which she herself taught us to pronounce “pelt-sir” as in Alka-Seltzer,” was born on September 1, 1933 and baptized two days later on the family farm alongside the Hudson Bay Trail in Saskatchewan, Canada. She was the 9th of twelve children born to Elizabeth Hinz and Michael Poelzer. Dolores had six sisters, three of whom became religious, and five brothers.

For the maintenance of this large family, Dodi, the name by which we all knew her, credited her hard-working father on the family farm and her mother, a teacher by profession, who insisted that all twelve children receive a university education, even though this meant doing without basic conveniences such as electricity, running water, and telephone. Of the twelve, Jerome is the sole survivor, along with two sisters-in-law, Kathleen and Cecile, and a brother-in-law, Tim, and many nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews.

Dodi graduated from Ursuline Academy in Bruno, Saskatchewan, Canada in 1951. For one year, she studied at St. Thomas More University in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and then transferred to Seattle University in Washington, where she obtained her BA in Sociology in 1956.

In April of that same year, 1956, she applied to Maryknoll, designating her choice of a foreign mission congregation based on “my personality traits, events in my life (which she does not specify) and the advice of my director, plus the focus of the missionary life on the harvest of souls.”

Dolores entered at Maryknoll, New York on September 2, 1956, and at Reception into the Congregation on June 24, 1957, received the name Sister Mary Sarto. She pronounced her First Vows on June 24, 1959 at Maryknoll, New York and her Final Vows on the same date in 1965 in Chile.

Dodi was assigned to Chile in 1961 where, after finishing language school, she taught Religion and also put her music skills to work in Grades 1 and 9 in Talcahuano until 1965. She had previously studied Piano and Music Theory at the Toronto Conservatory of Music.

In 1966, she began to study for an MA in Sociology at the Universidad Catolica de Chile. The following year, she transferred to the University of Oregon in Eugene, OR, specifically to go on for a doctorate in view of working with Father Poblete at Bellarmine Center in Santiago, Chile. A diligent student, Dodi received her Master’s in Sociology in 1969 and her PhD in 1972. In the course of her studies, she directed a project known as the Santa Ana Research Project for the Maryknoll Fathers in El Salvador. Dodi’s brief account of the Project, which formed the basis for both her Thesis and Dissertation, can be found in the June 1970 issue of Maryknoll Magazine.

Although Dodi had every intention of returning to Chile, circumstances conspired to prevent her doing so, suffering an injury in 1972 which alone was sufficient to keep Dodi in the States for a year. The 1973 coup in Chile followed on the heels of this injury and put an end to visas for missionaries. At the same time, it was also obvious to everyone who knew Dodi that she was thriving as a university professor.

In 1972, desiring to help pay some of her bills, she had become a lecturer in the Department of Sociology at Humboldt State University in Arcata, CA, where she also worked to start a Religious Studies Program (which later became a Department), and a Women’s Studies Program. Dodi was exceptionally well received, both by faculty and students. Even with her physical limitations, Dodi seemed to be so well positioned that the Leadership at Maryknoll advised her to consider staying on at Humboldt. In 1975 when she applied for membership in the Maryknoll Sisters Western Region of the U.S., she wrote about how confident she was in the contribution she was making as a “nun-sociologist on this campus and deeply inside, I feel that this is still God’s will for me in the call to mission.”

In 1977, she took leave from Humboldt to be a visiting Professor at St. Thomas More College, University of Saskatchewan, Canada. In 1981, she was promoted to the rank of full professor. The Dean of Studies noted that “students ranked Dr. Poelzer higher than the departmental average on all indices of the ranking form. Her associates see her as a master teacher, clearly outstanding in the way she creates a mentally active classroom. Colleagues speak of her total concern with students which is supportive and restorative.”

In addition to her voluminous amount of work at the university, Dodi was tirelessly involved in everything that mattered to a missioner. With her sister, Irene, a Sister of Christian Community, she co-authored a book in 1986, In Our Own Words: Northern Saskatchewan Metis Women Speak Out.  Wherever she lived, Dodi also got involved in her local parish as a Eucharistic minister and lector, as an occasional lecturer on Catholic social teaching, etc. She participated in the Western Region, answering questionnaires, writing papers and corresponding with Sisters. In an undated paper, she wrote “Our climate in Northern California is damp and wet and foggy and mildewy and moldy, but it keeps our Redwoods alive.” Good for the trees, but not so good for Dolores who was in a wheelchair by 1984 and had both hip joints replaced that same year. Starting in 1986, she experienced more health issues. Intermittently, during those years, she was an active Professor of Sociology and Women’s Studies at Humboldt University.

In 1988, when she needed to take family leave, in her goodbye to one of the parishes, she thanked them for their love and support. Always alert for mission moments, she also encouraged them to form Basic Christian Communities which would help them cultivate not only their relationships with God, but also with those in their midst who were lonely, bereaved, invalids, or in any way isolated and left out. In 1991, Dodie received “Herstory Award” from the Seattle University for “Significant contributions on issues of Women”.

Back at the University of Saskatchewan, in 1996, when the care for her mother obligated her to take a leave from teaching, the President of the University wrote to say, “Clearly you had a large impact on us and our students. Our prayers are with you, your Maryknoll Sisters, and your family.” Another colleague thanked her for her “infectious enthusiasm.” In those words, he sums up what made Dodi such an effective presence at the campus and everywhere. Students invariably assessed her: “The best teacher I’ve ever had.”

With her mother’s death in 1998 at age 102, Dodi also retired, but not to a rocking chair. In those years, she was living in Eugene, OR, and was very active in Vocation promotion; she spoke in parishes and in schools, especially college campuses, and occasional youth groups in addition to continuing in her usual parish ministry.

Finally, at age 90 and worn thin after fifty fulfilling years as a university professor and member of the Western Region, on March 1, 2023, Dolores was assigned to our Eden Community where her increasing health needs could be met most adequately. When she died on February 25, she had been a Maryknoll Sister for 69 years, concluding her rich and God-centered life with a resounding YES.

We warmly welcome our Maryknoll brother, Father Russell Feldmeier, our Celebrant today for Sr. Dolores’ Mass of Resurrection.