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“For an ordinary person, I’ve had an extraordinarily happy and interesting life.”
– Sister Marie Carmel Dunning
Sister Marie Carmel Dunning, 101, a Sister of Charity of Leavenworth (SCL) for 71 years, died on September 3, 2022, at Ross Hall in Leavenworth, Kan. Sister Marie Carmel touched many lives through her ministries in education and health care, and with her timeless poetry.
Anna Lee Dunning was born on June 12, 1921, in Miles City, Mont., the fourth of 13 children of Forest and Beatrice (Tucker) Dunning. She grew up on a farmstead in the Ashland-Otter Creek-Tongue River area. This simple, ranch-dwelling family endured poverty during long droughts and the Great Depression. Three wars personally affected the Dunning family, where six brothers and one sister were in the service but fortunately came home without serious injury. Anna Lee naturally inherited a strong work ethic, a profound respect for others, and deep roots that always reminded her of her resilient beginnings.
Before she met the SCLs, she knew about their origins from reading biographies of St. Vincent de Paul and St. Louise de Marillac to whom the religious Community traces its origins. On August 21, 1951, at the age of 30, she entered the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth, a Community she had already grown to love. She professed her final vows as Sister Marie Carmel on August 22, 1959.
For 23 years, her ministries included teaching in elementary and high schools across the west and mid-west, including three years as principal at Sacred Heart School in Falls City, Neb. She then shifted from education to healthcare. Upon completion of her clinical pastoral education, Sister Marie Carmel worked in many pastoral care capacities at a variety of hospitals. When she retired, Sister Marie Carmel dedicated her time to social justice advocacy, corresponding and doing outreach and prayer with women in the Kansas City area, and to her poetry.
Preceding Sister Marie Carmel’s death were her parents, her nine brothers Les, Glen, Leonard, Jim, Charlie, Frank, George, Dick, and Tommy, and her two sisters, Mina Tonkavich and Patty Anderson. Lena Harris, the last surviving sibling, passed away a week and a day after Sister Marie Carmel at the age of 93. Sister Marie Carmel will be missed by her many nieces and nephews, friends, and all of her Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth and Associates.
A vigil will be held at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, September 21, in Ross Chapel, SCL Mother House, Leavenworth. Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated in Ross Chapel at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, September 22. Interment will follow in Mount Olivet Cemetery, Mother House grounds. Memorial contributions can be made to the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth, 4200 S 4th Street, Leavenworth, Kan. 66048. Arrangements made by R.L. Leintz Funeral Home.
Click below to read the SCL Community remembrance for Sister Marie Carmel.
English | Spanish
Sister Marie Carmel was one of my teachers at St. Pius X High School in the late 1960’s. More importantly, she was coach of the debate team that my father insisted I sign up for, even though I had a tremendous fear of public speaking. It was the best thing that could have happened to me. Sister Marie Carmel got me to overcome my fear and taught me logical thinking and cogent argumentation.
She was a fair person who had a zest for life and a wicked sense of humor. She always had a sparkle in her eye when she’d deliver the punch line of a joke or craft a painful pun. Traveling around the Kansas City area on weekends going to debate tournaments was the time I and my colleagues would see Sister Marie Carmel’s more personal side. I remember one time she read our palms to reveal our futures!
She was a happy, thoughtful person who had such a broad base of knowledge that any subject could be discussed intelligently. She treated her students as adults despite our immaturity. I learned how to research and write a college level paper in her class.
I was very fortunate to join my high school buddies Mike Svetlic and Tony Zimmerman (also on the debate team) in visiting Sister Marie Carmel a few years ago at the Mother House in Leavenworth. This was 50 years after we had graduated from St. Pius. We had a grand time reminiscing about the old days. She hadn’t changed a bit despite her advanced age. Still quick witted and funny with a laugh as big and genuine as Montana itself.
Thank you Sister Marie Carmel. May you rest in God’s divine peace.
Memory eternal.