“Justice, justice alone shall you pursue, so that you may live and possess the land the LORD, your God, is giving you. ”
-Deuteronomy 16:20
Sister Marie de Paul Combo, 99, a Sister of Charity of Leavenworth (SCL) for 75 years, died on April 1, 2024. Born Kathryn Cecelia Combo, she entered religious life on August 19, 1948, and took the name Sister Marie de Paul when she received her habit.
Born in Butte, Montana, Sister Marie de Paul was the second of five children of James E. and Mary E. (née Fleming) Combo. Her father was strongly concerned for people who were “up against it,” and made efforts to help people achieve a better life. This strongly influenced Sister’s passion for social justice. Her mother influenced the family’s religious life through attendance at daily Mass. Sister attributed her ability to show compassion to those in need to her mother’s sympathetic and kind nature toward others.
Sister Frances Therese Shea, SCL, is credited with influencing Sister Marie de Paul’s decision to enter religious life. During high school, Sister Frances Therese taught her students how to speak out for the poor. She remained a significant friend and influence in Sister Marie de Paul’s life.
Sister Marie de Paul attended Saint Mary College for two years before serving as a teacher and administrator in schools in Colorado, Kansas, California, Missouri, and Oklahoma. She served as the Archdiocesan Supervisor of Schools in Kansas City, Kansas. Sister Marie de Paul taught and served as associate dean at St. Thomas Seminary in Denver and taught at Donnelly College in Kansas City, Kansas.
During all those ministries, she involved herself in social justice issues like fair housing and school integration. She was appointed as the first SCL Social Justice Network Facilitator in 1987, where she served for approximately 20 years. She was a charter member of NETWORK, the National Catholic Social Justice Lobby, and received its Woman of Justice award in 1997. From 1997 to 2013, she served as the SCL liaison to the NGO Charity Federation, as well as many other social justice organizations.
“Action on behalf of justice is a constitutive dimension of the Gospel” was a foundational aspect of her work and life. Sister Marie de Paul lobbied on the state and national level on various issues, including poverty and the abolishment of nuclear weapons. She was also very concerned about the death penalty and influenced the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth’s corporate stance against it.
She studied and protested against the US foreign policy in Central America and worked on behalf of immigrants. She traveled to El Salvador and Nicaragua, saying that she wasn’t going as a fact-finder but to be in solidarity with the poor and victims of violence.
She had the capacity to see all these issues as being systemically related, and In the late 1970s, she had the foresight to express concern to the SCL Community about the danger to our environment because of our nation’s policies.
Sister Marie de Paul Combo will be remembered for her passion for social justice and helping the SCL Community clarify the relationship between charity and justice. Sister Mary Jo McDonald, SCL, said of her, “She…always put social justice first, a woman who taught us all the meaning of social justice, and taught us what we needed to in our lives to make sure that we were following the tenets of Vincent de Paul working for the vulnerable and the poor.”
Preceding Sister Marie de Paul in death were her parents; sister, Mary Jule Roletto; brother, John and his wife, Eileen Sullivan Combo, and their daughter, Mary Ellen; brother, James “Gitch” and his wife, LaVerne Benne Combo, and their son, Dan; and sister-in-law, Sheila Gallivan Combo. Survivors include brother Dan, many nieces and nephews, and the SCL Community.
There will be a vigil service at 7 p.m., Monday, April 29, 2024, in Ross Chapel, SCL Mother House, Leavenworth. Mass of Resurrection will be celebrated in Ross Chapel at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, April 30, 2024. 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 St., Leavenworth, KS 66048.
