DAVENPORT — Sister Patricia Heidenry, CHM, 94, died Dec. 27 at Senior Star.
Patricia Gertrude Heidenry was born Sept. 1, 1931, in Mason City, Iowa, to James Francis and Mary (Cannon) Heidenry. She entered the Franciscan Sisters (OSF) in Dubuque, Iowa, in 1949 and transferred her membership to the Congregation of the Humility of Mary (CHM) in 1977.
In Iowa, Sister Heidenry earned a BA in elementary education from Loras College in Dubuque and Briar Cliff College in Sioux City. In the 1970s, she completed the Clinical Pastoral Education program at Creighton University Medical School in Omaha, Nebraska, while studying social work at the University of Iowa. She earned a certificate in pastoral ministry from Seattle University in 1980. A lifelong learner, she participated in numerous summer sessions and workshops on pastoral counseling, education, theology and psychology.
Sister Heidenry began her multifaceted ministry as an elementary school teacher in Iowa, Illinois and California. She later served in the Midwest as a hospital chaplain, childcare worker/counselor, liturgy director and pastoral associate. After retiring in 2011, she served as a volunteer and minister of prayer and witness at the Humility of Mary Center in Davenport.
In addition to learning and ministering, Sister Heidenry enjoyed nature activities, reading, cooking and sewing. Her friends fondly recall her deep love of music, with her not only leading songs at Mass, but often bursting into song mid-conversation, a joyful habit she still engaged in until her death.
Services will be held at Humility of Mary Center in Davenport, with a vigil service Jan. 8 at 7 p.m. and a Mass of Christian Burial Jan. 9 at 11 a.m. Inurnment will follow at Mt. Calvary Cemetery in Davenport. Memorials may be made to the Congregation of the Humility of Mary.
