Archbishop's web site Denver Catholic Register Parishes Catholic Pastoral Center
October 30, 2002
Sr. Mary Regis Leahy retires from archdiocesan office
Catechetical leader praised for service at center
Sister Mary Regis Leahy, R.S.M., who served the Archdiocese of Denver since the early 1970s, retired from archdiocesan ministry Aug. 30.
For the past 15 years, she worked as Media Center coordinator for Northern Catholic Education Services, the northern regional branch of the Office of Evangelization and Catechesis located in Longmont.
The Office of Evangelization and Catechesis sponsored an open house to honor her at the Longmont office and more than 50 people — pastors, sisters, parish staff, parishioners and friends from as far as Akron, Parker, Nederland and Fort Collins — attended to thank her for her years of service.
"I just had to take time to stop and thank Sister Regis for her help last year," said Ben Gill of St. Louis Parish, Louisville, who sacrificed his lunch break to drop by.
"Sister Regis should take deep pride in her excellent work with the archdiocese these past 15 years," said Don Schneider, regional director of northern and northeast area parishes for the office. "She assisted the office's transition from filmstrips to videos and built the Media Center from literally a single box of offerings to the present center with over 1,600 video programs available to catechists, parish staffs and families throughout the area.
"Sister Regis will be impossible to replace. Her daily presence, her thoughtful assistance over the phone, her sense of humor and her expertise in catechesis will be sorely missed by people across the archdiocese. Those in northern area and eastern plains parishes will especially feel the loss, because they admire the quality of her service and love and respect her as a person."
Before accepting responsibility for coordinating the Media Center in 1986, under former director Father Thomas Sherlock, Sister Mary Regis was co-director of the office from 1975-1978 with Sister of Loretto Mary Kenneth Lewis.
In addition to her work at the diocesan level, Sister Mary Regis served on the staff of three Northern Colorado parishes. She worked as director of religious education at St. John Evangelist Parish, Loveland, from 1972-1975, at St. Peter Parish, Greeley, from 1978-1981, at St. Martin de Porres, Boulder, from 1981-1984.
She also served in Northern Colorado as Weld County director of Mercy Housing from 1984-1989, supervising construction of homes for low-income families in the Tri-town area at Frederick.
Sister Mary Regis was born at St. Joseph's Hospital in Denver. She moved to Empire at an early age, where her father helped pave Berthoud Pass, transforming it from a stagecoach road to a modern highway. Her family moved frequently because of her father's work with the highway department. In 1943 the family settled in Frederick.
A year after graduating from high school in 1945, Sister Mary Regis joined the Sisters of Mercy, Omaha Province.
"The Mercy's taught me when I was in school at St. Peter's in Greeley when we lived there from 1938-1941," she said. "I knew the sisters and their ministry very personally. It was a natural fit."
She attended college formation and novitiate with the Sisters of Mercy in Council Bluffs, Iowa, and later continued her education at the College of St. Mary in Omaha, where she earned a teaching license and a bachelor's degree in education. Later she graduated for Creighton University with a master's in education.
After final profession with the Sisters of Mercy, Sister Mary Regis taught in numerous schools in Kansas City, Independence, and Joplin, Mo; Buhl, Idaho; and Durango and Greeley, Colo.
In 1972 she left formal classroom teaching to accept a relatively new ministry position as director of religious education for St. John the Evangelist Parish, Loveland. In addition to her work at the parish, she returned to school during summers and earned a master's degree in religious education from Seattle University.
After returning to Frederick in 1975 to help care for her aging mother, she accepted the co-directorship of the Northern Area Office for the archdiocese, along with Sister Mary Kenneth Lewis.
"Those were exciting years," she said. "We were all over the place in those days."
Today Sister Mary Regis lives in Frederick and is an active member of St. Theresa Parish. She lives in the tiny house her family settled in when they first arrived in the Tri-town area. She has been very involved in the local community since returning to Frederick, serving over the years on numerous organizations such as the Tri-Area Ambulance Board, the town planning commission, and various other church and civic associations.
"I even rode the Tri-Area ambulance as an EMT in the late '70s and '80s," she said "I believe I was the first sister in Colorado to do that."
Sister Mary Regis is also an accomplished writer, artist and poet. One of her recent projects was writing a series of poems used by her Omaha Province in their commissioning and blessing of a new regional leadership team last June.
"They came out beautifully," she said. "I received so many nice comments on how the poems captured the personalities of the various leaders and linked them to the rich history of the Sisters of Mercy."
Asked to recall memorable moments in the archdiocesan office, she said, "Of course I remember the various projects we did as an office to assist people, such as the Skyline Lecture Series in the early days, and the Mile Hi Congress, and the Harvest Gatherings in the northeast plains.
"However, the most memorable moments for me have been meeting all of the wonderful people in this ministry at the parishes and being able to sit and talk with them, measure their growth and help them on their journey. The most fun was to meet all the parish leaders striving to grow in what they do."
What does she plan to do with the extra hours she will have away from the Northern Area Office?
"Well, I'm working on a book on the history of the Tri-Area Volunteer Ambulance Service," she said. "I'm in the process of gathering oral and written histories of those who were involved in that effort in the Tri-Area communities. I hope to complete the book in the course of the next year."
She added with a wink, "I'm also looking forward to having some additional time to just enjoy life, work in my garden and to catch up with friends."
Contact Us
