Kateri set high standards

Sister Mary Kateri Vojir was an educator for 53 years in the Omaha area, and more than half of that time was spent at Mercy High School.

Sister Kateri, 87, died Tuesday at the Mercy Villa, a retirement community in Omaha for members of the Religious Sisters of Mercy order.

The Omaha native was principal at Omaha Mercy from 1967 to 1970. She taught English and some Latin at the school, from 1961-64 and from 1975-97. After her official retirement from teaching, she continued as a volunteer at the school's library, assisting students with papers and research.

Her other teaching assignments: Holy Cross Elementary School in Omaha in 1944-51; the now-closed St. John (1951-61), including serving as principal there; College of St. Mary (summer sessions, 1961-65) and St. Albert High School in Council Bluffs (1964-67). She returned to the College of St. Mary, as registrar, from 1970-75.

Omaha Mercy Principal Carolyn Jaworski said former students have always recalled Sister Kateri with great affection.

“Any kid who had her as a classroom teacher, when asked about the teachers who made a lasting impression, will always bring up her name. ‘She taught me to write, what it is to be a good writer. She instilled a love of literature.'

“That is the supreme compliment for a teacher.”

Jaworski said Sister Kateri “was a hard teacher. She had high standards, and she made kids reach for them. But the kids did it, and then realized what she had done for them.”

Before she left Mercy as principal in 1970, Sister Kateri hired Jaworski to be a teacher at the all-girls school. Not long after Sister Kateri's return as a teacher, Jaworski became principal.

“She was a wonderful mentor,” Jaworski said. “When I entered administration, she was always supportive. She never forced an opinion but was there if you needed to talk to someone.”

Sister Kateri graduated in 1939 from Omaha's St. Mary High School (a predecessor to Omaha Mercy) and entered the religious community in 1941. Her ministry was education, and she earned degrees in art from the College of St. Mary and English from Creighton University, and a master's degree in education from Creighton.

Her funeral will be Saturday at 10 a.m. at the Mercy Villa chapel, 1845 S. 72nd St.

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