Sister Eleanor Craggs, BVM
Sister Eleanor Craggs, BVM, 101, died Sunday, March 31, 2024, at Mount Carmel Bluffs-Gables, Dubuque, Iowa.
Visitation, the Sharing of Memories and Mass of Christian Burial were on Thursday, April 4, 2024. Burial was in the Mount Carmel cemetery. Services may be viewed at: https://stream.prestosports.com/bvmsisters.
Sister Eleanor was born on April 22, 1922, in Chicago to William and Eleanor (Bittner) Craggs. She entered the BVM congregation Sept. 8, 1943, from St. Jerome Parish, Chicago. She professed first vows on March 19, 1946, and final vows on Aug. 15, 1951.
Sister Eleanor was a teacher at St. Philip ES in Pasadena, Calif., St. Leo ES in San José, Calif., and Bishop Garcia Diego HS in Santa Barbara, Calif. She ministered as principal at St. Paul HS, San Francisco and vice-principal, French teacher, and development director at Holy Family HS in Glendale, Calif. She served the congregation as a postulant mistress in Los Gatos, Calif.
“For a postulant’s point of view, Sister Kathy Carr wrote, ‘Eleanor was very caring, had a good sense of humor, and was flexible with us. This was a time of ‘change’ in formation techniques. One thought at the time was to let postulants ‘grow into’ the need for silence, rather than imposing it from the beginning. Alas, our group was quite extroverted, and eventually we had to be given more direct guidance on this matter! But Sister Eleanor handled our boisterous ways with great calm and patience.’” (Eulogy).
She was preceded in death by her parents She is survived by the Sisters of Charity, BVM, with whom she shared life for 80 years.
Memorials may be given to Sisters of Charity, BVM, 1100 Carmel Drive, Dubuque, IA 52003 or make an online gift.
Watch Memorial Mass and Sharing of Memories Download Eulogy Download Sharing of Memories
Sister was my French teacher at Holy Family High School in Glendale, California. I will always remember her soft voice and her kind manner when I was having a time pronouncing the words correctly. I graduated from Holy Family, June 1958. I am sure Sister is in Heaven with Blessed Mother and our Lord Jesus Christ.
I will so miss Sister Eleanor. I loved how she told me about the canoe trip she went on when she was a Girl Scout and the stories about her mother and a watch that she received when she graduated. I will so miss her, but now I know she is with her mother, who she missed so much over the many years, and she is with Jesus.