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Chapel Interior

Chapel Interior Beginnings
SISTER THEA HEISEL
(1903-1989)

Sister Thea devoted 73 of her 86 years to a life of ministry as a member of the Sisters of Divine Providence. La Roche alumni may remember Sister as a switchboard operator, bookstore clerk and campus ministry volunteer. Prior to coming to La Roche, however, Sister Thea ( formerly Theophane) was an accomplished teacher and principal in schools throughout the Pittsburgh diocese. Sister Margaret Huber, Ph.D., fifth president of La Roche College (pictured in photo at far left, above), credits Sister Thea’s passion for a permanent chapel as the impetus behind the creation of Magdalen Chapel. “She persistently beseeched God, family and friends to make her dream a reality.”