Dolores Ellwart, SP
June 18, 1929 - December 4, 2024
Obituary
(Sister Camilla)
Sister Dolores Ellwart, age 95, a Sister of Providence for 76 years, died December 4, 2024 at St. Joseph Residence, Seattle, Wash. Vigil: Monday, December 16, 2024, 4:00 pm at St. Joseph Residence, Seattle, Wash., Wake: Wednesday, December 18, 2024, 7:00 pm, Sacred Heart Mission, DeSmet, ID, Funeral Mass: Thursday, December 19, 2024, 11:00 am, Sacred Heart Mission, DeSmet, ID. Rite of Committal: Thursday, December 19, 2024, following Funeral Mass, Sacred Heart Mission Cemetery, DeSmet, ID. Bonney Watson Funeral Home oversees the arrangements.
Sister Dolores was born Dolores Marian Ellwart on June 18, 1929 in a tiny farm community of DeSmet, Idaho to her parents Daniel Ivan Ellwart and Hildegarde (Nixon) Ellwart. She was the eldest of four children, three daughters and one son. Sister Dolores grew up around the Sisters of Providence and side by side with Native Americans. Her father was a foreman of a dairy farm owned by the Sisters of Providence and her mother, a nurse, was an enrolled member of the Coeur d’Alene Tribe. Sister Dolores was also a member of the Coeur d’Alene Tribe.
After high school graduation in 1947, Sister Dolores stated, “God knocked me on the head and said, ‘How about becoming a religious?’ Sister Dolores entered the Novitiate of the Sisters of Providence in Seattle, Wash., in May 1948. She professed her first vows in 1949 and her final vows in 1952.
Her educational achievements included: graduation from Holy Names Academy, Spokane, Wash. in 1947; in 1958, she received a BA in Elementary Education, College of Great Falls (now University of Providence), and in 1968 an MLS degree, University of Portland. She also had teaching certificates in the states of California, Idaho, Montana and Washington.
Sister Dolores’s many ministries were chiefly in grade school education and parish ministry: Providence Academy, Vancouver, Wash. (1949-51); St. Michael School, Olympia, Wash. (1951-52); St. Finbar School, Burbank, Calif. (1953-54); St. Francis Xavier School (now St. Joseph), Missoula, Mont. (1954-59); St. John Parochial School, Colfax, Wash. (1963-64); St. Patrick Grade School, Walla Walla, Wash. 1963-64); St. Gerard School, Great Falls, Mont. (1964-65); Mary Immaculate School, DeSmet, Idaho (1967-69). She was principal at Mary Immaculate School (1969-74) when the school closed. Following the school closure, Sister Dolores remained in DeSmet to do parish ministry in DeSmet, Plummer and Worley, Idaho parishes (1974-85), preparing children for First Communion and Confirmation, and making home visits to the elderly and homebound. She then became parish minister at Sacred Heart Mission in DeSmet (1986-2013). In addition to her full schedule of parish work, Sister Dolores also found time to be actively involved in tribal community affairs. She moved from DeSmet to Spokane in 2013, and later to St. Joseph Residence, Seattle, Wash. in 2022.
Sister Dolores loved helping others, she stated, “As long as I am of help to the people, I will be a presence.” She was especially grateful for the ability to faithfully participate with her tribal and religious community. She had an infectious love of life and readily shared her beautiful smile. She will be immensely missed.
She is preceded in death by her parents and her two siblings, Eileen and Robert. She is survived by her sister, JoAnn Ellwart Savitz, and by the Sisters in her community.