Teacher led Mary Manse

1/29/2004

Sister Rose Margaret Dostel, a longtime teacher who was chairman of the English department at the former Mary Manse College and then the school s president for several years, died Monday in the Ursuline Center. She was 83.

The exact cause of death was not known.

Sister Rose Margaret entered the Ursuline Convent in 1939, a year after graduating from Bucyrus High School. She received a bachelor s degree from Mary Manse in 1946 and a PhD several years later from Notre Dame University.

From 1941 to 1951, Sister Rose Margaret taught at St. Teresa, St. Francis de Sales, Rosary Cathedral, Central Catholic High School, and St. Agnes.

She then joined the staff at St. Ursula Academy as chairman of the English department.

“She was very accurate in her teaching, and she liked teaching,” Ursuline Sister Kathleen Padden said. “She had a brilliant mind, and everyone who had her as a teacher respected her and regarded her very highly - whether they were college, high school, or grade school students.”

In 1961, Sister Rose Margaret began teaching English at Mary Manse, which was located on Collingwood Boulevard. She left the college in 1964 to complete her PhD, and returned the next year to head the school s English department.

She was president of the college from 1968 to 1973.

“She always made sure the curriculum was good, and she brought in people to make sure that Mary Manses measured up to accreditation by the North Central Association of Schools and Colleges,” Sister Kathleen said.

Mary Manse closed in 1975.

Sister Rose Margaret became the director of foundation relations at Marquette University in Milwaukee in 1976. In 1984, she was appointed director of publications and research at the university - a position she held until being elected to the administration of the Ursuline Convent as a councilor in 1991. After her retirement in 1994, she resided at St. Ursula Academy Convent and then at the Ursuline Center.

Funeral services will be at 10 a.m. today in the Ursuline Center. Arrangements were handled by Coyle Funeral Home.