Sister Dolores (Michon) Ullrich, OSF, 83, died on Wednesday, April 17, 2019, at the University of Iowa Hospitals, Iowa City, Iowa.
Dolores was born to Engelbert and Ella (Conley) Ullrich on a farm near Oto, Iowa on January 24, 1936. She was told that it was during one of the worst snowstorms of that winter. Her first 13 years were spent on the farm. As an eighth grader she moved to a farm near Salix, Iowa with her family which included five sisters and two brothers. It was there that Dolores completed her grade school education and then attended St. Joseph’s High School graduating in 1954. The following years she attended Briar Cliff College where she received a teaching certificate. She then moved to Chicago and taught 4th grade for three years at St. Mary of the Woods.
During these years Dolores felt a “gentle pull” toward joining the Franciscan Sister Community while working and watching the Sisters she lived with. She said she was drawn by the life of service and commitment that she saw in the Sisters. Dolores entered the convent on September 3, 1959 and the following year, on August 10, 1960, she was received with the name Sister Mary Michon.
Dolores thought she would be a fourth grade teacher all of her life but other plans sent her to teach at Gehlen High School in Le Mars, Iowa. She was there for 13 years. While at LeMars, plans for the new Stonehill Care Center in Dubuque were being developed. Dolores was asked to take the position of administrator. After prayerful consideration, she enrolled in North Texas State University to study long-term care administration. Dolores started her new position at Stonehill Care Center in July of 1978, serving there for 21 years. She moved to Mount St. Francis in 2011.
Sister is survived by her sisters: Julie (Duane) Calvert, LaVonne (Richard) Hill, Jean (Dale) Gutenkauf, and Elaine Dishman; her brothers Bert (Glenda) Ullrich and Thomas (Roxie) Ullrich; nieces and nephews, and her Franciscan sisters with whom she shared over 58 years of her life.
Sister was preceded in death by her parents and her sister Betty (John) Emge.
Memorials may be given to the Sisters of St. Francis.
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