Sr. Theresa Feist, OSU

 To view the recording of the Mass of Christian Burial for Sister Theresa please click HERE.  This will take you to the livestream page of the St Philip Neri Parish webpage.  

Sister Theresa Feist, OSU (Prelate) was called into eternal life at the Hospice at Glengarda, Saskatoon on March 21, 2026 at the age of 83 years. Daughter of John and Theresa (Aschenbrenner) Feist, she was born on the family farm near Barthel, SK on April 22, 1942, the fifth of twelve children. For their early education, she and her siblings walked four kilometers to school where they were taught by Ursuline Sisters. Feeling drawn to religious life, Theresa went to St. Angela's Academy at Prelate in 1957 for her Grade X and the following year entered the Ursuline community, taking the name Sister Loretta. She made her First Profession in 1960, completed her high school studies and then attended Teachers College in Saskatoon from 1962-63. Her 17 years of classroom teaching took her to schools in Yorkton, Shaunavon, Prelate Public School, Dollard, Fox Valley, and Swift Current. She made her Perpetual Profession in 1964 and resumed her baptismal name in 1969. 

Upon recovering from illness through a vitamin-based diet, a new realm of ministry opened up to her. She moved into orthomolecular medicine, a form of alternative medical treatment using nutritional supplements to treat diseases and maintain health. Prompted to share her story with others, Sister Theresa wrote Schizophrenia Cured in 1979 followed shortly after by a second book Spirituality and Holistic Living.

Following a year of studies at the University of Manitoba, she sought to provide shelter and orthomolecular care for the mentally ill. With the financial support of George Morris, a SK founder of farm equipment, Sister Theresa opened the first Morris Centre in Winnipeg in 1981. Here she and Mabel Fowler carried on the Ursuline ministry of "Educating for Life" by accompanying those who came to learn a new lifestyle for good health. They developed a healing regimen of strict diet, meditation, counselling and adult growth sessions. Sister Theresa continued to develop the program by taking part in wholistic medicine conferences in Ireland and in Japan. 

In 1999, with the additional support of Frank Flaman, the centre was moved to Lebret, SK and renamed the Flaman-Morris Home, Inc. This residence, employing three full-time and two part-time staff, housed up to eight people seeking guidance and nutritional care. In 2006, Sister Theresa was inducted into the Orthomolecular Medicine Hall of Fame in Vancouver, BC., the youngest-ever inductee. 

After 31 years of ministry in alternative health care and education, Sister Theresa retired in 2017 to Balcarres, SK where she served in volunteer pastoral ministry. In 2025 she moved to Saskatoon. Those whose lives she touched remember her as a gentle, soft-spoken person with a warm smile and firm commitment to holistic living.

The Ursuline Sisters and the Feist family express their deep gratitude to the health care providers at Trinity Manor, St. Paul's Hospital and the Hospice at Glengarda for their compassionate and competent care during Sister Theresa's lengthy illness.

Her memory is lovingly cherished by her Ursuline sisters, her brothers Herman (Sharon), Francis (Gloria), her sister, Sister Bernadette, OSU, and sisters-in-law, June, Carol and Hazel. She was predeceased by her parents, John and Theresa, her brothers Tony, Alphonse, Pius (Shelby), John, Joe, Leo and sisters, Sister Pauline, OSU and Monica Gavigan. 

The Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at St. Philip Neri Church, 1902 Munroe Avenue South, on Friday, March 27th at 2:00 p.m. with Fr. Doug Jeffrey OMI as presiding celebrant. Interment at Prelate Cemetery will take place at a later date.