Sister Teresa Orozco, 76, died Dec. 12, 2017, in the Dominican Sisters’ convent infirmary, Great Bend. Born Oct. 18, 1941, in Lamar, Colo., Teresa was the daughter of the late Pascual and Josephine Jara Orozco. She entered the Dominican Sisters’ Community Aug. 27, 1964, and pronounced her first vows June 13, 1967. She celebrated fifty years of religious life in 2014.
Sister Teresa first worked at the Motherhouse in Great Bend in domestic work before serving as an aide in Saint Catherine Hospital in Garden City, Kansas, where she also attended classes in nursing education at the local community college. Beginning in 1984, she worked in parish ministry and in the office of Mexican-American Affairs for the Diocese of Dodge City in Elkhart KS. Later, at the Motherhouse, she served as a translator for the local Spanish-speaking population and as a part time receptionist.
Sister Teresa is survived by her Dominican Sisters of Peace religious community, and one brother and two sisters, Vincent, Susanna (Candie) Stegman, and Laura Denise Estep, all of Lamar, Colorado. Sister Teresa’s body will be brought to the hospitality area of the Dominican Chapel of the Plains, 3600 Broadway, Great Bend, on Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2017, at 4:30 p.m., where it will lie in state until the Mass of Christian Burial at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 15, 2017, with Rev. Ted Stoecklein presiding. A wake service will be held Thursday, Dec. 14, 2017, at 7 p.m. Burial will be in the Sisters’ Resurrection Cemetery. Both the wake and the funeral will be held at the convent.
Bryant Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. Friends may call at the convent Thursday, Dec. 14, from 9 a.m. until the time of the Wake, and Friday, Dec. 15 until the time of the funeral Mass. Memorials in honor of Sister Teresa Orozco may be sent to: Dominican Sisters of Peace, 2320 Airport Dr, Columbus OH 43219-2098 or given securely on line at www.oppeace.org.
