SISTER Teresa Pauline Hereford, CDP
1929 – 2022
Sister Teresa Pauline Hereford, CDP, entered eternal life on November 1, 2022 at the age of 93. She was the oldest of nine children born to Frank L. and Pauline Hereford. Sister Teresa Pauline was born April 24, 1929 in Dallas, Texas. She answered God’s call to become a Sister of Divine Providence on October 3, 1948. On June 21, 1950 Teresa Pauline became a novice and was given the name Sister Frances Pauline. Years later she returned to her baptismal name, Teresa Pauline. She professed first vows on June 22, 1951.
Sister Teresa Pauline served for 23 years teaching grades 3-8 and remedial reading in high school. She was first missioned to St. Mary’s School in downtown San Antonio as one of the original teachers. She then spent several years at St. Joseph School in Enid, Oklahoma. There she taught her largest group of students at one time, 55 third graders! In her early ministry she recalled feeling “more old-fashioned than the old-fashioned teachers were.” During these early years she also taught in San Antonio and Dallas, Texas and Bethany, Oklahoma.
After receiving her Master’s in Theology in 1978, in addition to teaching she began parish ministry. While teaching at Providence High School in San Antonio she also served as the Religion Department Chair. As a high school religion teacher in Ennis she also served as the Director of Religious Education for the parish. She continued her teaching and parish ministries in Dallas, then to Abilene, Texas before spending her last year as a teacher in Alexandria, Louisiana.
From 1989 to 2002, Sister Teresa Pauline served fulltime in parish ministry. She spent seven years in Lindsay and three in Del Rio, Texas as parish Director of Religious Education. For the next three years her parish ministry took her to Fredericksburg, Texas where she served as Director of Adult Formation and was responsible for R.C.I.A. She was a parish volunteer in Bryan, Texas for three years before returning to San Antonio in 2006 where she contributed to her community at the convent.
From Enid, Oklahoma to Del Rio, Texas, from Abilene, Texas to Alexandria, Louisiana, and many stops in-between, Sister Teresa Pauline found it invigorating doing something about a need that was going unmet. She embodied the pioneering spirit of the Sisters of Divine Providence.
She is survived by siblings John C. Hereford, Mary Ruth Schmidt (Don), Karen J. Koller (Gerald), (Troy Bene), (Olga Hereford), (Pat Hereford), and the Sisters of Divine Providence. She is also survived by numerous nieces, nephews, and their families. She was preceded in death by her parents Frank L. and Pauline Hereford and siblings: Frank L. Hereford Jr., William J. Hereford, Richard G. Hereford, Anthony R. Hereford, Cecilia Ann Bene, (Yolanda Hereford), and (Daphane Hereford).
The Rosary is Thursday, November 10, 2022, at 4:00 p.m.; Wake, at 6:30 p.m. Mass of Resurrection is Friday, November 11, 2022, at 11:00 a.m. All services will be in Annunciation Chapel at Our Lady of the Lake Convent Center.
In lieu of flowers, you may wish to make a memorial contribution to the Sisters of Divine Providence, 515 S.W. 24th Street, San Antonio, Texas 78207-4619.