Sister Clara Vincent Slatinsky, CSJ, died Dec. 25 at Nazareth Living Center in south St. Louis County. She was 95 years old.
A funeral Mass for Sister Clara Vincent will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 9, at Nazareth Living Center. Visitation will precede the Mass at 9 a.m. The Mass will be available to view via livestream at video.ibm.com/channel/csjsl-general.
Sister Clara Vincent, baptized Rita Clara, was born on Nov. 12, 1928, in Sedalia, Missouri, to parents Vincent and Clara (Janda) Slatinsky. She entered the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet in 1946 and was received into the novitiate in 1947. She earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing from the College of St. Teresa (now Avila University) in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1953.
Sister Clara Vincent dedicated her years of service to health care ministry as a nurse and a hospital chaplain. She began in 1949 at St. Joseph Hospital in Kansas City as a student in geriatric care. Upon completing her undergraduate degree, she progressed to nursing supervisor. She was then a nursing supervisor at St. Joseph Hospital in Kirkwood (1956-57) and at St. Joseph Community Hospital in Hancock, Michigan (1957-58).
She served as a staff nurse at Nazareth Convent in St. Louis (1958-60) and St. Joseph Community Hospital in Hancock (1960-62). She was then a nursing supervisor again at the St. Joseph Hospitals in Kirkwood (1962-63) and Kansas City (1963-64).
From 1964-69, Sister Clara Vincent returned to the St. Louis area to serve as a nurse at Nazareth Convent (1964) and St. Joseph Hospital (1964-67).
Sister Clara Vincent dedicated the next 45 years of service to St. Joseph Hospital-Center for Life in Augusta, Georgia. She was a staff nurse from 1969-96 and then transitioned to hospital chaplain until 2008. She continued in the role of chaplain at Trinity Hospital of Augusta for the next six years.
In 2014, Sister Clara Vincent retired to Nazareth Living Center in St. Louis, where she carried out her ministry of prayer and presence until her death.
Burial will be in Resurrection Cemetery.