For the decades of literally selfless service 62 Sisters of Loretto nuns gave to countless Denver school children and young adults, the Catholic Church community and so many others wanted to make sure they truly rest in peace.

They were originally interred through the decades in the small cemetery on the landmark campus of Loretto Heights College, in the Harvey Park neighborhood of south Denver. Sister Frances O’Leary was the first one buried there in 1898. Sister Rita Therese DuBor was the last in 1969.

On Aug. 22, the sisters were reinterred at the Mount Olivet Cemetery in Wheat Ridge in a recommittal memorial Mass led by Bishop Jorge Rodríguez.

“We know that these 62 sisters of ours whose remains we respect and honor today gave their lives totally to Christ, totally to God, to serve,” Rodriquez said in his homily at the mass, according to Denver Catholic. “We can calculate countless hours of prayer for the salvation of the world, countless sacrifices, persevering in their vocation even in difficult times.

“Only God knows the difference they made in the lives of the women that they educated. Their vocation to religious life was a vocation to dedicated service. That we know. And that deserves a huge monument.”

Operation Sacred Rescue

This could have been a story about how development pressure in a city running out of infill space clashed with its own history, claiming a renowned 124-year-old school campus, with a majestic building and tower on a hill visible for miles. 

Bit it isn’t that at all. 

It took an enormous community effort, dubbed “Operation Sacred Rescue,” to move the 62 nuns 15 miles from south Denver to Mount Olivet. Contributions came from Sister Mary Nelle Gage, 78, who led the charge, to the knitting groups from area Catholic churches that made burial shrouds, to the builders who constructed the 62 wooden caskets — then donated them, to the archeology teams and students from Metropolitan State University and the University of Colorado Boulder, to the student pallbearers from Holy Family and Bishop Machebeuf high schools, and so many more.

Archdiocese of Denver Catholic Funeral and Cemetery Services oversaw, and funded, the operation.

“We had no idea how large scale this would become, with the public interest and the people who wanted to be involved,” said Deacon Marc Nestorick of Catholic Funeral and Cemetery Services. “It was a huge blessing, but at the same time, we didn’t realize there’d be such high public interest. Even the services at the end were absolutely beautiful and much larger than anyone expected it to be.”

Considering the nuns, by definition, didn’t have descendants, the community became their extended family over the course of the past seven years the operation has taken place, said Gage.

She spent almost the whole hourlong interview with The Denver Gazette giving praise and thanks to everyone who helped make the operation a success, but downplayed her very-important role in making it happen.

“Sister Mary Nell is just a ball of energy and connected to a lot of people,” Nestorick said.

“The were extremely professional and caring at Mount Olivet. I really can’t say enough,” said Gage. “We’re so gratified by the time and effort they took.”

Campus to infill development

After the Sisters of Loretto were sent to Denver to serve, they created Loretto Heights Academy. They also staffed and founded Holy Family High School and Saint Mary’s Academy.

The Academy became Loretto Heights College and continued that way until 1989, when the 72-acre campus was deeded to Regis College. The college sold it to Teikyo University that same year. Teikyo closed in 2017.

In 2018, Westside Development Partners bought the land and started development plans.

The on-campus cemetery, meanwhile, had fallen into disrepair.

Gage, a 1966 graduate of Loretto Heights College, and another sister worked to clean it up before a 2015 reunion the Sisters of Loretto were having.

“I happen to win a little money for a drawing contest when I was working at American Airlines, so I wanted to help a special project,” Gage said.

Five of the gravestones, which were made from concrete and rebar, were deteriorated beyond recognition. She and Sister Lydia Pena finally found a local gravestone maker to help replace those.

But after the reunion, and the sale of land to Westside Development, the Archdiocese of Denver and Sisters of Loretto began looking for a solution to the cemetery maintenance problem. And there was worry about the surrounding new-development work.

The decision was made in late 2021 to move the sisters’ remains to Mount Olivet.

Andy Klein, head of Westside Development, said he “hated seeing the exhumation” and worried about the public perception that they wanted the cemetery moved. 

They didn’t.

“That broke our hearts when they decided to move the nuns. We wanted them to stay,” Klein said. “While we’re sad to see them go, we’re making a beautiful park out of the land. It will be a place to reflect.”

Thrive Home Builders bought about 25 acres of land on the north and west side — where the cemetery was located — and is building 322 homes. Pancratia Hall became a 72-unit affordable housing complex, Klein said, and future plans might call for multifamily housing or a grocery store. The 1,000-seat May Bonfils Stanton Theater is being refurbished with money from the $120.3 million in Rise Denver bonds voters approved in November.

Volunteer and donated work

Bryan Neitenbach, who owns Brighton-based Horizon West Builders with his sons, has done of lot of work for the Catholic Church over the years, including refurbishing St. Jude Church in Lakewood, the Mother Cabrini Shrine and for the Archdioceses of Denver buildings.

They heard about the removal operation, and were asked if they knew anyone who built caskets.

“I said, ‘Hey, dad, you want to build some boxes for the internment of all these nuns?’,” said Luc Neitenbach, Byan’s son. “He said, ‘Sign me up.’ I didn’t know it was 62 at the time. … We were worried we might not be able to get it done in time.”

But it became of labor of love for the Neitenbachs, including sons Yari and Andrew, who worked probably close to 500 hours on nights and weekends to build them all — this after working fulltime at their other jobs.

“It was a project that falls right in line with what we do,” Bryan Neitenbach said. “When I was a kid, I went to a Catholic school and the nuns were amazing. They were super nice. I just can never say no when I get a chance.

“Once you do it, it’s a good feeling. They were so grateful and super-appreciative. It’s not every day you get a chance to work on something like that.”

Gage praised the work from the college archeology teams and students.

“The reverence, respect and care with which they did the exhuming was amazing,” she said. “It took about three weeks. At the end of each day, there would be three or four sisters whose graves were exhumed and remains were placed in a sturdy container.”

A call to contribute

Knitting and sewing clubs from Christ on the Mountain, St. Thomas Moore, Cherry Hills Community Church and St. Francis Cabrini created and donated silk and linen shrouds, she said.

The Knights of Columbus sent three knights to the ceremony. About 30 students from the area high schools served as volunteer pallbearers.

Happy Canyon Flower Shop of Denver donated more than 150 white roses for attendees to put on the coffins as they were lowered into the ground, as well as altar flowers.

“I did not realize going into this, even being part of the church, how many people these nuns touched through their humility, and through their service and domestic work to keep these schools running as teachers and administrators,” said Nestorick of Catholic Funeral and Cemetery Services. “Each one of them had stories beyond themselves.

“These women gave up everything to come out to Denver. It’s remarkable what they did, and that has to be remembered.”

When asked why she committed so much time, effort and money to the operation, Gage replied simply she was called to do it.

“Loretto Heights College gave me the direction of my life,” Gage said. “It’s always been important to me. I think that’s where my love of God, and wanting him to be an important presence in my life, was nurtured. … I think it’s providence. You so some nice things, so you’re rewarded for it. You just hear about something and think ‘OK, I can do this.'”

Walking among the graves, she saw former teachers and the former president of the college when she attended there.

“I think the Holy Spirit guides you and makes you plant your feet firmly in that (sense of service.) You just love it and carry on that course.”

To view the biographies of all 62 Sisters of Loretto, and a video of the recommittal memorial Mass, visit the cfcscolorado.org website.