Sister Mary Mel L’Ecuyer, OSB, 85, a Benedictine sister of Mount St. Scholastica, Atchison, Kans., died on April 20, 2015. The vigil service will be Thursday, April 23, at 7:00 p.m. in the monastery chapel, and the Mass of Resurrection will be celebrated there Friday, April 24, at 10:30 a.m.

Sister Mary Mel was born in Concordia, Kan., on March 26, 1930, to Lynn and Mary Frances Raney L’Ecuyer, the oldest of four children. After graduating from Mount St. Scholastica Academy, she was a nurse’s aide for three years before entering the Mount community in 1948. With her B.A. in elementary education from Mount St. Scholastica College, she taught in elementary schools for a number of years in Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas, before serving in Mineiros, Brazil, for nearly 40 years. There she was a teacher, social worker, parish minister, farmer, maintenance supervisor, and novice director. After returning to the Mount, she took art and sculpting classes at Benedictine College and observed her 60th anniversary of vows in 2010.

Sister Mary Mel was preceded in death by her parents. She is survived by her brothers, Dr. Jerry L’Ecuyer of Webster Groves, Mo., and Dr. Mel L’Ecuyer of Lamar, S.C., and a sister, Sharon L’Ecuyer of Kansas City, Mo., and by nieces, nephews, and her monastic family. Becker-Dyer-Stanton Funeral Home (beckerdyer.com) is in charge of arrangements. Memorials may be sent to Mount St. Scholastica or made online at the Mount’s web site (www.mountosb.org).