05/19/2026
God Bless her soul and the hearts of those who love her.
Sister Elisabeth Heptner, SAC, passed peacefully on Sunday morning, Ascension Day, May 17. 2026, in Huntington, WV.
Sister Elisabeth was born on March 2, 1930, in Rudelstadt, Germany. Among seven siblings, she spent a peaceful, happy childhood in Hirschberg, Riesengebirge, Silesia, until, with the beginning of World War II in 1939, this idyll ended. By 1945, the end of the war, the Russian army had occupied Silesia, and in 1946, the Germans were driven westward; this displacement severed the family. Elisabeth found her new abode close to Hannover, where she worked and studied to make up for lost schooling.
On July 21, 1953, Elisabeth Heptner entered the Pallottine Missionary Sisters in Limburg/Lahn. She made her first profession of vows on August 15, 1956, in Limburg. In 1957, she was sent to the Pallottine US Province for further studies and apostolic service. Sister Elisabeth made her final vows on August 15, 1962, at St. Mary’s Convent, Huntington, WV. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in English from Webster University, her Master of Arts in German/Theology from St. Louis University, and her Ph.D. in German from Washington University. Most of her early religious life was spent teaching at the high school and university levels. She also served briefly as assistant administrator at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Buckhannon.
Sister was elected Superior General of the Pallottine Missionary Sisters, headquartered in Rome, Italy, in 1980, and served in that capacity for twelve years. During her administration, two new missions were opened: one in India and another in Tanzania. After completing her terms as Superior General, she took a year off for theological studies in Washington, DC, and was subsequently assigned to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Buckhannon, WV, as Director of Mission Integration. A few years later, she was elected provincial of the US Province, a position she held for nine years. She served on St. Mary’s Medical Center Board from 1995 to 2015. From 2004 onward, she worked in various capacities in the sisters’ convents in Laurel, MD, and Huntington, WV, until last April, when her health started to decline significantly. The last weeks of her life, Sister spent in the Pallottine Infirmary in SMMC, surrounded by other sisters and meeting her beloved niece Nicola on the last evening of her life.
Visitation will be on Thursday, May 21, 2026, from 9:00 to 10:00 am in the Foyer outside the main Hospital Chapel on the 1st floor of the East Wing at St. Mary’s Medical Center in Huntington, WV. Visitation will be followed by the Mass of the Resurrection in the Hospital Chapel at 10:00 am. Interment will follow the Mass at Spring Hill Cemetery in Huntington, WV.
