Sr. Dolores Ellwart (Sr. Camilla), age 95, a Sister of Providence for 76 years, died December 4, 2024 at St. Joseph Residence, Seattle, Washington.
Sr. Dolores was born Dolores Marian Ellwart on June 18, 1929 in a tiny farm community of De Smet, Idaho to parents Daniel Ivan Ellwart and Hildegarde (Nixon) Ellwart. She was the eldest of four children, three daughters and one son. Sr. Dolores grew up around the Sisters of Providence and side by side with Native Americans. Her father was a foreman of a dairy farm owned by the Sisters of Providence and her mother, a nurse, was an enrolled member of the Coeur d’Alene Tribe. Sr. Dolores was also a member of the Coeur d’Alene Tribe.
After high school graduation in 1947, Sr. Dolores stated, “God knocked me on the head and said, ‘How about becoming a religious?’ Sr. Dolores entered the Novitiate of the Sisters of Providence in Seattle in May 1948. She professed her first vows in 1949 and her final vows in 1952.
Her educational achievements included: graduation from Holy Names Academy, Spokane, Washington in 1947; a BA in Elementary Education, College of Great Falls (now University of Providence) in 1958; and an MLS degree, University of Portland in 1968. She also had teaching certificates in the states of California, Idaho, Montana and Washington.
Sr. Dolores’s many ministries were chiefly in grade school education and parish ministry including, to name just a few, Providence Academy, Vancouver, Washington; St. Finbar School, Burbank, California; and St. Gerard School, Great Falls, Montana. She taught and was principal at Mary Immaculate School in De Smet when the school closed. Following the closure, she remained in De Smet to do parish ministry the area, preparing children for First Communion and Confirmation, and making home visits to the elderly and homebound. She then became parish minister at Sacred Heart Mission in De Smet (1986-2013). In addition to her full schedule of parish work, Sr. Dolores also found time to be actively involved in tribal community affairs.
Sr. Dolores loved helping others: “As long as I am of help to the people, I will be a presence,” she once said. She was especially grateful for the ability to faithfully participate with her tribal and religious community. She had an infectious love of life and readily shared her beautiful smile. She will be immensely missed.
She is preceded in death by her parents and her two siblings, Eileen and Robert. She is survived by her sister, JoAnn Ellwart Savitz, and by the Sisters in her community.
To view Sr. Dolores’s obituary and picture and to sign her memory book, please visit the website for Bonney-Watson Funeral Home at www.bonneywatson.com.