Aug. 6, 2020
To: All Parishes and Missions in the Catholic Diocese of Lexington
From: Communications Office, Catholic Diocese of Lexington
Please find the following notice regarding the death of Sister Marie Clare Vittetoe, CHM:
Sister Marie Clare Vittetoe (Mary Bernard), CHM, 93, of Davenport, Iowa, passed away July 31, at the Humility of Mary Center in Davenport. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at Humility of Mary Magnificat Chapel. Per her wish, the rite of cremation will be accorded and graveside services, and inurnment will be 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, August 8, in St. Mary’s Cemetery, Keota, IA. Halligan-McCabe-DeVries Funeral Home, Davenport, is assisting the family. Memorials may be made to the Congregation of the Humility of Mary, 820 W. Central Park Ave, Davenport, IA 52804 or St. James Catholic School, Washington, Iowa.
Marie Clare Vittetoe was born on May 19, 1927 in rural Keokuk County, Iowa. She graduated from Ottumwa Heights College (AS), Marycrest College (BS), St. John’s School of Medical Technology, and West Virginia University (MS and EdD). From 1978-94 she was Professor and Department Chair of Clinical Laboratory Sciences at the University of Kentucky College of Allied Health Professions in Lexington.
In 1985-87 she was Project HOPE consultant for University of Haiti Medical Technology Program in Port au Prince and Cap Haitian. During her 1992 sabbatical she worked and taught in St. Lucia, Guyana, and Jamaica. From 1999-2011, she was a volunteer clinical laboratory consultant to Hospital Sacre Coeur Laboratory in Milot, Haiti, training technicians, facilitating a new clinical laboratory with automated instruments.