Sr. Theresa Coulter, IHM, died June 5 at St. John Hospital in Detroit. She was 62 and had been a member of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary for 34 years.
Sr. Coulter was one of five children, two boys and three girls, of Malcolm and Helen Coulter. She was born Feb. 12, 1949 in Dearborn and given the name Helen Theresa. She attended Duvall and Adams Elementary and Junior High Schools and Dearborn High School and became a member of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Monroe in 1977, taking the religious name of Sr. Theresa.
She earned a bachelor’s degree from Marygrove College and a master’s degree from the University of Michigan. She began her pastoral ministry work at St. Agnes Parish in Detroit. After a year at the Formation House in Detroit and a year as a student at St. John Seminary in Plymouth, Sr. Coulter went to St. Michael Parish in Flint for four years as parish assistant with responsibility for Christian service, adult religious education and senior citizens. From 1985 to 1990 she ministered on the staff of Groundwork as an advocate for social justice.
During the next years, she was a teacher at Holy Redeemer and Holy Trinity Schools in Detroit; assistant manager at the Theresa Maxis Apartments located on the Marygrove College campus, while being involved in parish ministry at Holy Rosary Parish in Detroit. After two years at St. Basil Parish in Eastpointe, she became Christian formation director at Sacred Heart Parish in Roseville, and teacher at Our Lady Queen of Peace School in Harper Woods. In 2003 she ministered as librarian/teacher at the Michigan Automotive Academy in Detroit, followed by five years at the Michigan Technical Academy in Detroit as a Title I reading teacher, librarian and reading specialist.
She is survived by her sisters Melissa Scharrer and Dolores Blackford, brothers David and Malcolm, and nieces and nephews.
Sr. Coulter’s funeral Mass was June 10 at the IHM Motherhouse Chapel.
Memorials to the IHM Retirement Fund, 610 W. Elm Avenue, Monroe, 48162.
