Maureen Calista Hendricks

Dr. Maureen Calista Hendricks’ Obituary

Dr. Maureen Calista Hendricks, 87, passed away peacefully March 7. 2022 in Evergreen, Colorado. Born
in Brooklyn, New York on December 23, 1934, ten minutes before her identical twin Noelle Margaret
Hendricks, Maureen was a scholar, spiritual leader and healer. Upon graduation from Saint Brendan’s
Diocesan High School in Brooklyn, New York, she won a scholarship to Maryview Hospital Nursing School
in Portsmouth, Virginia where she earned her RN degree. She then joined the French order of nuns
Daughters of Wisdom in 1953. During her years in the convent, she often worked 2 shifts at hospitals
and at one point, she was the only RN in a Norfolk, Virginia Infants home with over 100 babies and only 2
other sisters to care for them. In 1967, Maureen took a leave of absence from the order to pursue a B.S.
in Nursing at Seton Hall University in New Jersey. Earning more scholarships, she moved to Denver,
Colorado where she acquired two M. S. degrees in Midwifery and as a Nurse Practitioner from the
University of Colorado. In 1971, Thomas McQuie Rauch, the love of her life and eternal soulmate,
entered her life and they married August 13, 1972. A staunch feminist, member of Women Church and
Mensa, Maureen was a dual citizen of Ireland and the United States. Continuing her medical practice,
she studied to earn her doctorate at Colorado State University, becoming a Clinical Psychologist in
marriage and family counseling in 1983. Soon after, she appeared on the “Phil Donahue Show” to
discuss her dissertation “The Adjustment of Married Priests and Their Wives,” an appropriate topic since
Tom was a former Jesuit priest. She published scholarly articles as well; but, most of all, she touched
countless people’s lives and was deeply loved by family and friends alike. Although they could not live in
the same area, she shared an inseparable bond with and love for her identical twin who was also a
Daughter of Wisdom until 1967. Maureen is preceded in death by her father Edwin Vincent Hendricks,
her mother Mary Frances “Molly” Taaffe Hendricks, four siblings: Edwin Vincent Hendricks Jr., Judith
Angela Hendricks, Thomas Edward Hendricks, Noelle Margaret Hendricks and by her beloved Thomas

McQuie Rauch. She is survived by her sister Dr. Aileen Alana Hendricks (husband Donald Luke
Couvillion), Baton Rouge, LA; two nephews August William Wenck, Anna, TX and Robert William Wenck
Jr., Bryan, TX and one niece Yolanda Prevost Lyons (Cory). Special friends and loved ones include Sally
Haddox, Kay Norton Haughey, Jane Stetson, Emily Stetson (adopted granddaughter), Maureen McBride
(daughter of her heart and namesake), Mary and Ron Ludwig, Andrea Ludwig (goddaughter) and David
Ludwig (whom Tom sponsored for his confirmation). A celebration of life is planned for April 9, 2022 in a
place to be announced in Denver and Maureen and Tom’s ashes will be scattered at a later date to be
announced. The family wishes to extend special thanks to her caregivers Lin and Jerry Collins and Mount
Evans Home Care and Hospice for their loving care of Maureen for the past eighteen months. In lieu of
flowers, donations to charities of one’s choice are preferred.