Sister Natalie Kuhn remembered

These are just some of the inspiring words for which Sister Natalie Kuhn, founder of the Kgosi Neighbourhood Foundation in Belgravia, will be remembered.

Sister Natalie died at St Mary’s on June 27.

She was head of Dominican Convent School in Belgravia for 18 years. Prior to that she taught and was then head of Springs Convent.

She founded and ran Kgosi Neighbourhood Foundation for the last eight years.

Sister Natalie was the third child and only daughter of Joseph and Mathilda Kuhn. She was born in King William’s Town on June 14, 1931 and was baptised Mary. She made her first vows in the congregation on Nelson Mandela’s birthday in 1950. Like him, she was willing to give her all for her dream of a just South Africa.

Sister Natalie was described as a person who gave people a wonderful, if at times unconventional, example as to what it is to be a Dominican Sister, a Gospel woman of prayer, of faith and action. She was also described as a visionary, a prophet, friend, teacher, mother, companion, preacher, netball coach, dreamer, challenger and encourager.

She lived her life to the fullest. When Sister Natalie retired from being principal at Dominican Convent she founded and ran the Wings of Hope School for children in the early learning phase.

Sister Natalie reached out to other teachers who had not had the opportunities of training that she had. In the middle 1960s she accepted the challenge of learning French so she could attend a catechetical course in Brussels. This broadened her theological understanding and praxis which she generously shared with many others beyond her own parish, profoundly affecting the quality of catechesis in the Diocese. The ripple effects of her sabbatical at Notre Dame in 1992 were equally astounding.

Since her time there, there has been a steady stream of Notre Dame volunteers coming to Wings of Hope adding to the quality of life there and to their own quality of life.

Throughout her life Sister Natalie cherished her friends and family and found time for them no matter how busy she was. When her mother was frail and needed care, Sister Natalie cared for her at Springs Convent until she died.

She did this alongside her teaching and community responsibilities.

Sometimes Sister Natalie’s dreams were vast and moved ahead of where others were. A new science block, a new house to provide classroom space, or additional teachers needed in the school were suddenly on the horizon and the school board who were struggling to make ends meet, or the congregation, had to find ways to sustain the unexpected. Her efforts were always for the good of the people where she was living and working and not for personal gain. Her enterprising spirit and her courage in pursuing what she believed to be for the best for the learners in her care, gave all who knew her the inspiration to do the same in their own spheres of interest and concern.

She loved her cat, Muschka, who died unexpectedly one Saturday afternoon in 2012. She phoned her friend, Peter, at Kgosi and he buried Muschka in the little rose garden next to her office.

In the last few weeks of her life she tried to keep up with her friends and relatives. Staff, friends and others who knew Sister Natalie, extended their gratitude, prayer and sympathy to her family members.