Associate Margaret (Peg) Hautman

April 9, 1945-July 7, 2022

I am the light of the world, says the Lord; whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.

Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, Associate Peg Hautman said the Sisters of Charity were instrumental in her formation through high school and young adulthood. She entered the Community in 1963 and left seven years later as a result of the post-Vatican II turmoil. Peg held fond memories of her life as a Sister of Charity and continued to attend reunions and maintain contact with the Sisters through various ministries.

Peg’s call to serve in health care and rural parishes was an outgrowth of her early formation years. In later years she was a laboratory technologist at Spanish Peaks Regional Health Center and a lay minister for the Diocese of Colorado. This opportunity allowed her to form deep friendships with several Vincentian priests as she served the rural parishes in southern Colorado. These relationships, and her different experiences with the diocese, rekindled her connection to Saints Vincent de Paul and Louise de Marillac. “Something was lacking in my life,” she had said. “I wanted to have a deeper sense of spirituality and to renew some sort of prayer group commitment.”

This desire motivated her to inquire if the Sisters of Charity had a program for lay people. She began the formation process of becoming an Associate with the support of Sisters Laetitia Slusser, Emily Anne Phelan and Rose Virginia Brown. She made her commitment as an Associate in Mission on Jan. 4, 2002 in Colorado. “I just feel drawn to the Vincentian lifestyle,” she said at the time. “I have always been around Sisters of Charity and am glad to now be involved as an Associate.”

Remembers S. Laetitia Slusser, “Peg was a helper wherever there was a need. She shared her musical talents in the parishes where she lived in Colorado and she made use of opportunities to grow in faith and to be proficient in helping others do the same.”

Peg became involved in ministry at St. Mary’s and the Veterans Hospital in Walsenburg, Colorado. She was also a member of the diocesan pastoral council and helped with Level II Leadership Formation Ministry.

In September 2008, Peg had the opportunity to travel to Nairobi, Kenya, as a guest of the Daughters of Charity and Vincentian priests ministering there. She visited the St. Vincent de Paul nursery in the Kibera slum, a day care center where children are provided one meal each day while learning basic skills to prepare them for entrance into the government schools. Of the experience she said, “We ended our journey quietly pondering all that we had witnessed and overwhelmed with gratitude to the priests and Sisters who took us in as family and allowed us to live, love and pray with them.”

Peg leaves behind her two daughters and four grandchildren.

Psalms 48:11