If Sister LaVonne Guidoni left you a message, it was best to return the call.
The nun, one of Denver’s most persistent fundraisers, died of lymphoma early Sunday at Collier Hospice Center in west Denver. She was 75.
The viewing will be at 6 p.m. Wednesday, the vigil at 7 and the funeral at 10 a.m. Thursday, all at St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church, West 58th Avenue and Ward Road.
Guidoni tapped just about everyone – “including lawyers on 17th Street” – to give to her cause of helping children, said Dennis Kennedy, who succeeded Guidoni as development director at Mount St. Vincent Home, a west Denver treatment center for emotionally disturbed children.
“She asked a lot of herself and a lot of others,” Kennedy said. “People dug deep into their pockets, their souls and their hearts for her.”
And she never shrank from laying on a little guilt, said John Dolan, president and chief executive of the Catholic Foundation, which raises funds for the Denver archdiocese.
More than one prospective donor who didn’t return her call got a second one, with something like, “This is that poor old nun who called you four hours ago …” said Dolan. “She was the envy of every fundraiser.”
“She’s on the expressway to heaven,” he said. “She was always up, and she cared so much about kids.”
One of her admirers was Gov. Bill Ritter, who visited her shortly before she died.
Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput said Monday that Guidoni “was truly a champion of children, especially the neediest.”
LaVonne Guidoni was born Jan. 9, 1932, in Butte, Mont. She earned a bachelor’s degree in education from St. Mary College in Leavenworth, Kan., and a master’s degree in education from Eastern Montana College in Billings. She joined the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth in 1950.
For 12 years she was an elementary-school teacher in Kansas, Wyoming, Montana and Oklahoma before moving to Denver. Here she was principal of Annunciation Elementary School for 17 years.
She was one of the founders of Seeds of Hope, which provides tuition grants for inner-city youths to attend Catholic schools. She was also development officer for Schools in Urban Neighborhoods, a coalition of seven Catholic schools.
Her last job was as children’s advocate (she preferred “activist”) for United Way, working to educate legislators and other community leaders about the child-welfare system.
Guidoni was the last survivor of seven children. She is survived by several nieces and nephews.
Staff writer Virginia Culver can be reached at vculver@denverpost.com or 303-954-1223.
