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Life Story: Sister Jean Thuerauf

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- It is amazing how one person's life can affect so many others, even after that person passes away.

Sister Jean Thuerauf is one of those people.

She told her friends she was called by God to be a loving presence to the poor wherever they were. That calling eventually brought her to Minneapolis.

In this week's Life Story, we share how her sweetness gave birth to a program that has helped thousands of kids over the last three decades.

Sister Jean Thuerauf
Sister Jean Thuerauf (credit: CBS)

Sister Jean grew up on a farm in Iowa, but felt right at home working with kids in north Minneapolis in the 1970s.

John Mauriel is a longtime friend.

"Sometimes the kids who were knocking on her door at 3 in the afternoon when school let out were just looking for some place to get off the street. She wanted to keep them off the streets where there was a lot of danger at the time," Mauriel said.

He said Sister Jean just loved kids, and they loved her.

"She was baking cookies in her basement in a little oven, and the kids wanted to help, so she got them working doing that," he said.

Sister Jean discovered baking cookies built trust and instilled confidence in kids. With Mauriel's help, she started Mercy Missionaries in 1985 to expand her work.

"The cookies were a means to an end. She wanted to give them some work skills and some discipline in their lives," Mauriel said. "But mostly she wanted them to go out on the streets and sell the cookies and have some money for themselves."

Thirty years later, teenagers in north Minneapolis are still baking cookies, but in a much bigger kitchen.

Cookie Cart
(credit: CBS)

Sister Jean's work evolved into what is now the Cookie Cart on West Broadway Avenue.

The students who work in the bakery get paid, and receive training in money management.

They learn how to write a resume and how to excel in a job interview.

"What Cookie Cart does is help young people who come from north Minneapolis to understand that the world is a bigger place with more options for them than they understood when they first came here," said Matt Halley, Cookie Cart's executive director.

The first cart Sister Jean gave to kids to sell cookies in is now parked in Cookie Cart's building.

Louise Hotka, Sister Jean's niece, says baking is a family tradition.

"My grandma did it, my mom did, everybody made cookies," Hotka said.

She remembers her aunt's work ethic.

"She just had this real strong sense that her life was only going to be so long, and she was kind of done with teaching kids who had stable homes," Hotka said. "She wanted to go to places where kids needed another adult to help them know they were valued."

Sister Jean Thuerauf And Cookie Cart Workers
(credit: CBS)

Sister Jean Thuerauf was 85 years old when she died this month.

A second Cookie Cart location will open next year on St. Paul's east side.

They have already bought a building and are now raising money to remodel and equip it.

We would love to share your loved one's "Life Story." if you've recently lost someone and would like to share their story with us, click here.

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