Kathleen (Aaron) Kalinowski, OSB

Kathleen (Aaron) Kalinowski, OSB

Saint Benedict’s Monastery

 St. Joseph, Minn.

January 19, 1926 – June 2, 2017

The Eucharist of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, June 7, 2017, at the Sacred Heart Chapel, Saint Benedict’s Monastery, St. Joseph, for Sister Kathleen  (Aaron) Kalinowski who died, age 91, on June 2, 2017, at Saint Benedict’s Monastery. Burial will be in the monastery cemetery.  Friends may call at Saint Scholastica Convent, St. Cloud, Minn., on Tuesday, June 6, from 1-6 p.m., or for a Vigil Prayer Service at 7 p.m. at Saint Benedict’s Monastery. Visitation continues at 9 a.m. until the time of the funeral on Wednesday, June 7.

The youngest of the seven children born to Clemens John and Katie Gertrude (Rubbelke) Kalinowski, Kathleen entered the world in Devil’s Lake, N.D. She attended the District School in Ontario Township, N.D., and Crary High School in Crary, N.D., where the family made their home. She entered Saint Benedict’s Monastery on September 13, 1945, and was received into the novitiate June 19, 1946, taking the name Sister Aaron; she later reverted to her baptismal name. She made first monastic profession on July 11, 1947, and perpetual monastic profession on July 11, 1950.

S. Kathleen’s education included earning a B.S. degree from the College of Saint Benedict, St. Joseph, Minn., in business education with minors in philosophy and secondary education, and an M.A. degree in economics at Marquette Univesity in Milwaukee, Wis. She also attended Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and the University of Virginia in Charlotteville, Va. 

Early ministry was as a teacher in Sauk Rapids, Minn., and Meire Grove, Minn. S. Kathleen then moved to the Business Office at the St. Cloud Hospital. She later returned to education ministry at the College of Saint Benedict, teaching business education and economics. Her years of service with the college included the roles of Assistant Academic Dean and Dean of Continuing Education. Following this, she became the monastery’s Vice President of Corporate and External Affairs with duties as liaison to the College of Saint Benedict, two hospitals and long-term care facilities sponsored by Saint Benedict’s Monastery. For ten years, she served as treasurer of Saint Benedict’s Monastery. Following this, she became liaison for the prioress working with five dependent priories on financial and legal matters. She was elected President of Region XI Conference of Religious Treasurers  (NATRI)  and later was  legal consultant for many other religious communities. She served as a member of Studium and worked in the archives, researching and writing on financial, land and property projects. S. Kathleen was actively involved in this work up to the time of her death.

S. Kathleen is survived by the sisters of her Benedictine community and one sister, Rosemary Maher of Graham, N.C., and by nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by one sister: Marjorie Kalinowski, and by four brothers: Walbert, OSB, Leo, Clement and Edward. 

Please direct memorial gifts to the Sisters of the Order of Saint Benedict Retirement Fund.