Verenice (Eileen) Ramler, OSB

July 14, 1936 – April 3, 2017

The Eucharist of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11 a.m. on Saturday, April 8, 2017, at the Sacred Heart Chapel, Saint Benedict’s Monastery, St. Joseph, for Sister Verenice (Eileen) Ramler, who died, age 80, on April 3, 2017, at Saint Scholastica Convent, St. Cloud, Minn. Burial will be in the monastery cemetery. Friends may call for a Vigil Prayer Service at 7 p.m. at Saint Benedict’s Monastery on Friday, April 7, 2017. Visitation continues at 9 a.m. until the time of the funeral on April 8.

Sister Verenice (Eileen) Ramler was born July 14, 1936, to Leonard and Christine (Lang) Ramler of Farming, Minn. She attended Public School District #15 in Cold Spring, Minn. Answering a call from God, on September 1, 1954, Eileen entered Saint Benedict’s Monastery. She was received into the novitiate, taking the name Verenice, on June 15, 1955, made first monastic profession on July 11, 1956, and perpetual monastic profession on July 11, 1959. She celebrated her Golden Jubilee on July 11, 2006, and 60th anniversary on July 11, 2016. During her years in the community, S. Verenice received her high school equivalency through St. Cloud Area Vocational Technical High School, St. Cloud. She was extremely skilled at handwork and took tailoring classes at South Junior High School, St. Cloud, and knitting classes at Rocori High School in Cold Spring, Minn.

For many years, S. Verenice served in the domestic arts. She worked in the kitchen at Saint Benedict’s Monastery, Saint Raphael’s Home and St. Joseph’s Home in St. Cloud. As a homemaker, she served in Melrose, Cold Spring, St. Joseph’s, Minneapolis and Browerville. At Saint Benedict’s Monastery, she was supervisor of the monastic dining room, served in the sewing room as seamstress, sewing and making alterations, and was, for many years, coif maker for those who continued to wear coifs. Another service S. Verenice performed was hand-washing and ironing linens for the Chapel. She also helped for a time with the laundry at Saint Raphael’s, one or two days a week, and sewed for the sisters at Saint Scholstica Convent. S. Verenice had a strong artistic sense, which showed itself especially in her gift for photography. She particularly enjoyed taking pictures for historic purposes. 

S. Verenice is survived by the members of her Benedictine community and by her brothers: Robert, Gerald, Francis, Eugene and Mark, and by her sisters: Virginia Beuning, Carolyn Frerich, Glendoris Stowe, Yvonne Maske, Mary Kay Gisi and Rose Ann Ramler. She was preceded in death by her parents. 

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