Dolores (Nathan) Super, OSB

Dolores (Nathan) Super, OSB
Saint Benedict’s Monastery
St. Joseph, Minn.
October 21, 1930 – September 28, 2026

The Eucharist of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, October 14, 2026, at the Sacred Heart Chapel, Saint Benedict’s Monastery, St. Joseph, Minn., for Sister Dolores (Nathan) Super, who died on Monday, September 28, 2026, at Saint Scholastica Convent, St. Cloud, Minn. Burial of cremated remains will be in the monastery cemetery. Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to Benson Funeral Homes. Friends may call at Saint Scholastica Convent on Tuesday, October 13, 2026, for a Prayer Service at 3 p.m. followed by visitation until 4:15 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, October 14, at 10:30 a.m.

Dolores Super was born October 21, 1930, to Andrew and Elizabeth (Wielinski) Super in Little Falls, Minn. She was the 10th child in her family, having six brothers and four sisters. S. Dolores attended Our Lady of Lourdes Grade School and St. Francis High School (grades 9-10), both in Little Falls, and graduated from Saint Benedict’s High School in St. Joseph. She entered Saint Benedict’s Monastery on August 26, 1946, was received into the novitiate on June 16, 1948, made first monastic profession on July 11, 1949, and perpetual monastic profession on July 11, 1952. She celebrated her Golden Jubilee on July 11, 1999, her 60th anniversary on April 25, 2009, and her 75th anniversary on July 11, 2024.

S. Dolores received a bachelor’s degree in music with minors in English and philosophy at the College of Saint Benedict (CSB), St. Joseph, in 1954. At Indiana University in Bloomington, Ind., she received a master’s degree in music education with minors in organ and music history, and she earned a doctorate in music education at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Mich. S. Dolores completed an internship in administration at Rockhurst College in Kansas City, Mo., and attended Kansas City Regional Council for Higher Education in Kansas City. In addition, she studied at St. Cloud State University in St. Cloud, University of Colorado in Boulder, Colo., St. Mary’s of the Woods in Terre Haute, Ind., Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester in Rochester, N.Y., and the Graduate Theological Union of the University of California, Berkeley, in Berkeley, Calif.

S. Dolores served at St. Mary’s Cathedral in St. Cloud and St. Mary’s Parish in Breckenridge, Minn., as organist and in music education. She began her ministry at CSB as a faculty member in the Music Department (1960-1977) and served as department chair from 1962 to 1977. Beginning in 1978, she served in administration at CSB as director of instructional support and development (1978-1980), director of general and continuing education (1980-1983), assistant to the vice president for academic affairs (1983-1986), and academic dean (1986-1994). During this same period, she provided significant leadership in health care ministry, serving as chair of the St. Cloud Hospital Board of Trustees from 1984 to 1994. She also served on the boards of CentraCare and Queen of Peace Hospital in New Prague, Minn.

At Saint Benedict’s Monastery, S. Dolores served as community program coordinator, overseeing spiritual ministries, arts and heritage, and Studium, a program that welcomed scholars in residence to study, write and contribute to the intellectual life of Saint Benedict’s Monastery. She served as director of Studium from 1994 to 2008, and throughout her many ministries, she faithfully played organ for the monastery’s liturgies. She moved to Saint Scholastica Convent in 2021.

S. Dolores is survived by her Benedictine community and her nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents, her brothers, Sylvester (Cecilia), Raymond, Leonard (Mary), Aloysius (Ethel), John and Theodore (Sarah), and her sisters, Helen (John) Ciminski, Anne Super, Mary (Anthony) Lesinski and Rita (William) Blaine.

Please direct memorial gifts to the Sisters of the Order of Saint Benedict Outreach Ministries.