Jubilarians 2020

Sister Galen (Patricia) Martini’s life has been shaped  by her many loves—for her lifelong friends; for painting, music and poetry; for learning and teaching; for the inner life revealed in dreams and psychology; and for the Gospels, the poetry of the psalms and the rhythms of monastic life. Throughout Sister Galen’s 60 years as a Benedictine, these enduring loves have deepened and enriched each other.

Some of her loves came to her from her family heritage. Her father, Edmund Martini, was part of a family of skilled painters who sang Italian opera as they painted sacred murals in Central Minnesota churches. Her Slovenian mother, Marcella Notsch Martini, the grandniece of Father Francis Pierz, who helped settle this part of Minnesota, instilled in Pat and her two sisters a deep love of the land as they visited the Notsch family farm. That love led Galen to become a skilled horsewoman, training a foundational horse for the College of Saint Benedict’s Equestrian Program at this very farm. Her poems and photographs in The Heart’s Slow Race, A Farewell to the Land, published in 1976, pay tribute to the deep ancestral roots.

Her subsequent poetry, written while studying for a master’s degree in literature and creative writing at the University of Minnesota and later at More House, earned her two prestigious awards—a Bush Foundation Fellowship for Artists, judged by poet William Stafford, and a Loft Mentor Award that brought with it the opportunity to work with five internationally known writers, as well as with her much-loved mentor, British poet Michael Dennis Browne.

For 10 years, S. Galen shared her love of literature and writing with grade school, high school and college students. Later, she spent nearly 40 years leading classes, seminars and workshops throughout Minnesota on the work of Carl Jung and its connection to the inner life. S. Galen earned a master’s degree in psychology and certification as a licensed psychologist. After years of rigorous study, including at the Jung Institute in Switzerland, Galen graduated as a diplomate jungian psychoanalyst. For 35 years, she has done clinical work, guiding many clients through difficult transitions and helping them transform their inner lives through dream work and art therapy. Along the way, she published Finding Your Own Life and Dream Manual, For Therapists and Other Listeners. She and Sister Annette Brophy created two multimedia productions for the Liturgical Press—Peace the Urgent Dream and Journey of Conversion.

Galen’s love of the solitude and contemplation Benedictine life makes possible and the varied and deep friendships she has maintained throughout her life have been a source of strength and joy. She continues to paint Biblical themes and to love the Word, in all its forms.

Profile written by Mara Faulkner, OSB

Yvette Keller, the seventh of William and Frances (Useldinger) Keller’s nine children, was born on May 18, 1940, in St. Cloud, Minn. Yvette attended Holy Angels and St. Paul’s grade school and graduated from Cathedral High School in St. Cloud. She entered Saint Benedict’s Monastery in 1958.

Sister Hilda graduated from the College of Saint Benedict with degrees in Latin and English education. She went on to study at St. Thomas, St. Catherine and St. Cloud State University. She also did graduate study at Saint John’s University, receiving a degree in theology.

Hilda taught elementary grades at Sacred Heart, Sauk Rapids and St. Augustine’s, St. Cloud, and then moved into secondary education teaching English, Latin and religion at several Catholic high schools in Minnesota, as well as Puerto Rico and Japan. In 1984, she moved to Saint Benedict’s Monastery where she worked in the library, taught reading classes for our sisters and worked as a receptionist and sacristan. For three years, she wrote reflections for the Liturgical Press at Saint John’s University and worked in Studium at the monastery. In 2000, S. Hilda moved to Saint Scholastica Convent in St. Cloud and taught English to Korean guest-sisters, read to sisters and continued her life of prayer and community living. She moved to St. Benedict’s Senior Community in February 2017.

A good friend, Sherrie Foehrenbacher, shared that S. Hilda has been an icon in so many ways.  She left a legacy of incredibly fond memories when she attended aquatics classes at the YMCA. Her fortitude inspired everyone around her, her sense of humor even more. She is an inspiration for every single person who walked into her room through the many years of being bedridden or confined to a wheelchair. There is no way to describe the impact she has made without even knowing it.

Music is S. Hilda’s greatest joy. She loved to sing with her sister Petra at the piano. She is grateful for contemplative living, humor and her Benedictine community of sisters. In addition, she loves books. She appreciates when Sister Jane Weber and others read to her, and she is grateful for books on tape. She also keeps up with all the communications from the monastery.

Hilda amazes all of us with her sharp memory, remembering and reminiscing about what is going on in the community, world, church, daily life, friends and family. She is so grateful for the staff at St. Benedict’s Senior Community, and she treasures the visits from sisters and friends. S. Hilda and S. Jane’s parting words after a visit are “Grüß Gott! Segens Gott!” This is German for “Praise God! God’s blessing!”

Profile written by Cecelia Prokosch, OSB, and Jane Weber, OSB

As Sister Jean Kroeger celebrates the anniversary of 60 years as a Benedictine sister, we mark one more goal achieved in her life!

Jean entered Saint Bede Monastery in Eau Claire, Wis., just after finishing high school in rural western Wisconsin. Always eager to serve others, she cooked nourishing and colorful meals for the sisters for several years. Even though she loved doing the wash and making those award- winning lemon meringue pies, she knew she had a calling to be a nurse. Finally, she put courage together with her dream and in 1973, she graduated from the Sacred Heart School of Nursing in Milwaukee, Wis., and then served as a licensed practical nurse for nine years.

Together with diligence and study, S. Jean graduated in 1983 from Viterbo University with her BSN degree and served for some 20 years as a registered nurse at Lutheran (now Gundersen) Hospital in La Crosse, Wis. Fun-loving and excitable, she enlivened every floor she served on. It seems that her work on the “neuro floor” had the greatest impact and challenge for her as she often told of the heartbreaking efforts of the patients there. A lover of sports and fast cars, S. Jean would decry the motorcyclist who tempted fate to ride without a protective helmet for she had seen many lives interrupted or radically changed by resulting accidents.

Always up for an adventure, S. Jean served on medical volunteer trips to Peru, Santa Lucia Island and at St. Clare Free Clinic in La Crosse. An active parish member at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish in Holmen, Wis., she was a lector, choir member and even a solo cantor on rare occasions.

One of the best stories in a catalogue of many on S. Jean goes something like this: It was early morning and she had just finished the night shift at the hospital. She was exhausted, she had done the charting and she had successfully passed her patients on to the fresh staff. She collapsed into her car and moved out into the busy morning traffic. Turning the radio to her favorite station, she cranked the volume and sang full volume with the country music artist. She was tired and eager to get a shower and some sleep, and maybe she was a bit over the speed limit, but it took a few blocks and a flashing red light to bring her to a stop. When the officer asked why she hadn’t stopped sooner, she replied that she didn’t hear the siren because she was singing so loud. That response did not deter the traffic citation nor the song of her life!

Profile written by Judy Kramer, OSB

Sing with me and the Trapp Family singers: “How do you hold a moonbeam in your hands?”

Sister Joyce wears celebrations well: 2000, 2010, 2020, her 40th, 50th and 60th jubilee celebrations as a Benedictine, seem NOT to have aged her at all! “Joyce” is the perfect name given to this jubilarian. She exudes joy, one of the sovereign balms for the ills in our world! There is another: relationship. It’s her touch, the way Joyce lets every person know that she/he is not invisible or unloved. A rub on the shoulder, a hug, a smile and those sparkling eyes—that’s how Joyce walks through our world!

She starts with the very young. As a teacher of every grade and a principal for over 25 years in multiple schools, even in Pierz, Minn., her hometown, S. Joyce has touched many—not only with a rub on the shoulder, a hug or a smile, but with knowledge and a spirit of inclusivity, not only in teaching and administration, but with her many skills at bridge, her delight in giving unexpected visits, phone calls, her love of reading and travel. From little on, when her dad was manager of her hometown’s movie theater, S. Joyce may have seen more classy movies than most people; she also sold popcorn there.

Not only did she love the children, but they loved her, and it was not unusual to find her office wall at times sporting big signs from little kids: “Sister Joyce, you are a fabulous principal. We love you!” Also, one of her friendship groups (loving named JIMLJAR…can you guess who they might have been?) never leaves their yearly get-togethers at our Big Lake cabin without choosing a date for the following year’s gathering. They love to have fun together and have been friends for the many years they were separately serving schools or churches and, therefore, gathered monthly to share their Benedictine values amidst prayer, laughter and good food!

What does S. Joyce do now? Since 2006, she continues to connect—on many levels—among the sisters in health care, transportation and receptionist care at our Saint Scholastica Convent in St. Cloud, Minn. She loves the elderly too, and they love her. Indeed, the spirit of a happy person is contagious! Joyce, may the peace, joy and light of God guard over your heart and mind in Christ Jesus for the next ever-so-many years!

Profile written by Renée Domeier, OSB

On a June Sunday in 2012, a vibrant faith community gathered in Mary of the Visitation Church, Becker, Minn., to celebrate Eucharist and recognize Sister Julie Schleper, who had served as parish director of faith formation for 13 years. As she proclaimed the first reading, it was evident how engaged she was in sharing the Word and how responsive the parishioners were. It was a joyful celebration of the liturgy; the kind of experience that brings life to S. Julie and the kind of experience Julie has the gifts to enliven. Director of faith formation was a position that gave her many opportunities to share her gifts, her creativity and to draw from the experience she gained in previous ministries.

Julie came to the Becker parish after having been the coordinator of the Spirituality Center at Saint Benedict’s Monastery for 10 years. As coordinator, she used her creativity in developing and leading programs, retreats and workshops designed to assist others in their faith development. Creativity is also an element Julie brought to her work as diocesan teacher of catechists. During the eight years she held this position, she traveled to almost all the parishes of the Diocese of St. Cloud in order to assist catechists in developing their ministry skills. The many ideas she presented to the parish catechists were gradually formulated during the three years she worked at the Franciscan Christian Development Center in Little Falls, Minn., and throughout her years working in her first calling as an elementary school teacher. S. Julie taught elementary school at St. Anthony’s parish and St. Paul’s parish in St. Cloud, Bluffton, St. Joseph and Albany, all in Minnesota, for a total of 15 years, but these schools were not, in fact, her first experiences in teaching. As a fourth grader, Julie was assigned the task of helping the younger students in her rural St. Joseph country school with their lessons. She hurriedly finished her own assignments so she could get on with this delightful task—clearly, a harbinger of the years to follow.

How did S. Julie find her way to Saint Benedict’s Monastery? Being from rural St. Joseph gave her the opportunity to work in the monastery kitchen during the summers of her high school years. As she worked closely with so many of the sisters, she saw the joy in their lives and felt drawn to this life in community as well.

As a member of the monastic community, S. Julie was provided with a number of education opportunities. She earned a B.A. degree in elementary education from the College of Saint Benedict, a master’s degree in social studies education from Clark College and a master’s degree in religious studies from Gonzaga University.

Currently, S. Julie is living at Saint. Benedict’s Monastery and is a member of the Spirituality Center·Studium team. Some of the activities she enjoys during her leisure time include reading, quilting and working puzzles of all kinds. She also enjoys companioning her beloved sister, Janet.

Profile written by Jeanne Marie Lust, OSB

Rose Mary Kuklok, member of the Canon Law Society of America, graduate student at the Applied Society of Theology at Berkeley, secretary to Congressman Leon Panetta and actively involved in the Diocesan Tribunal in Santa Rosa, Calif.: These are but a few of her off-campus ministries for over 30 years! Yet, Sister Rose Mary would never “toot her own horn.” When asked to do an oral history with me or submit to the archives some of the laudatory articles published about her, she would always answer: “I have nothing to talk about!” I always answered, “NOT TRUE. We have been friends for over 40 years, and I want to tell the world that over and beyond these short allusions to what you have done, you are a loyal, faithful Benedictine, a precious friend, a great lover of God, community, family and of those who suffer. You are imaginative, a challenger to the status quo, an initiator of change, one who fearlessly accepted difficult tasks in community, in our college and on site in your beloved Santa Rosa diocesan work. You have multitasked and done them well! Moreover, you create beauty wherever you can; you are poetic; you love to write and write well; you love to read, especially poems full of hidden insights and touches of humor (did I not recently see you with Fr. Kilian McDonnell’s The Other Shoe…and you were smiling).”

But more about your beloved work at the Diocesan Tribunal where you saw many petitioners come, hoping for relief from insufferable marriage situations. In addition to doing much procedural work and paperwork, you insisted that the greater part of your work was helping people go through the process of annulment to wholeness and into a new sacramental life. You were pastoral, Rose Mary, in interviewing petitioners whose present marriages may have been an error or not valid for any number of reasons. They told you how much they wished to retain their active membership and remarry within the Church. An article in the October 1983 issue of Tribunal quoted you as saying: “They come fearful, hesitant, some doubting, and I think they are expecting a judgment based on these fears. Our work is to help them alleviate these fears, to affirm them, to help them look carefully at that past marriage in a very pastoral—not judgmental—way. And if that marriage was invalid, to help make possible for them the opportunity for a new sacramental marriage which so many want. There is a kind of healing that goes on with walking through the valley to come to the mountain top once again. When they are there, their whole life in God is alive again!” To your credit, you never lost a case!

And where are you now, dear friend? You are at Saint Scholastica Convent for help with your memory loss, but you are the same beloved Rose Mary for us, and now, for the whole world who knows a little more about you. I thank God for giving you to us in so many ways for these past 60 years!

Profile written by Renée Domeier, OSB

Sister Stephana Choong is our Korean sister. When she joined our Benedictine community in 1960, she hoped to be a foreign missionary in the Far East. At that time, our community had dependent missions in Taiwan and Japan so, with Korea’s proximity to Japan, S. Stephana’s dream seemed possible. That dream wasn’t fulfilled until 10 years later when, by wonderful surprise, S. Stephana became an “at home” missionary to her Korean community in St. Paul and the surrounding area. She says, “God has His own mysterious ways of calling us, leading us and helping us as His own instrument.”

Sister Stephana’s life can be defined in two special ways: the evangelization of people in knowing and living the Gospel and working in the sciences. At Saint Benedict’s High School and Cathedral High School in St. Cloud, she taught biology, chemistry and physics. In the School of Nursing in St. Cloud, she taught basic chemistry and physics. S. Stephana was a recipient of several National Science Foundation scholarships to pursue graduate studies at the University of Washington in Seattle, the University of Minnesota and St. Thomas University in St. Paul. She also studied pharmacology at Fordham University in New York. Her doctorate is from the University of Minnesota focusing on the study of plant cell membrane physiology.

While studying at the University of Minnesota, S. Stephana met Korean graduate students who approached her about starting a Korean Catholic Church. Under her leadership, St. Andrew Kim Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis was founded. With S. Stephana’s organizational skills and her knowledge of liturgy, much of the foundational work fell on her shoulders: procuring the worship space, the altar needs, vestments, liturgies, music and financial needs. At that time, there were no Korean translations of liturgical texts and music which had to be made available. S. Stephana recalls, “It was hard work but those were very exciting and joyous moments in my life.”

Many students came to the church and accepted the Catholic faith. Those returning to Korea became witnesses of the Gospel through their Christian lives. Some students remained in the U.S. where they and their children advocate for the poor and marginalized. One example S. Stephana sites is the Youn family who were the first couple to be married at St. Andrew Kim parish as graduate students. Their son, Andrew Youn, is the founder and CEO of One Acre Fund, a nonprofit governmental organization helping millions of people in several African countries to become self-sufficient economically. S. Stephana says she is so proud of Andrew; he and his parents are like family to her as they care for the welfare of people. Andrew is following the Christian call by giving priority to the poor and he is an example of the outstanding Catholics coming out of St. Andrew Kim Church, S. Stephana’s precious legacy.

After finishing her doctoral studies, S. Stephana briefly taught cell physiology to undergraduates at the University of Minnesota-Morris then spent the next 20+ years doing research at the University of Minnesota Medical school in Minneapolis working in immunology, biochemistry and hematology. One of the highlights was being able to visit the Holy Land when she was invited to do research on sickle cell anemia in Jerusalem.

Stephana is the eighth of nine siblings born to Joseph and Maria Choong in Seoul, Korea. She came to Saint Benedict’s College shortly after the armistice was signed between North and South Korea. While she was at college, the Benedictine sisters were her role models, so after graduation, she returned to the U.S. to enter the monastery. She says, “I truly learned the meaning of the Gospel of Christ from the sisters who guided me, and I certainly didn’t know that my dream of being a missionary would be in my own ‘backyard’ in St Paul, Minn. The Universal Catholic Church is bringing us together as one family. God is so great!”

Profile written by Cynthia Schmit, OSB