Anne Lenertz

Sister Anne Lenertz, OSB, of Sacred Heart Monastery, Richardton, died at the Richardton Health Center on June 3, following a short illness. She had completed 93 years of age and 75 years as a Benedictine Sister. A Wake Service will be held at the Monastery chapel on Wednesday, June 4, at 7:00 p. m. MDT. The Funeral Mass will be at the monastery on Thursday, June 5, at 2:00 p. m. MDT, with Father David Wolf, OSB, of Assumption Abbey as celebrant and Sister Marie Hunkler, OSB, Prioress, as presider of the monastic funeral rites. Sister Anne (Catherine) was born February 28, 1910, to Christine (Kraft) and Peter Lenertz on a farm near Karlsruhe, North Dakota. She was the third of fourteen children. After finishing eighth grade at St Peter and Paul School in Karlsruhe, she joined the Benedictine Sisters at Garrison in 1925 and made her monastic profession in 1927. She attended college at Mount Marty College in Yankton, South Dakota; then earned a BA in biology and history from the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth, Minnesota; and a MA in school administration from the College of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota. She taught at elementary and high school levels and was often principal in Catholic schools in a number of places in North Dakota including Elbowoods, Garrison, Fallon, Minot, and Bismarck, and also in Malta, Montana. She was principal during the early years of Sacred Heart Academy in Minot, where her kindness and leniency were legendary among the students. Eventually her gift for art was recognized and encouraged. She began teaching art in the schools and also produced numerous paintings, many of which still decorate the halls of the monastery. The most notable of her works is a statue of Saint Benedict which she carved from a railroad tie in the mid 1960s. After retiring to the monastery in 1983, Sr. Anne continued to paint for several years. She was a lover of the outdoors and would walk miles through the surrounding pastures searching for the wild flowers and berries of spring and summer which she would carry home for everyone to enjoy. Even though her hearing failed considerably in her later years, she participated in all the activities of the monastery and was especially attentive to the needs of guests. Sr. Anne is survived by three sisters and one brother-in-law: Julia Skramstad of Minot, Magdalen and Lloyd Regstad of Minot, and Cecilia Hoard from California; by sister-in-law Julia Lenertz of St. Paul; by several nieces and nephews and by the Sisters of the monastery. She was preceded in death by her parents, brothers Peter, Philip, Aloysius, Anton, and John; sisters Rose Bock, Sister Canisia, OSB, Christine Bieseadecki, Mary, and Agatha.


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Burial Date: June 5, 2003
Funeral Home Dickinson, ND

Funeral: Thursday, Sacred Heart Monastery