Brigid McLean

Funeral Mass for Sister Brigid McLean, 98, Richardton, will be 10:00 a. m. , Wednesday, December 28, 2016 at Sacred Heart Monastery in Richardton. Burial will be in the Sacred Heart Cemetery, Richardton, ND. Visitation will be from 1:00 p. m. to 8:00 p. m. , Tuesday, December 27, 2016 with a Rosary being recited at 7:00 p. m. all at the Sacred Heart Monastery. Sister Brigid passed away Wednesday, December 21, 2016 at Sanford Health St. Vincent’s Continuing Care Center, Bismarck. The Lord welcomed Sister Brigid McLean, OSB, into eternal life December 20 at the age of ninety-eight, having been a member of Sacred Heart Monastery for eighty years. Sister Brigid was born in Plentywood, MT, on July 20, 1918, and was baptized Helen Ann. She was the fourth of John and Martha McLean’s twelve children who lived on a farm two miles west of Outlook. During high school she felt an inclination to religious life and after graduation she contacted her two aunts at Sacred Heart Convent in Garrison for guidance. The year 1936 was a crucial one in this growing Benedictine community. Having lost their savings in the bank failures of the depression there was pressure to join with St. Benedict’s Convent in St. Joseph, MN. Sister Brigid was one of six candidates who entered that year and all of them persevered! The community held on to its independence and Sacred Heart Monastery, now in Richardton, celebrated its centennial this year thanks in a large part to this group of entrants. For many of her years in community, Sister Brigid taught in grade and high school in various parochial and public schools in North Dakota, at Malta, MT, and at the community’s academy in Bogotá, Colombia. She served the community for many years as a formation director, subprioress and treasurer/bookkeeper. In her later years she also served as bookkeeper at St. Vincent’s Care Center in Bismarck and Trinity High School in Dickinson. Upon her return to live at the Monastery in Richardton, she helped in various assignments until she was no longer able. Her last years were spent as a resident of St. Vincent’s where she died. Though she ably served the needs of the monastic community in her many years, she will be remembered even more for who she was. She was a true Benedictine: a woman of prayer and good example. She always saw what needed to be done and set about doing it well. One of her major contributions to our community was the effort and organization she put into the move from our convent in Minot to Richardton. Cleaning out and packing a three-story convent/academy building, loading the trucks, and helping unpack when they arrived here was no small feat! She was a great sorter—knowing when things were not worth keeping or saving was her forte. Sister Brigid is survived by her brothers Leonard (Barbara) and Robert McLean, her sisters Teresa McGrath, Agnes Hamman and Vivian Messbarger; numerous nieces and nephews; and her monastic community of Sacred Heart Monastery in Richardton, including her grandniece Sister Jill West and her surviving monastic classmates Sisters Monica Thome and Annella Gardner.


Click to View Program (PDF)


Burial Date: December 28, 2016

Funeral Mass: Wednesday, Sacred Heart Monastery, Richardton, ND