+Sister Bertille Goblirsch, OSB

Home > Blog > +Sister Bertille Goblirsch, OSB

+Sister Bertille Goblirsch, OSB

In Loving Memory

Sister Bertille GoblirschSister Bertille (Bernadine) Goblirsch, OSB, 83, St. Scholastica Monastery, died at the Monastery Friday, February 19, 2010.  She entered the Duluth Benedictine community January 3, 1951, and professed monastic vows July 11, 1952.  She celebrated her Silver Jubilee of monastic profession August 15, 1977, and her Golden Jubilee July 7, 2002.

Sister Bertille was born November 30, 1926, in Sleepy Eye, Minnesota.  She received her High School Equivalency Diploma from Phoenix College. Primarily, her ministries in the Community were housekeeping and food service.  Sister Bertille’s housekeeping duties included serving at Our Lady of Victory and St. Bridget’s Convent in Minneapolis, St. Timothy’s in Chicago, and St. Thomas the Apostle in Phoenix. 

Her food service work was chiefly in baking at Villa Sancta Scholastica, The College of St. Scholastica, St. Scholastica Monastery, and the Benedictine Health Center, all located in Duluth.  In 1998 she retired from food service and in 2002 began volunteer work for the Community.

Sister Bertille was noted for and, no doubt, will be legendary for her baking abilities. The Sisters were amazed at her specialties—homemade breads, cinnamon rolls, cookies, and delicious rhubarb and strawberry pies.  All these mouth-watering goodies were welcomed by the Sisters.  At Christmastime, she treated them to her unsurpassable fruitcake and on Good Friday she baked fresh hot cross buns.  She also made and decorated cakes for special occasions.

But Sister Bertille’s talents were not limited to culinary skills.  She crocheted and did beautiful works of tatting which now, it seems, is a lost art.  She also embroidered, adding beauty to sets of dish towels, which she sent to her brother Father Robert to help raise funds for his church bazaars.  During his homily at her funeral, he said she had a tendency to worry, so whenever he worried about something, he called her to ask her to worry for him because she was so good at it.

Sister Bertille was preceded in death by her parents, Frank and Clara (Sellner) Goblirsch, her brothers Edwin, Eugene, Gerald and Denis, sister-in-law Lynn Goblirsch, and by a brother-in-law, Harry Dorn.  Besides the Sisters of St. Scholastica Monastery, she is survived by her brother, Father Robert Goblirsch, her sister, Alice Dorn, an aunt Mary Turbes (now in her 101st year), sisters-in-law Adele and Agnes Goblirsch, several nieces, nephews, great-nieces, great-nephews, and other relatives and friends.

A wake service was held at 7:00 p.m. in Our Lady Queen of Peace Chapel on Tuesday, February, 23, 2010.  The Mass of Christian Burial took place at 11 a.m. in Our Lady Queen of Peace Chapel on Wednesday, February 24, 2010, with Reverend Robert Goblirsch presiding.  Internment was in Gethsemane Cemetery.

MINISTRIES

Housekeeping

  • Our Lady of Victory—Minneapolis, MN
  • St. Bridget’s—Minneapolis, MN
  • St. Timothy’s—Chicago, IL
  • St. Thomas the Apostle—Phoenix, AZ

Food Service

  • Villa Sancta Scholastica—Duluth, MN
  • The College of St. Scholastica—Duluth, MN
  • St. Scholastica Monastery—Duluth, MN
  • Benedictine Health Center—Duluth, MN

Prayer Ministry  

 

 

 

Posted in Happenings, Obituaries

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Recent Posts

Authors

Categories

Archives

“Our humanity comes to its fullest bloom in giving. We become beautiful people when we give whatever we can give: a smile, a handshake, a kiss, an embrace, a word of love, a present, a part of our life...all of our life.”
–Henri Nouwen