Sister M. Mercita Reinbold, SSND

Our beloved Sister M. Mercita Reinbold, SSND, 100, died peacefully at 4:20 a.m. on Tuesday, January 22, 2019, in Notre Dame Health Care, Good Counsel Hill, Mankato, Minnesota. Sisters and pastoral staff had been praying with her in the days leading up to her death. The funeral liturgy, with Father Eugene Stenzel as presider, will be held Tuesday, January 29, at 10:30 a.m. in Our Lady of Good Counsel Chapel. At 9:00 a.m., a prayer service of remembrance will precede the funeral liturgy. Burial will follow in the Good Counsel cemetery. We extend our sympathy to her nieces and nephews and their families, her friends, colleagues and former students, and her sisters in community, the School Sisters of Notre Dame and SSND Associates. She was preceded in death by her parents, Adam and Kunegunda, known as Cora, (Kraft) Reinbold, her sisters Catherine Geffree, Philopena Weisbeck, Sister Rita Reinbold, SSND; Anna Kunstmann, Helen Fuhrman and Magdalene Fox, and her brothers James, Anthony, Raymond, Eugene, Bernard, Pius, Leo and Benedict. The twelfth of fifteen children, Sister Mercita was born on July 1, 1918, to German-Russian immigrant parents on the family farm near Hosmer, South Dakota. She was given the name Martha when she was baptized two weeks later at Holy Trinity Church in Hosmer. At the age of six, she started school in a one-room country school. She traced her interest in art to her years in this school: “My interest in art began in the grade school where we were allowed to dapple in art during free time, where we studied art pictures each month, and used art books in each grade – all in our little country school.” She described her religious education during this time: “Since Holy Trinity was a mission parish, we received religious instructions from the pastor every other Sunday. One of my older brothers in his zeal assumed responsibility to teach us the catechism. During winter months we younger ones had to recite memorized lessons to him before going outside to skate on the frozen pond.” Martha’s older sister Barbara was a School Sister of Notre Dame, Sister M. Rita. She was 18 years older than Martha, so the two never really knew each other. Sister Mercita wrote, “In the winter of 1933, when I was fourteen, Sister Rita came home to see our father, who was seriously sick. Though I admired her and her long habit, this counteracted the scrapbook I had made of beautiful long bridal gowns and veils.” Later that year, however, her parents took Martha to see Sister Rita for assistance in deciding her vocation and, that fall, she became a freshman aspirant at Good Counsel Academy in Mankato. She enjoyed the year, but wavered when it was time to return after summer vacation. About two weeks into the school year, Martha finally went back to Good Counsel and finished her sophomore and junior years as an aspirant. Her interest in art continued at the academy: “At GCA I took three years of art from Sister Mary John Baetz. She believed in me and gave me encouragement.” Martha was admitted into the candidature in 1936 and completed her senior year as a candidate, with the assumption that she would continue her education in art. As a second-year candidate, Martha taught grades two and three at Bellechester, Minnesota. On July 21, 1938, she was received into the novitiate and given the name Sister Mary Mercita. She wrote, “It was on this day that Sister M. Rita said, “Now I can really call you ‘Sister.’” She professed first vows one year later on July 22, 1939. Sister Mercita taught at every grade level from primary through high school in three states. Her Minnesota experience included St. Agnes and St. Andrew in St. Paul, St. Leo in St. Leo, St. Michael in St. Michael, St. Mary in Shakopee, John Ireland in St. Peter, Good Counsel Academy (where she taught calligraphy), St. Michael in Morgan, St. Anthony in Lismore, St. Martin in Rogers, SS. Peter & Paul in Blue Earth, Epiphany in Coon Rapids, Providence in South St. Paul, St. Francis Xavier in Sartell, and St. Isidore in Litomysl. She also taught at St. Mary in New England, North Dakota, and St. Joseph in Grenville, South Dakota. She earned a BA in education and art from St. Ambrose College, Davenport, Iowa. She enjoyed teaching art and summarized some of her best experiences: “In St. Peter with my third and fourth graders and help of their parents, we created marionettes and dramatized the biblical stories of our religion classes. Students delighted to not only perform within our school, but also for public audiences. At Morgan, my students gasped with delight to see the transformation of their drab-looking ceramic objects after a kind ceramicist fired them for us. The fifth and sixth graders at Lismore designed symbols of their patron saints using cut up linoleum pieces. Even the pastor gathered colored linoleum for their use. We were then asked to make a large (15”x30”) mosaic for the senior homeroom. The success of this project prompted us to make a mosaic for our own classroom. The two mosaics are now displayed in the entrance of the church since the school no longer exists. At Coon Rapids the pastor asked me to make a mosaic for Epiphany Church. I designed an eight-foot irregular star as the background for the Blessed Mother offering the Christ Child to the world.” Sister Mercita valued time spent in personal renewal in St. Cloud and considered this one of the great blessings of her entire life. In the 1980s, she transitioned into pastoral and volunteer ministry, serving at SS. Peter & Paul and St. Joseph the Worker, Mankato, and in St. Peter. She continued doing various forms of art for her own enjoyment as well as for others. Her focus changed from calligraphy and mosaics after she went to an art exhibit in St. Peter in 1990. “When I saw a display of an art form that I had never seen before, I felt I was in heaven. How could I ever do something like that?” A few months later, she read in the community newspaper that Mrs. Duphrone Ogee would teach rosemaling in St. Peter. “I believe I was the first one to sign up. It was a prayer fulfilled.” She was a very willing pupil and continued taking classes for four years. She became an apprentice and received ninety hours of private instruction. Rosemaling is a Scandinavian art form and translates from Norwegian as “rose painting.” Scrolls and flowers of various designs are basic, created with repetitive strokes and a variety of brushes. Sister Mercita painted two forms, Telemark and Rogaland, using Prussian blues, burnt oranges, greens, golds and yellows. She also became intrigued with painting nisses (Scandinavian elves). Sister Mercita called them good little guys in contrast to trolls, who are often mean. According to an article in a Hill Volunteer newsletter, “Nisses do superhuman work for those who give them food every night. But if folks forget, the nisses do mischief, like hiding their boots.” Sister Mercita often created a story for each nisse that she painted. She painted rosemaling and nisse designs on various surfaces: paper, canvas, wood, and metal trays, to name a few. She displayed and sold her work at the annual Craft Fair and at other craft venues, as well as at her studio in Good Counsel’s Isidore Hall. Sister Mercita moved to Good Counsel in 1999 and, in addition to her painting, tutored in the Learning Center. She suffered a double stroke in 2007, but was determined to regain her former strength and capabilities, which she did to a good extent. She noted that, after the stroke, she could not work as quickly as before, but she did not plan to stop. An article about her in the Mankato Magazine concluded with her quotation, “We need beautiful things.” She was grateful for the support and love of her SSND community, stating, “The community gave me the opportunity to develop my gifts and has nourished me.” Attaining the century mark last July, Sister Mercita would have celebrated her 80th Jubilee as a School Sister of Notre Dame this summer. She concluded her autobiography written when she was 96, “I’m still painting with the aid of our Creator God, and Our Lady of Mercy.” Sister Mercita thought she was in heaven when she first saw rosemaling. These last months, she longed for heaven. In heaven, may she now be fully experiencing the joy of being with her Creator God.