Sister M. Lucia Aschenbrener, SSND

Our beloved Sister M. Lucia Aschenbrener, SSND, 90, died peacefully at 11:56 p.m. on Friday, December 28, 2018, in Notre Dame Health Care, Mankato, Minnesota. She had grown increasingly weaker in recent weeks and had moved to Notre Dame Health Care not long ago. The funeral liturgy, with Father Eugene Stenzel as presider, will be held Friday, January 4, 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, Casper and Leona (Werner) Aschenbrener, sisters Ann Hill, Elaine Salvesen, Maree Smith, and Sylvia Elkin, and her brothers LeRoy and Casper. Sister Lucia was born November 23, 1928, in Spokane, Washington. Her parents were Wisconsin natives who fell in love with the West. The first three Aschenbrener children were born in Wisconsin before the family moved west and settled in Spokane. Sister Lucia was baptized Lenore Jean at the Church of the Holy Ghost and St. Anthony in Spokane on January 13, 1929. Shortly after her birth, the family moved to Spirit Lake, Idaho, and then to Nampa, Idaho. When Lenore was five, the family moved to Elmire, Idaho, where they lived in a log house. Sister Lucia described the house as “surrounded with trees and beautiful nature. We loved it in spite of the lack of modern conveniences. We had the run of the place exploring, discovering birds, berries, animals and wild flowers, which we picked for Mary’s altar where we said the rosary every evening.” Lenore started first grade in Elmire in a one-room school. She wrote about an early call to religious life: “I received my formal religious education through correspondence courses from the Jesus and I catechism every week. During one summer we took the train to Sandpoint, Idaho, for a two-week religious vacation school, staying with families. This was my first experience with sisters, the Immaculate Heart of Mary order from Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Through their example, I received my desire to become a sister.” The family later moved to Sandpoint, Idaho and remained there several years. When Lenore was a junior in high school, the family moved to Spokane, where she enrolled in Marycliff High School, staffed by the La Crosse Franciscans. “It was my first experience in a Catholic School, which I loved. We lived near St. Joseph Parish where the School Sisters of Notre Dame taught in the grade school. I started taking piano lessons from Sister Corrine Lawrie. During one of my lessons she said, ‘Your mother told me you were thinking of becoming a sister.’ I said that I hadn’t given it a thought in years. She gave me some literature about SSND, which I took home and hid under my pillow and later read it. All the memories of becoming a sister as a child came rushing back; thinking about the possibility soon became a reality. After graduation [in 1947] I found myself on a train from Spokane to Mankato with three others who also had the desire to become a sister. It was my first time away from home.” Lenore spent two years in the SSND candidature and was given the name Sister Mary Lucia at her reception into the novitiate in July 1949. She professed first vows on July 21, 1950, and began her teaching ministry in August. She taught primary or intermediate grades at Catholic schools in three states: St. Mary, Bellechester, Minn. (1950-1954); Holy Family, Clarkston, Wash. (1954-62); St. Mary, Chewelah, Wash. (1962-65); SS. Peter & Paul, Springbrook, Iowa (1965-70); St. Martin, Rogers, Minn. (1970-71); and SS. Peter & Paul, Mankato (1971-76). During this time, she earned a BA degree in Education from Holy Names College, Spokane, in 1960. As part of her coursework, she was able to take several art classes, which helped her develop her natural talent. Following some time for personal renewal, Sister Lucia resumed her teaching ministry at St. Mary’s Cathedral School in St. Cloud, Minn., where she taught primary grades from 1978 through 1990. In 1990, she shifted her classroom emphasis and described it this way: “My dream has always been to work with children who had difficulty decoding skills in reading and math. I put my dream in the hands of God and prayed that something would open up. I was especially interested in the Title I program. When Title I came back into the parochial schools, I knew my dream was becoming a reality.” She was hired by the St. Cloud Public School District as a paraprofessional in Holy Spirit School and later at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton School. She wrote, “I love working with small groups of children and watching the progress they make in reading and math.” From 1991 through 2010, she worked part-time as a tutor and in several other capacities in St. Cloud, including visiting the elderly, doing clerical work, and being part of the Foster Grandparent program. A supervisor in the Foster Grandparent program commented, “Sister Lucia is very patient and kind with children. She gives praise whenever she can. The children who were not working with her would beg to spend time with her.” For over five years during her time in St. Cloud, she took care of an elderly woman, making supper for her and staying overnight. Among her artistic abilities, Sister Lucia had a special gift of being able to turn photographs into very realistic pencil sketches. Many family members and friends received sketches, and Sister Lucia also took requests from customers at Craft Fairs and other art shows. Included in Sister Lucia’s possessions at the time of her death were several albums containing copies of the sketches she produced. In 2003, she created a large image of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton with two children. The picture was blessed by students and staff, and now hangs in the school hallway. The design was also used in a laminated card with a prayer of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton. She created several paintings in watercolors or oil, which were sold at art shows. Sister Lucia also designed a logo for the Diocese of St. Cloud in 1998. Within an oval frame, she placed a cross with the words “Hope,” “Mercy,” and “Justice” printed on it, along with a stalk of wheat and swirling shapes that suggested “movement, growth and life.” Sister Lucia fully retired in 2010 and moved to Good Counsel Hill. She continued her ministry of pencil sketches and other artistic work. A Sister Lucia-drawn sketch was an item in several silent and live auctions for fund-raising events on the Hill. Many of her sketches and water color paintings were also turned into greeting cards, which she sold at the annual Craft Fair. As she worked, she enjoyed listening to audio-books. As a Diamond Jubilarian in 2010, she wrote, “I have feelings of joy, peace and gratitude for the call I heard to do God’s work as an SSND and that I didn’t hesitate to say ‘YES!’ It has been an amazing journey.” From an early age, Sister Lucia realized that God’s works were indeed wonderful as she shared her talents with others. May she now fully rejoice in God’s wonderful works!