Sister Irene (Mary Casper) Komor

Our beloved Sister Irene (Mary Casper) Komor, 83, died peacefully at 9:45 p.m., Friday, July 8, 2016, in Notre Dame Health Care, Our Lady of Good Counsel, Mankato, Minnesota. She entered Hospice in late June as her physical condition continued to decline. Her Profession Class had been keeping vigil with her these last days.

The Funeral Mass for Sister Irene, with Father Eugene Stenzel as presider, will be at 10:30 a.m., Friday, July 15, in Good Counsel Chapel, Mankato, followed by burial of her cremains in Good Counsel Cemetery. The vigil service will be at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. We extend our sympathy to her brother-in-law Carlo Abrahamsen and her nephews Mitchell and Jack and their families, her cousins, friends, former students and colleagues, and her sisters in community, the School Sisters of Notre Dame. She was preceded in death by her parents, Casper and Louise (Kern) Komor, and her sister, Mary Lou Abrahamsen.

Sister Irene was born in St. Paul on November 17, 1932, and baptized Irene Hedwig ten days later at St. Francis de Sales Church. She wrote, “I was born on the feast of St. Gregory the Wonderworker, who really did live up to his reputation, because it was during the Depression and things weren’t just what they might have been for my mother and dad.” Her sister, Mary Lou, was born about four years later. Both of her parents were German immigrants and devout Catholics. According to a 1993 newspaper article, Irene “learned all of her prayers in German and was devastated the first day of school when she couldn’t say her prayers in English with the other children. ‘My mother went right out and got a catechism and she helped me learn them all in English,’ she said.”

During Irene’s eight years at St. Francis de Sales School, she was taught by School Sisters of Notre Dame. She wrote, “The sisters there were so influential in my life. We were always visiting them and doing church work together and got to know them very well, so that’s what I wanted to do. They were our friends. We loved the sisters.” In second grade, she told a neighbor that she wanted to be a sister. The neighbor replied that God had to call you to a vocation, and seven-year-old Irene responded, “I hear Him calling me.” She continued her story, “In the seventh and eighth grades, I wasn’t all that certain about leaving my home, and my friends were important to me. I prayed each night, not sure at all what I should do. When spring came and I was about to graduate, Sister Raphaeline, our principal, spoke with me. She asked if I was still thinking about being a sister. To me that was like an answer to prayer. God was letting me know He was inviting me to follow Him as an SSND. My mom and dad supported my decision.” Following eighth grade graduation in 1946, Irene and three of her classmates, Barbara Gruber (Sister Paulanne), Irene Latessa (Sister Yolanda) and Joan Hau (Sister Colleen), entered the aspiranture at Good Counsel Academy in Mankato.

Irene fulfilled her dream of being a sister and a teacher by becoming an SSND candidate in 1950. She attended college classes during her first year and taught grades three and four at St. Joseph School, Cresco, Iowa, as a second-year candidate. She was received into the novitiate in 1952 and given the name Sister Mary Casper, her father’s name. She later returned to her baptismal name.

Following her first profession of vows in 1953, she began her 54-year ministry in elementary education. During her teaching years she gained experience at all grade levels – primary, intermediate and junior high. As a teacher, she served at St. Michael School, St. Michael (1953-56); St. Casimir, Wells (1956-57); Immaculate Conception, Gilbertville, Iowa (1957-61); John Ireland, St. Peter (1961-63); St. Mary, Shakopee (1963-64); SS. Cyril & Methodius, Minneapolis (1964-65); and St. John, Vermillion (1965-67). With the exception of the 1974-75 school year at St. Joseph, Cresco, Iowa, she then served in elementary administration from 1967 until 2007, at St. Mary, Madelia (1967-74); John Ireland, St. Peter (1975-82); St. Mary, Winona (1982-86); and St. Michael, Prior Lake (1986-2007), at times also a part time teacher. She earned a BA in English from the College of St. Catherine in 1963 and an MA in Educational Administration from DePaul University in 1973.

As a teacher and principal, Sister Irene worked to get a very important message to her students: “Jesus was an ordinary person, and He loved us, and there are no strings attached. He just cares about everybody, and you want the children to understand it as best as they can.” She expanded on this message as she continued, “[In a Catholic School] we can let children know why we believe what we believe. . . . And who Jesus is . . . [we can] help them understand how much they are loved by a God who gives His love, who shares everything, and gives us this whole world to live in.” In Prior Lake, especially, where Sister Irene spent 22 years, it was evident that she succeeded in imparting her message. The invitation to her farewell celebration read, “Come honor the career of Sister Irene Komor, SSND. For 22 years she planted the seeds of love, virtue, faith and knowledge in the children of St. Michael’s School. As parents, students, colleagues, friends and family we pay tribute and give our thanks to her for her service.” A hand-written tribute summed up the Prior Lake community’s gratitude to Sister Irene: “Thank you for your years of dedicated service to the people of God. Your gentle spirit and holiness serve as a wonderful example for all.”

At the time of her retirement, Sister Irene commented that her vows and spirit of service are something from which she would never retire. “I can’t imagine sitting around the house and not wanting to do something. I’m never going to retire from being a sister.” Sister Irene moved to St. Paul in 2007 for a sabbatical year and continued to live there until she came to Good Counsel in 2010.

Sister Irene also involved herself in province committees and ministries including Theresa Living Center, a shelter for women in transition, located in St. Paul, where she spent several nights a month as a volunteer house mother. She told a reporter, “I always hope there are no babies born or irate husbands at the door on those nights, and everything has always gone pretty smoothly.” For a number of years, she also joined some of her classmates as the “Apple Pie Sisters” of the Craft Fair. She was also known for her interest in the fine arts and had an eye for beauty and a sensitivity to creative ways.

Sister Irene concluded a vocation talk in this way: “I have never regretted my decision to be a sister. I loved teaching. I’ve lived with so many great and beautiful women who’ve shown and guided me by their example to follow Jesus. There have been hard times when my road was bumpy and there have been ever so many wonderful times that brought me joy and great happiness. I have a loving family and many sisters who are my friends. And most of all, I am grateful to God who is always faithful and never stops loving me or you.”

Dementia robbed Sister Irene of her plans to serve long into retirement. She remained faithful to prayer and community gatherings, however, and continued to be her gracious, welcoming, ever-grateful self. As her disease progressed, she lived out more and more her funeral liturgy theme, “I cling to nothing but the Lord.” And now, restored to full life, she rejoices in the presence of her God.