Sister Arlene (M. Romaine) Hodapp, SSND

Mankato Mortuary1001 N. Riverfront Dr. Mankato, MN 56001(507) 388-2202 Our beloved Sister Arlene Hodapp, 85, died peacefully at 2:50 p.m. on Wednesday, December 30, 2015, in Notre Dame Healthcare, Our Lady of Good Counsel, Mankato, Minnesota. Around Thanksgiving, her health declined severely and just recently she was diagnosed with advanced cancer. Sisters and friends had been keeping vigil in the hours preceding Sister Arlene’s death, and several were with her when she died.   The Funeral Mass for Sister Arlene, with Father Andrew Olsem as presider, will be at 10:30 a.m., Wednesday, January 6, in Good Counsel Chapel, Mankato, followed by burial in the Good Counsel Cemetery. The vigil service will be at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. We extend our sympathy to her sister Marge (Bill) Shaw, her nieces and nephews and their families, her friends, former colleagues and students, and her sisters in community, the School Sisters of Notre Dame. She was preceded in death by her parents, Roman and Mary Ann (Ziegler) Hodapp, her sister, Dolores Hodapp, SSND, and her brother James.   Sister Arlene was born in Mankato on the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, February 11, 1930. She wrote, “It would seem that Our Lady had her designs on me, a future daughter of Notre Dame, on the day of my birth.” The second daughter in the family, she was baptized Arlene Rose at SS. Peter & Paul Church a few weeks later. Arlene attended Holy Rosary School in North Mankato, where she was taught by School Sisters of Notre Dame. In 1944 she became a freshman at Good Counsel Academy. She commented, “Four years of high school sped by quickly in the halls and classrooms of Good Counsel Academy.”   Describing her call to SSND, Arlene wrote, “In the summer of 1948 after my high school graduation, I saw my sister, Dolores, Sister Mary Romana, take her second temporary vows. On this big day of hers, I started working as a long distance operator with the Northwestern Bell Telephone Company, and was employed there for a period of two years. Finally, heeding the call to follow the Lamb of God, I entered the SSND candidature in 1950.”   Arlene spent one year in the candidature taking college classes. In her second year as a candidate, she taught third and fourth grades at St. Peter School, Hokah, Minnesota. In the summer of 1952, she was received into the SSND community as a novice, and given the name Sister Mary Romaine, a form of her father’s name. She later returned to her baptismal name. Following profession of vows in 1953, she taught second grade at St. Francis de Sales School, St. Paul, for two years. She found it a great joy to prepare her students to receive their First Holy Communion. In 1955, she moved to Northfield, Minnesota, where she taught first grade at St. Dominic School for four years. She wrote, “Besides teaching, I did most of the cooking. . . . I love teaching. I also love to be outside working with plants and anything that grows.” During the summers, she attended classes at Viterbo College, La Crosse, taking home economics classes.   In 1959, Sister Arlene was transferred to St. John School, Mankato, where she again taught primary grades. This would be her final elementary school position, with the exception of one year each at St. Mary School, St. Cloud and SS. Peter & Paul, Mankato, in the 1990’s. Beginning in 1961, she taught home economics and science classes at Trinity High School, Dickinson, North Dakota (1961-62); St. Michael High School, St. Michael, Minnesota (1962-65 and 1966-68); and Good Counsel Academy, Mankato (1968-76). During the 1965-66 school year, she completed her home economics degree at Viterbo.   In February 1976, Sister M. Vivian Skluzacek, who had founded the Institute for Reading Development based on Good Counsel Hill, died suddenly after a stroke. (The “creep and crawl” patterning methodology was promulgated by Glen Doman and Carl Delacato; Sister Vivian used their techniques as the basis for the Institute of Reading Development.) Sister Arlene assumed the directorship of the institute the following September. In a 1983 Mankato Free Press article, she explained how she came to this ministry: “I was asked by [SSND leadership] to do it. I’d never even been in the institute. I wasn’t sure at first, but then the more I found out about it, the more interested I became. Now I know this is where I belong.” She attended the Dallas Academy of Human Development in Texas to prepare and became a certified Sensorimotor Developmentalist. The premise of the institute was that some individuals with learning difficulties can be aided by going back to the beginning of their neurological development. Sister Arlene maintained that reading difficulties can often be traced to perceptual problems – that the brain is not “wired” correctly. Through a series of patterning exercises, the brain can be “rewired.” In her 13 years as director, she evaluated and worked with persons of all ages, supervised, directed and helped train other developmentalists, and was a visiting evaluator for three neurological centers in Ohio. Several Ohio newspaper articles described her involvement with these centers. She also received personal thanks from clients. One wrote in part, “I wanted to write you a letter in order to acknowledge the influence which your work had on my life. My mother sought you out in the early 1980’s in order to address the problem of my dyslexia. This you did and I am eternally grateful to you for this. Although at the time I wasn’t completely aware of the significance of your work, I am now acutely aware of how lucky I was to have the fine care provided by you. I am 25 now, graduated from the University of Minnesota, and awaiting admission letters from several law schools where I hope to study environmental law.” Sister Arlene also conducted a reading development program with kindergarten classes in the Mankato area.   In August 1989, the Institute for Reading Development closed, and Sister Arlene pursued other ministries. She served as a religious education director at St. Albert Parish, Albertville, Minnesota, and at SS. Peter & Paul, Mankato. During her time at SS. Peter & Paul, she branched out into another ministry, that of foot reflexology. In a 2006 SSND Mankato Magazine article she wrote: “Reflexology is a science which deals with the principle that there are reflexes in the feet relative to each and every organ and all parts of the body. Stimulating these reflexes properly can help many health problems in a natural way.” Sister Arlene took her first reflexology class in 1980 and, through advanced work in continuing years, became certified in foot reflexology. In 1996, this became her full-time ministry with an office in St. Joseph Hall on Good Counsel Hill. She worked with clients ranging in age from 5 to 95.   Sister Arlene maintained a presence in the Mankato area and often attended parish and civic events. She was a member of the recently-formed Good Counsel Academy Alumnae Task Force. And, being a descendent of the pioneer Catholics of Mankato – Philip Hodapp, her great grandfather, came to Mankato in 1854 and was instrumental in bringing School Sisters of Notre Dame to Mankato in 1865 – Sister Arlene was a link in the 150-year history of SSND in Mankato.   In a 2013 Jubilee reflection Sister Arlene shared this insight: “Life means to have something definite to do, a mission to fulfill.” In her ministry, Sister Arlene carried out her mission by helping students and clients to renew their strength and confidence, to walk and run and not grow weary. May she now walk and run in everlasting peace.