Miriam Thissen

Sister Miriam Thissen, SSND, died Tuesday, August 7, 2007, at Good Counsel Convent, Mankato, Minnesota, at age 95. The Funeral Mass will be celebrated on Friday, August 10, at 10:30 a.m. in Good Counsel Chapel, with Father Tim Biren as celebrant. Visitation will be from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Thursday at Good Counsel, with Vespers in the chapel at 7:00 p.m. Visitation is also one hour prior to the funeral on Friday. Mankato Mortuary is in charge.

Sister Miriam (Marie Elizabeth Thissen) was born in Raymond, Minnesota, January 14, 1912, to Fred and Mary (Boehme) Thissen. Following graduation from Good Counsel Academy, she entered the School Sisters of Notre Dame in Mankato and took First Vows in 1931. She taught for over 60 years, principally on the secondary level in schools in Minnesota, Iowa, Washington, and North Dakota. She was also music teacher and organist. During her years in Washington, she earned a B.A. in English from Holy Names College, Spokane, and an M.A. in English from Gonzaga University, Spokane. On retiring from full-time teaching in 1993, she tutored in the Good Counsel Learning Center for another eight years before retiring at Good Counsel in 2001.

Sister is survived by her Sisters in Community, the School Sisters of Notre Dame. She was preceded in death by her parents, her sisters, Sister M. Cleta, SSND, Sister Eldred, OSB, and Sister Gretta, OSB, and her brothers, Fathers Henry and Frederick Thissen, and Chris and Edward Thissen.