Mary Agnes

Early Friday morning, October 10, our beloved Sister Mary Agnes Oberhofer, 96, died at Good Counsel Provincial House, Mankato, Minnesota. A 2008 Gold and Ruby Jubilarian, Sister Mary Agnes had desired to live in God's eternal presence for a long time, and this desire is now fulfilled.

The funeral Mass for Sister Mary Agnes, with Father Peter Nosbush as presider, will be on October 14 at 10:30 a.m. The vigil service is at 7:00 p.m. the preceding evening. Following the Liturgy, burial will take place in our cemetery. Loving sympathy to her sisters, Katarina (Ludwig) S"nftl and Elisabeth Oberhofer, nieces and nephews, and her sisters in community, the School Sisters of Notre Dame, as well as friends and colleagues. She was preceded in death by her parents Alois and Magdalen (Gangkofner) Oberhofer, three sisters (who belonged to three different Franciscan orders) Therese " Sister Othilda, OSF; Magdalen " Sister Othilda, OSF; and Marie " Sister Nazaria, OSF; and brother Xavier, as well as three brothers who died as infants.

Sister Mary Agnes, the seventh child, was born on New Years Day, 1912 in Wochenreit, Germany. Immediately after birth, she received conditional baptism; because of her small size, she was not expected to live. In her autobiography she noted, "But my mother, full of confidence in God, consecrated me to the Lord, if my life would be spared." Later she was baptized in her parish church and given the name Anna. Her father farmed and her mother took care of the house and family.

She wrote of her early life, "At the age of six, I attended Catholic School in Lichtenhaag. We had lay teachers and weekly religious instructions from a priest. I helped my parents work on their farm and enjoyed a happy life in the family circle."

Sister Mary Agnes described her vocation in this way: "I had often gone to visit my aunt and uncle at Vilsbiburg, a mission of our sisters, and got acquainted with the sisters there. The superior made application for me to the Munich Motherhouse. At the age of 17 (1929) I entered the SSND candidature in Munich-Au. After three years of training, especially in needlework, I made my state examination and qualified as a needlework teacher."

Shortly after this, she was missioned to Pleystein, the home of Bishop Wittman. In 1937, after five years there, she applied for Reception, indicating that she was willing to go to a foreign country because sisters had been dismissed from German schools by the government. She was hoping to go to Brazil. In all, 17 candidates volunteered to go to Brazil, so a special ceremony of Reception into the novitiate was held on March 31 for them. After Reception, half the class was sent to the novitiate in Breslau and the rest, including Sister Mary Agnes, went to the Brede convent in Westphalia.

During their novitiate, the group became enthusiastic about the prospect of going to Brazil. However, Mother Mary Almeda made a special visitation to the novices to tell them that they would be going to North America instead because the North American commisary, Mother Medulpha, had asked repeatedly for sisters. The group, though disappointed, saw God's will in this decision. In a letter that describes the precarious situation of the German sisters in 1938, Mother Almeda wrote, "On the 21st of April [16 newly professed sisters