Veronica Wald

Mankato Mortuary
1001 N. Riverfront Drive
Mankato, MN 56001
(507) 388-2202

Our beloved Sister Veronica Wald, 90, who celebrated her seventieth jubilee this past summer, died peacefully at 1:15 a.m., Tuesday, November 6, 2012, in Notre Dame Health Care Center, Our Lady of Good Counsel Campus, Mankato, Minnesota. She had been recently diagnosed with cancer, but was well enough to celebrate her ninetieth birthday with family, friends and community members less than a month before her death. Sister Veronica's sister, Sister Mary Alice Wald, SSND, was present with her at her death.

The funeral Mass for Sister Veronica, with Father Bernard Steiner as presider, will be at 10:30 a.m., Monday, November 12, in Good Counsel Chapel, followed by burial in our cemetery. The vigil service will be at 7:00 p.m. on Sunday, November 11. We extend our sympathy to her sisters Sister Mary Alice Wald, SSND, Catherine Meyer and Monica Podolak, her brothers Anton (Mary) and Joseph, her sisters-in-law Maggie, Elizabeth and Phyllis Wald, her brother-in-law, Fred Remien, her nieces and nephews and their families, her colleagues, and her sisters in community, the School Sisters of Notre Dame. She was preceded in death by her parents, Adam and Magdalen (Gross) Wald, her sisters Christine Larson, Magdalen Remien, Dorothy Schlosser and Eva Wilkes, and her brothers Peter, Adam, Andrew and Valentine.

Sister Veronica was born October 8, 1922, in Wishek, North Dakota, and baptized Veronica Agnes the following day at St. Anthony's Church in Napoleon. She was the seventh child in a family that would eventually include fourteen children " six boys and eight girls. When she was six, Veronica began attending a small country school near her home, but, as she recounted later, "We were taught our religion at home. We memorized our catechism and said all of our prayers in German. I made my first Holy Communion when I was eight years old. I will always remember that happy day when Jesus came to me for the first time."

Following her graduation from eighth grade at age fourteen, Veronica stayed home for a year. Her autobiography described her first experience with sisters: "In June 1937, two Ursuline Sisters came to our parish to prepare us for Confirmation. That was the first time I saw a sister. I could hardly wait for the first day of class to meet them. They knew that most of us had never seen a sister. One day they told us how and why they became sisters. While they were telling about their life, I thought that I would like to be one someday. I will always remember what they told us, "If anyone of you feel you would like to become a priest or sister, just pray to our Dear Lord and He will take care of you.' I made up my mind on Confirmation Day, June 27, 1937, to be a sister."

The following year, Veronica's older sister Dorothy entered the SSND candidature. Veronica continued her vocation story, "After Dorothy entered, she prayed that I might enter, too. Four months later, I followed her. I entered on December 8, 1938. I had never seen a Notre Dame Sister until I entered. My parents were surprised when I asked to enter the convent, because I never said anything about entering before. They were very happy and said, "Daughter, do as you please. If it is God's will, we hope and pray that you will persevere.'" (Dorothy later left SSND, but Veronica's younger sister Mary joined the community in 1942.)

Veronica spent nine months at Good Counsel as a candidate. In September 1939, she was sent to New Hradec, North Dakota, where she helped with cooking and housework for seventy-one boarders. A year later, she returned to the candidature. On her reception day, July 18, 1941, she was given the name Sister Mary Bertilla, but she later returned to her baptismal name.

Following her profession of vows in 1942, Sister Bertilla began thirty-eight years of ministry as a home service sister. She served in convents in Minnesota: SS. Peter & Paul, Mankato (1942-44, 1956-59, 1965-66), St. Felix, Wabasha (1944-47, 1962-65), St. Agnes, St. Paul (1969-72) and St. Matthew, St. Paul (1972-77); in Iowa: SS. Peter & Paul, Springbrook (1947-52); and Immaculate Conception, Gilbertville (1952-56); in Washington: St. Joseph, Spokane (1959-60) and Immaculate Heart Retreat House, Spokane (1977-80); and in North Dakota: St. Mary, New England (1960-62); SS. Peter & Paul, Strasburg (1966-67), and SS. Peter & Paul, New Hradec (1967-69). In some of these locations, her responsibilities included cooking for boarders, which she thoroughly enjoyed. In 1947, her recipe for "Home Made Salad Dressing" was published in the Notre Dame Centenary Cookbook.

In 1981, Sister Veronica moved to St. Francis de Sales in St. Paul, where she was a parish visitor to the elderly, ill, and homebound until 1990, when she began participating in the Sisters Care program sponsored by the Sisters of St. Joseph. In 1996, she retired at Good Counsel where she gave community service as long as she was able.

In her years of service, Sister Veronica took advantage of various opportunities to expand her horizons. She participated in the Clara City, Minnesota, migrant program, worked with Sister Margaret Ellen Traxler in Chicago, worked with the Staff Builders Agency and family outreach, staffed a telephone hotline, helped with food service at Schmidt Brewery, volunteered at the Dorothy Day Center (20 years), substituted in school, and helped at parish soup suppers in St. Paul. Sister Veronica was a member of the province Life for All Seasons Committee, earned Sisters Care certification, participated in workshops for the care of elderly people, and was trained for the Vocational Hot Lunch program. In filling out a form that asked for her education, she responded, "My education was from the school of experience!" In 1980, she was given the opportunity to make a pilgrimage to Rome and the Holy Land, which, together with her jubilee trip to Rome, she counted as significant experiences in her life.

Sister Veronica was known for her creative sense of humor and displayed it in a variety of ways, including a poem she wrote in the 1940s, which begins: "I was going to write a poem about St. Patrick/I tried hard, but glory be to Frederick!/I wasted so much time/trying to find words that rhyme/I guess I'll write about St. Joseph, my friend./He is a Saint on whom I always depend/Now I don't want to start a fight/St. Patrick is all right/But . . ./St. Joseph is greater./His feast comes two days later,/He always answers my prayers/Temporal and spiritual cares./He is truly my friend, I'll have you know./I consider it a privilege to tell you so. . . ."

During this past year, Sister Veronica eagerly looked forward to celebrating her ninetieth birthday and her seventieth jubilee as a School Sister of Notre Dame. She was grateful that so many family members were able to be a part of the celebrations. May Sister Veronica, who experienced the everlasting love of Jesus for ninety years and His call to her to be a School Sister of Notre Dame for seventy years now fully know the words of her theme, "You are mine!"

Sister Mary Kay Ash, SSND