Rita Studer

Sister Rita Studer, (also known as Sister Mary Julius), School Sister of Notre Dame, age 80, died Friday, March 19, 2004, at Good Counsel Convent, Mankato. The Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10:30 a.m. on Monday at Good Counsel Chapel, with Father Peter Nosbush as celebrant. Visitation is from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. on Sunday at Good Counsel, with Vespers in the chapel at 7:00 p.m. Visitation is also one hour prior to the funeral on Monday. Mankato Mortuary is in charge.

Sister Rita was born March 14, 1924, in Tony, Wisconsin, to Julius and Caroline (Wingert) Studer. She entered the School Sisters of Notre Dame in Mankato in 1944 and took First Vows in 1946. For 20 years she taught upper grades in schools in Minnesota and Iowa, before moving into teaching religious education for four years, followed by eight years in Guatemala. In 1981, she went to Washington, D.C., where she served in the National Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala for eight years, after which she became Eastern Regional Director of Sister Parish, working first in Washington, D.C. and then St. Paul. Sister Parish is a program in which church congregations in the United States connect in a very personal way with a parish or faith community in Central America. In 1995, Sister Rita came to Good Counsel where she continued to work part-time in the Sister Parish program.

Sister Rita is survived by six sisters, Sister Madeline, Good Counsel, and Virginia Orthel, Carol Elmore, Kay Perez, Margaret Studer, and Rose Studer, five brothers, Stanley Studer of Mankato, and Cletus, Philip, Steven, and Gerald Studer, and by her sisters in community, the School Sisters of Notre Dame. She was preceded in death by her parents and five brothers, Vincent, Marvin, Dennis, Fabian, and Julius, Jr.