Sister Josephine Seier, SSSF, age 94, passed away on May 1, 2020 at Our Lady of the Angels Convent in Greenfield, WI.
Sister Josephine, daughter of August and Elizabeth (Dingwerth) Seier, was born November 25, 1925 in Raeville, NE.
She was the fourth youngest of eight children and attended the local parish grade school in Raeville.
At age of 14 she left home to join her older sister, Marie, who had earlier joined the School Sisters of St. Francis (SSSF) in Milwaukee, WI. Josephine was received into the School Sisters of St. Francis on June 21, 1941 and given the religious name of Sister Leonie.
She was to serve as a homemaker on missions throughout the Midwest during her early years in religious life. She enjoyed her life with the Sisters, often cooking tasty treats for special feast days and looking for ways to make the homelife of the Sisters fun.
In the mid-1960s Josephine changed her ministry and served as the Coordinator for retirement homes for the School Sisters of St. Francis in Nebraska.
Later she furthered her education pursuing Certification in Gerontology from the University of Nebraska at Omaha and then serving elders in parishes and other not-for-profit agencies.
Throughout her years of serving the elderly she enjoyed visiting their homes, engaging them in social activities together, having coffee with them at the local café and helping them to access resources that would make their lives better. She visited them in the local nursing homes and hospitals, and spent many hours praying with them, especially as they were making their final journey home to God.
She left active ministry in 1995 to move to Maria Linden (SSSF retirement home) in Rockford, IL, to spend time with her oldest blood-sister, Sr. Marie, as she was dying. Following Sr. Marie’s death in 1996, Josephine moved to Milwaukee, WI, to continue serving the elderly through the SSSF LaFarge Lifelong Learning Program at the motherhouse.
She then moved to Campbellsport, WI, where she served as a volunteer at St. Joseph Convent (another SSSF retirement facility). While there she served as a driver for the Sisters, sorted and delivered mail, and practiced reflexology giving hand and foot massages to the Sisters. She lived her life with love and joy, and was always willing to do any task that was asked of her in service to the Sisters. As her health declined and her dementia increased she moved to Our Lady of the Angels convent in Greenfield (a suburb of Milwaukee), WI to receive specialized memory care.
Josephine had a deep faith and trusted that God was always with her. In addition to her active prayer life and service to others, she enjoyed learning new things, traveling, engaging with the Sisters in games and other social events, spending time with her family, reading and listening to good music.
She always had ready stories to tell and was willing to try new things. In the early years of her religious life, when the Sisters were only allowed to come home once every six years, Josephine would cook and bake tasty treats, show her nieces how to make “butter” roses, and do things like ride a pony bareback in her habit.
Sister Josephine is survived by her youngest sister, Elizabeth [Betty] (George) Schmitz of Albion, NE, and two sisters-in-law, Leona (Bernard) Seier and Rosemary (Jerome) Seier, both of Albion, NE, countless nieces, nephews and cousins, and the School Sister of St. Francis Community with whom she shared her life of 79 years. A private mass of Christian burial was held on May 6, 2020 at St. Joseph Convent, Milwaukee, WI with interment at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Milwaukee, WI. Following the lifting of Coronavirus restrictians, a memorial mass will be held in her hometown area family and friends to celebrate her life.
