Sister Gertrude Sitzmann
1918-2006

George and Mary (Carel) Sitzmann were the parents of thirteen children. Eleven of them lived to adulthood, nine daughters and two sons, and two died in infancy, Donald and Vivian. Nine of their children, seven daughters (Dorothy, Eileen, Marion, Gertrude, Esther, Georgine, and Eunice) and both sons (Jerome and Robert), entered the service of the Church. The three oldest daughters became members of the Servants of Mary; the two youngest, Benedictine Sisters; and Gertrude and Esther, Adrian Dominican Sisters. The two sons were ordained Benedictine priests.

Because of their devotion to the Church and to their family, George and Mary Sitzmann were honored by the Holy Father, Pope John XXIII. In 1950, George Sitzmann was knighted with the title “Equestrian Knight,” and in 1954, Mary Sitzmann was also honored and given the title “Equestrian Lady.” Both parents were from Hinton, Iowa. George Sitzmann was of German heritage and Mary Carel came from Irish ancestry. After their marriage, they raised their children on a large farm near Kingsley, Iowa.

The fifth child in the Sitzmann family was a daughter baptized Gertrude. Gertrude was born on February 10, 1918, in Kingsley. In her detailed and interesting autobiography she wrote: “I often helped my father in driving the tractor or truck and I attended a one-room country school with all eight grades.” Gertrude and Esther were the only students in that school who passed the state tests that enabled them to enter high school. Their parents enrolled them at Mount St. Mary Academy in Cherokee, Iowa, and three years later Gertrude transferred to St. Angela Academy in Carroll, Iowa, from which she graduated in June 1937.

At the wake, Sister Gertrude’s sister, Sister Rosalie, OSB, told an amusing story that illustrated Gertrude’s sense of responsibility. It seems that the parents had gone away and left the oldest in charge. The oldest at that time was Gertrude. The younger children were instructed to obey her.

We were getting ready to go to bed, when we heard a big noise coming from the chicken house in the back. We got it in our heads that maybe gypsies were going through and collecting the eggs. Gertrude ran downstairs and did something we were never supposed to do. She took my father’s gun off the wall. When she came upstairs with the gun, we were scared and started crying. She said, “I have to take care of this.” When she got out there I guess there was an animal, a raccoon or something, that had caused the rumpus.

In 1936, Esther entered the postulate at Adrian, but after graduation from high school Gertrude continued her education at Mount Marty College in Yankton, South Dakota, operated by the Benedictine Sisters. After a year she left college and taught for two years in a country school similar to the one she had attended. She was then almost twenty-three years of age, and her mother encouraged her to return to college and finish a bachelor’s degree. After some investigation, she chose to register at Siena Heights College (now University) in Adrian, operated by the Adrian Dominican Sisters, the Congregation to which Esther (now known as “Sister Marie Jerome,”) belonged.

Within a short time, thoughts of becoming a religious sister began to surface in Gertrude’s mind. After talking with Sister Ann Joachim, she decided that she would enter the Adrian Dominican postulate on January 23, 1941. That same day she accompanied Mother Mary Gerald Barry to Barry College (now University) in Miami, Florida, to join five other postulants who had been sent there to add to the enrollment. Barry College had opened in 1940 and was being dedicated in 1941. Gertrude had not told her parents of her decision to enter the postulate, but upon arrival in Miami she wrote to them. In her autobiography we read, “Neither of my parents had ever been in an airplane, but they flew down immediately to see me.” According to regulations, she could not have company for three months; but her father prevailed upon Sister Francis Joseph Wright, who was acting as novice mistress, to bend a little, and the visit was allowed. Her parents told her that if she were not happy, she should feel free to return home. She, however, had made up her mind to become an Adrian Dominican Sister.

She returned to Adrian for the summer and joined the group of postulants there. On August 12, 1941, she, with her group, received the habit and her religious name (Sister Robert Mary), and the required canonical novitiate year began that ended in the taking of first vows on August 19, 1942. A few months before, in June 1942, she had received her bachelor’s degree from Siena Heights College with a major in philosophy and minors in English and German.

Within a short time of profession, she was in a car headed for Detroit, where she taught in the middle grades at St. Brigid School for three years. During the summers of 1944 and 1945 she was assigned to do parish visiting, and when the 1945-46 year opened, her assignment did not send her to a school. Instead, she was assigned to do parish visiting with headquarters at St. Catherine of Siena Center in Cincinnati, Ohio. She wrote that this work “encouraged conversions, return to sacraments, baptisms of children, and the return to the Faith of many.”

After five years in parish visiting, she was assigned to Dominican High School in Detroit, where she taught history, religion, and English for five years. She had been studying at Loyola University in Chicago during the summers, and her distinction as a teacher increased when, in February 1953, the university conferred upon her a master’s degree in education.

Transferred to Alpena, Michigan, in 1955, she spent a year at St. Bernard High School; then, because of her father’s illness, requested that she be assigned closer to home. In 1956, she was assigned to five years at Aquinas High School in Chicago. Her first year there, she received the shocking news of her mother’s death, and two years later her father died. In 1960, she returned to Michigan where she spent the next eight years: five years at Rosary High School in Detroit, and three years at St. Mary in Rockwood, where she taught history, typing, and economics, and served as superior and principal. About her ministry she wrote:

These days vocations were encouraged, and I had assisted six postulants for Adrian. At most of the high schools, I managed a soda bar and got to know the students in social ways, especially through the bus tours, paper drives, etc.

Her talents were well used during the summers between teaching years. In summer 1961, she and her religious sisters traveled in Europe. During the summers of 1962 and 1963, she taught courses at Siena Heights College. She had studied nursing at Mount Carmel Hospital in Detroit during the summer of 1943, and during the summer of 1965, she was given the responsibility of caring for the elderly sisters at Innisfail.

In 1968, she spent her only year outside the Midwest. For a year she taught seventh grade at St. Paschal Baylon School in Oakland, California. She was then brought back to Adrian, and assigned as a high school teacher at St. Joseph Academy for five years. More tragedy entered the Sitzmann family at that time. Sister Marion, OSM, was diagnosed with terminal leukemia and bone cancer. Sister Gertrude moved to Detroit to help care for her until her death in 1972. Since the sisters were no longer receiving assignments from the Adrian Generalate, she lived in an apartment and found a ministry with the Detroit public schools. For fourteen years she taught first grade, a ministry that she loved: in Fields School for a year, Stephens School for a year, and Bunche School for twelve years. About this ministry she wrote:

I did not feel out of place there as a committed teacher, as I was held in respect and esteem by the faculty and students. When I was teaching in an all-black school, the children were loving and seemed to surpass others in their reading ability.

In 1988, she was seventy years of age, and thought it time to retire. She returned to Adrian for a year, then went back to Detroit and settled at Riverside Towers, a ten-story HUD complex of 472 apartments, where rent was based on income. There she found plenty of opportunities to minister to the elderly. She wrote, “I love the grateful smiles of the many beautiful people here.” In August 1992, she was voted “resident of the month.” She wrote that she used much of her time in visiting the elderly, assisting the handicapped, preparing meals for senior citizens and driving them to doctors and shopping. During the time that she was there, Sisters Nancyann Turner and Margaret Naber visited her often. At the wake, a fax was read from them. It said in part:

We were always amazed at how well known and loved she was … Throughout our visits to her apartment people would continually stop by to bring cookies, jam, or just to visit — or to ask for prayers. Each time, it seemed that the whole apartment building wanted to connect with her.

Even though she had no formal title or ministry at this place, clearly she was a pastoral minister for the hundreds of people who lived there. Her presence eloquently gave hope and built community for many.

Sister Irene Kerich, who was working with the poor at St. Ambrose Parish at that time, also shared memories. She spoke of lending a hand to Sister Gertrude in picking up and delivering the food to the poor (and perhaps some sharing that the Riverside Towers people did with Sister Irene’s people at St. Ambrose Parish).

Once a month the tenants in Sister Gertrude’s building received government commodities, which were very large for those who cooked for only one. She would call me and tell me … to meet her and help her haul in the bounty … A time came when she was no longer able to deliver, so that meant that I had to do the pick up. I had the apartment numbers of those who always offered her food, so with help I was able to continue.

Sister Rosalie, OSB, also had words of praise.

If there is one word to describe Sister Gertrude, it’s “generosity.” She was so extremely generous with her time and talent. I went on some visits with her when she was working with the elderly. The care that she gave them was wonderful.

About her health Sister Gertrude wrote:

In 1991, I had carpal tunnel surgery, surgery on a deviated septum in 1991, cataract surgery in both eyes in 1992, left breast biopsy in 1993, TIA stroke in 1994, broken wrist and tests for cancer in 1996.

She, however, was well enough to accompany a senior citizen to the Holy Land in 1994. She wrote, “Words could never express my experiences there. I loved the land and people of Jerusalem.”

She ended her autobiography with the words. “Life has been good. I have taken time to speak and listen to Jesus. Only he knows my interior thoughts and gratitude to my many friends, especially the Adrian Dominican Sisters.”

In February 2002, with severely failing health, she returned to Adrian and moved into the Dominican Life Center/Maria, where she remained until her death in 2006.

Sister Gertrude’s wake and remembrance service was held in St. Catherine Chapel on February 13. Sister Joan Sustersic, Prioress of Holy Rosary Mission Chapter, extended sympathy to the relatives who were present — Sister Gertrude’s sisters, Sisters Esther, OP, and Rosalie, OSB, Ruth Morrissey, and several nieces and nephews. Her sisters, Sister Faith, OSB, and Marlys Koopman, were not able to be present. Fathers Marion and Alphonse, OSB; and Sisters Annette, Ambrose, and Marcella, OSM, had preceded her in death.

Sister Joan summarized Sister Gertrude’s life and ministry, and spoke of her solicitude for Sister Esther and her last days.

Always solicitous of her younger sister Esther, Gertrude would check on her daily and provide her with a multitude of little treats — candy and fruit. However, Gertrude herself experienced cardiac problems, and of late wasn’t able to look in on Esther. She did ask others to do so, and once in a while Esther was brought up to visit. They were both delighted when their sister Ruth, her niece and husband came to visit.

Gertrude knew that her time on this earth was limited. Her illnesses had taken their toll on her heart. Last week she experienced what she — and w e— thought was the flu. Friday I had a chat with her, and she expressed her desire to remain at the DLC and be kept comfortable. The nurses tried everything they could. The pain was overwhelming so she was transferred to the hospital where she died peacefully on the day after her eighty-eighth birthday.

Rob Morrissey, Sister Gertrude’s nephew, spoke of the times when his religious aunts and uncles would come for home visits. Because of this, he felt comfortable around religious people.

When they came home, if we got in trouble, Sister Gertrude would get us out of trouble. She’d always bring us toys and play with us. It was always a treat when they came home. We always told Sister Gertrude and the others how much we loved them. She always gave us so much love and had so much life.

She left us on February 11, 2006. We can imagine her joy at meeting in eternity the parents, sisters, and brothers who had preceded her, and their joy in greeting her. But her greatest joy was in meeting and greeting the One to whom her life and service was dedicated. Those left behind will miss her, but the many memories of her goodness and generosity will linger on.

Sister Gertrude’s funeral took place on February 14 in St. Catherine Chapel in the presence of her family and her many Dominican friends.