Sister Catherine Riegel
1926-2008

Sister Catherine Riegel began her interesting and well-written autobiography in this way: "A loving and gracious God introduced me to my wonderful parents, Richard and Catherine (Schmitt) Riegel, on July 2, 1926." She was the eighth of ten children, and baptized Bernice.

Both parents were born in Germany-Richard Riegel in Bavaria and Catherine Schmitt in Alsace-Lorraine. After serving in the German army, Richard Riegel left Germany for the United States. He lived in Detroit, and there he met Catherine Schmitt at a dance. After their marriage, he worked for a time at the Fisher Body Company, then at the Stroh Brewery, and finally at Goebel Brewery, where he was a superintendent until his retirement.

Times were hard for the parents during the Great Depression and the war, but the family's life was happy. Sister Catherine wrote of the pleasant atmosphere in their home-of holidays filled with singing, dancing, and playing family games, of leisurely summer Sunday afternoons spent at recreational parks or beaches. Both parents were dedicated Catholics, and desirous of nurturing their children's faith. After Mass on Sundays, Richard Riegel held what Sister Catherine called humorously "CCD classes." He assembled his children, discussed the priest's homily with them, told them stories of the saints, and encouraged them in their daily prayers.

The family belonged to St. Catherine Parish, and most of their children attended the parish school for both grade and high school. Bernice was nine years old when, on a dark, snowy day in January, her twenty-one-year old sister Margaret left home to become a postulant in Adrian. Sister Catherine wrote, "My heavy heart and profuse tears matched the weather perfectly."

As her high school years drew to a close, Bernice began to think seriously of following Margaret, now known as Sister Richard Marie, into the Adrian Congregation. She visited the sisters at St. Theresa Convent several times, and in December 1943 she attended the Reception Ceremony in Adrian, which inspired her and strengthened her resolve to become an Adrian Dominican. This saddened her parents, but they did nothing to prevent her entrance. Shortly before she left home, she and her mother went to see the movie, "The Song of Bernadette." Both were silent on the way home, thinking of how soon they would part.

She graduated in June 1944, and on June 25 she arrived in Adrian and entered the postulate. She wrote that her time in the postulate and novitiate was "busy and challenging." A highlight was the return of Sister Richard Marie from the West, where she had been recuperating from tuberculosis. Bernice received the habit and her religious name (Sister Catherine Leo) on January 3, 1945, and professed her first vows on January 5, 1946.

Shortly after profession, she was sent to Muldoon High School, where for a short time she substituted for a sister scheduled for surgery. She wrote, "Teaching religion and Latin to students my age and older proved to be an especially apprehensive experience." She was much relieved when she returned to Adrian and finished the months until August as a full-time student at Siena Heights College (now University).

In August 1946 she received her first full-time assignment. She was sent to St. Joseph in Marblehead, Ohio, where she taught for four years, at first in the middle grades, then in the primary grades. In 1950 she was transferred to the Southwest where she taught kindergarten at St. Joseph in Winslow, Arizona, and also served as musician. At Sister Catherine's wake, Sister Patricia Wiley remembered:

Sometimes her parents would come to visit her. I'm from Winslow, and my parents still lived there. Sister Catherine's parents would stay with my parents, James and Cecilia Wiley. It delighted me to think that Richard, her father, could talk to my father James about having daughters in the Adrian Dominicans and explain just what the mystery of religious life was to my father. My father was not a Catholic, but he was a fine Christian gentleman.

During the summers Sister Catherine studied at Siena Heights College in Adrian, and in July 1952 the College conferred upon her a Bachelor's Degree with a major in English and minors in Latin and history.

In August 1952, she was again assigned to the Midwest and served as musician and teacher of middle grade and junior high students at St. Matthew in Chicago. A period of sadness entered her life, when she returned to Detroit for her father's funeral in November 1955.

After seven years at St. Matthew, she was assigned to three years in Michigan on the primary level and as musician: a year at St. William in Walled Lake and two years at St. Anthony in Harbor Beach. The next three years were at St. Mary in Van Wert, Ohio, with middle grade students.

In 1965 she was again assigned to St. Joseph in Marblehead, Ohio, this time as superior and principal. This assignment lasted only three years, because the school closed in 1968. At Sister Catherine's wake, Karen Raszkowski, the former Sister Kevin Joseph who left the Congregation in 1972, said, "Even though slight in stature, she was large in heart."

We were a four-woman community, teaching double grades. Before full-fledged accreditation became the norm, Sister Catherine led us to be a blue ribbon school from start to finish. Because music was part of the curriculum and I couldn't sing, Sister Catherine taught me the songs on a pitch pipe every night before my music lesson with the kids. It didn't help my singing, but the kids and I made it through anyway.

When our convent flooded, we could no longer live there. We finished the school year staying in a home on the lake belonging to the parents of one of the students, also a parishioner. Her heart was broken when the school closed.

Brought back to Detroit, Sister Catherine taught first grade for a year at St. Jude, and during this time she knew sadness again when she lost her mother in 1969. She then returned to Ohio for a year at St. Mary in Swanton. As a result of summer study at Siena Heights College, she received a Master's Degree in education in July 1970. The three following years of teaching were with junior high students: a year at St. Vincent Ferrer in Cincinnati, Ohio, and two years at St. Mary in St. Clair, Michigan. She then returned to Ohio for three years at St. Pius X in Toledo.

She wrote that "the inclement weather had become almost unbearable," so she chose to spend the balance of her teaching years in California and Arizona. In 1976 she taught for a year at Holy Cross in Santa Cruz, California, then for a year at Loretto in Douglas, Arizona. The next seven years were in California: two years at St. Lawrence O'Toole in Oakland, five years at St. John of the Cross in Lemon Grove, and a semester at Mount St. Joseph in Barstow. The second semester of that year was at St. Matthew in Phoenix, Arizona, where she was principal until 1988. She studied during the summers at Seattle University, and in 1984 received a second Master's Degree, this time in religious studies.

In 1988 she returned to California, and taught for a year at St. Mary Star of the Sea in Oceanside, five years at Junipero Serra in Carmel where she served as teacher, then as librarian, and three years at Good Shepherd School in Santa Cruz as religious education coordinator and librarian. In 1994 she began living at Dominican Oaks. Her life there she described as "gracious living, a loving atmosphere, and numerous amenities in abundance."

Sister Richard Marie's death in 1995 was a shock. Sister Catherine attended the wake and funeral in Adrian, then returned to Santa Cruz. Her sight was failing; and in 1997 she began her ministry as a volunteer at Dominican Santa Cruz Hospital until March 2005, part of the time as a patient, and the rest of the time in the gift shop. She loved her duties there.

She retired to Adrian in March 2005. During that year, as her sight failed, she lost her sister Loretta and her brother Elmer. She joined them and the other loved ones in eternity on the Feast of St. Catherine of Siena, April 29, 2008.

Sister Mary Sue Kennedy, Prioress of Adrian Crossroads Mission Chapter, opened the wake-remembrance service held for Sister Catherine on May 1 in St. Catherine Chapel. Sister Mary Sue extended sympathy and welcomed those who had come to bid Sister Catherine farewell: her sister-in-law Irene, many nieces and nephews, and her many Dominican friends. She then summarized Sister Catherine's life and ministry, and added:

Her sight continued to decline and her fierce independence made the days difficult during these years that blindness created a need for dependence on others for her needs. But [she] continued on and spent a considerable amount of time learning Braille. . . . She continued to participate in a great multitude of activities on campus.

Sister Margaret Ann Reardon spoke of "the Sister Catherine that I knew."

She was a deeply religious, prayerful person who took seriously the idea of meditating and giving to others the fruits of her meditation. . . . She was one of the most intelligent and creative people that I was happy to know. She had three great loves in her life: her God, her family, her vocation as an Adrian Dominican. She had a great sense of humor-she could really get a laugh out of you.

She came to Adrian a little dubious. She was losing her eyesight, with little hope from doctors of regaining her sight. She felt this was untrue, and continued to believe that this would not happen. She tried to use no cane or walker to show her belief in returning sight, and she tried to learn Braille in case she needed it.

Sister Joyce Caulfield sent a fax that was read. She wrote in part:

I had the privilege of living with Sister Catherine in two community settings. She was a woman of prayer, and we enjoyed sharing many moments of our spiritual journeys. She had a wonderful sense of humor and was great fun. When she went with me to visit my family, she entered fully into the outdoor water balloon antics of both children and adults. When we would go to spend the night and visit her family, we would laugh when reading the sign that had been posted on the front door of her sister and brother-in-law's house, NO VACANCY. Throughout her life, she was open to learning.

Sister Celestine Dunne said in part:

Although I lived with her, I became much better acquainted with her here in Adrian these past years. She had a wonderful sense of humor; and you might find it interesting to hear that  the day before she died she said that she would like a beer. I don't think she got it, though.

Karen Raszkowski, a good friend, mentioned remembered events from the days at Marblehead, Ohio, where Sister Catherine was in charge.

Every major feast day was a day for a party, and Stroh's beer was on tap. As you saw in the picture out in the hall, St. Patrick's Day was a big one with Sister wearing her green scapular. Other big days were St. Catherine of Siena and my feast day, St. Joseph the Worker.

She was a strong woman, an honorable woman, a true soldier with a great heart. It was very important to her to be independent, and that's what she missed most when she came here.

Jean Harmsen, Sister Catherine's niece, spoke of her love for her aunt.

The best memories that I have of her are from when I was a little girl. When she and her companion came to stay with us, my brother and I gave up our beds and slept on the floor. We loved that. She was a very special person, a loving, giving person.

I remember that one time my dad took her to a Detroit Tigers' game, and they had a beer. She had red hair, and I called her "Carrot Top." I loved my Carrot Top and will miss her very much.

Sister Patricia Wiley also spoke of the last years.

Sister Catherine's blindness was the beginning of her dark night of the soul. All of the wonderful talents and qualities were taken-she was emptied, dependent on others. Many experienced her response when a kind offer of assistance was made. She did not want any assistance. Her struggle increased as her physical and mental capacity decreased.

Sister Catherine's funeral liturgy was held on May 2, with Father Roland Calvert, OSFS, as presider and homilist. Father said in part:

A group of Sister's friends and family gathered in her room last Monday, and we had a final anointing service. On the following day she died, the feast of St. Catherine of Siena. It would not be fanciful, I think, to say that St. Catherine was one of the ones greeting her namesake as she entered Heaven.

Sister Catherine chose life and gave that gift of life to many others in her ministry and friendships through the years. She returns now to the Author of all life. She has walked humbly with her God and now enjoys the gift of life that lasts for all eternity.