Sr. Bernadette Jaeger

Sister Bernadette Jaeger

Jan. 24, 1920-August 12, 2016

Sister Bernadette Jaeger, OSF, 96, peacefully passed away early Friday morning, August 12, 2016 at St. Gerard’s Community of Care, Hankinson, ND. She was a lifelong member of her religious

community, the Franciscan Sisters of Dillingen, Hankinson.

Sister Bernadette (Elizabeth) Jaeger was born January 24, 1920, in Fulda, North Dakota, the daughter of Lawrence and Eva (Schall) Jaeger. In her own words, we read in her biography, “When I heard the Lord calling me to religious life it was a great gift and a joy. I had the help and prayers of my oldest sister, Magdalena, who was also a Franciscan Sister in Hankinson at that time. In obedience I followed this call. I went to Hankinson as a candidate in 1937 and in 1939 I was received into the novitiate. In 1940, I made my temporary vows and in 1943 my perpetual vows. For eight years I worked in the bakery of St. Francis Convent in Hankinson; in 1950 I got my first assignment for a mission which was St. John’s in Collegeville, MN. There I baked millions of loaves of bread, which sold like hotcakes, and which also went to 1300 students we fed, plus the priests and employees.”

Following Collegeville, Sister Bernadette was transferred to St. John’s School in Wahpeton where she worked for three years until 1963. From 1963 till 1979 she was at Holy Family School in Grand Forks working in the hot lunch program. From 1979 to 1987 she was working at Cardinal Muench Seminary at the request of Fr. Val Gross.

In 1987 Sr. Bernadette was invited to work at the Congregation’s General headquarters in LaStorta, just outside Rome, Italy. There she spent 13 happy years serving the Church, even getting to know Cardinal Ratzinger, who later became Pope Benedict XVI.

In September of 2000 Sr. Bernadette was missioned to St. Joseph Convent in Oakes, North Dakota. For several years, then she was very happy to accompany Sr. Leonida to West Fargo when St. Clare’s Convent was opened there in October of 2005. However a fall resulting in hip surgery necessitated her return to the provincial house in Hankinson just 5 months later. She was transferred to St. Gerard’s Community of Care in Hankinson, in June of 2012, where she received excellent care for which the Franciscan Sisters are most grateful.

In 2015 she celebrated her 75th jubilee of religious profession with her religious community and many family and friends, in Hankinson.

Sister Bernadette is survived by her Franciscan Sisters, her sister, Irene (Jack) Igers, Wausau, Wisconsin, her brother, Christ (Diane) Jaeger, Rugby, her brother, Jerome (Ann) Jaeger,

Minot, and many beloved nieces and nephews and their families.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Lawrence and Eva, and her siblings, Sister Theresa (Magdalena), Joseph, Louie, Monica, John, Anne, Barbara, Margaret, Theresa, and an infant sister also named Barbara.

Visitation will be from 2:30-4:30 p.m. and a Prayer Service at 7:00 p.m. Wednesday August 17, 2016 at St. Francis Convent Chapel, Hankinson. The funeral Mass of Christian Burial will take place at 10 a.m. Thursday, August 18, 2016, at St. Francis Convent Chapel. The burial will be in St. Francis Convent Cemetery.

Frank Family Funeral Home, Hankinson, ND is in charge of the arrangements.