Tuesday, January 12, 2010

A Mass of Christian Burial for Franciscan Sister Olivia Marie Stier was celebrated on Jan. 5 in the motherhouse chapel of the Sisters of St. Francis, Oldenburg, Ind. Sister Olivia Marie, 97, died Jan. 3 at Margaret Mary Community Hospital in Batesville.

A native of Greensburg, Ind., Sister Olivia Marie entered the Oldenburg Franciscan community in 1930 and professed her final vows in 1936. Sister Olivia Marie’s ministry as teacher and principal in elementary education spanned 54 years. The schools she served include St. Ann in Hamilton; Sacred Heart, St. Bonaventure, Our Lady of Victory and St. James, all in the Cincinnati area; and St. Anthony in Dayton. She also taught in Indiana, Illinois and Missouri. In 1986 Sister Olivia Marie entered semi-retirement ministering in pastoral care and as a clerical assistant in the motherhouse infirmary. She entered full retirement at St. Clare Hall, the congregation’s health care facility, in 1990.

Sister Olivia Marie is survived by three sisters, Loretta Zoellner, Margaret Feldman and Franciscan Sister Anna Marie Stier. Interment was in the motherhouse cemetery.