In Loving Memory
Sister Bernadette (Rita) Bergeron, OSB, 93, St. Scholastica Monastery, died at the Monastery on Friday, June 19, 2009. She entered the Duluth Benedictine Community on August 30, 1941, and professed monastic vows on July 11, 1943. She was in the 66th year of her monastic profession. She celebrated her Silver Jubilee of monastic profession August 15, 1968; her Golden Jubilee July 11, 1993; and her Diamond Jubilee August 15, 2003.
Sister Bernadette was born December 2, 1915, in Cloquet, Minnesota. She received her elementary schooling at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart School in Cloquet, attended Stanbrook Hall in Duluth, and finished her high school education in Cloquet. She received an elementary teacher’s certificate from St. Cloud State College in 1935 and a B.S. degree from The College of St. Scholastica in 1956.
Sister Bernadette taught elementary grades at Cathedral Grade School and St. John the Evangelist School in Duluth; St. Francis School, Brainerd; Holy Name School, Wayzata; St. Timothy School, Chicago; and St. Thomas the Apostle School, Phoenix. She taught for 23 years at St. Bridget’s School, Minneapolis, and then served as school librarian. Later, she was the school librarian at Our Lady of Victory School, Minneapolis. She also taught summer religious education in several locations throughout the Duluth Diocese. In 1996 Sister Bernadette returned to the Monastery where she did volunteer services—assisting at the Information Desk, working in the Transportation Office and Spiritual Resource Center, and being a companion to Sisters.
Sister Bernadette expressed gratitude for her parents who were excellent models of Christian living. They, her parish priest, and the Sisters who taught her all nurtured her vocation to the Religious Life. Religion was her favorite subject to teach, and she enjoyed going through literature books in order to find good stories for her students. The Franciscan homilist at her funeral compared her to St. Francis of Assisi because of her love for nature and animals. It was said she sometimes picked up pennies on the sidewalks and used them to buy seed for birds. The Gospel reading for the funeral seemed appropriate because she, too, like the vigilant virgins who kept their lamps burning, kept her lamp burning in order to give to others light, clarity, and warmth.
Sister Bernadette was preceded in death by her parents, Ernest and Hermina; her stepmother, Marie; her sisters, Helen Bergeron and Beatrice Benson; and her brother Theodore. Besides the Sisters of St. Scholastica Monastery, she is survived by an extended family and many good friends.
A wake service was held on Wednesday, July 1, 2009, at 9:30 a.m., in Our Lady Queen of Peace Chapel, St. Scholastica Monastery, with visitation until 10:45. The Mass of Christian Burial followed at 11 a.m. with Father Anthony Criscitelli, T.O.R. as presider. Interment was in Gethsemane Cemetery.
MINISTRIES
Education
- Cathedral Grade School—Duluth, MN
- St. John the Evangelist School—Duluth, MN
- St. Francis School—Brainerd, MN
- Holy Name School—Wayzata, MN
- St. Timothy School—Chicago, IL
- St. Thomas the Apostle School—Phoenix, AZ
- St. Bridget’s School—Minneapolis, MN
Librarian
- St. Bridget’s School—Minneapolis, MN
- Our Lady of Victory School—Minneapolis, MN
Prayer Ministry