Sister Barbara Ann Vierzba (Amadeo), OSB, 72, died on May 18, 2016 at St. Scholastica Monastery. She entered the Duluth Benedictine Community on September 8, 1962, and made monastic profession on July 11, 1964. She celebrated her Silver Jubilee in 1989 and her Golden Jubilee in 2014.
Sister Barbara was born in Brainerd, Minnesota, on November 16, 1943, and received her high school education in Brainerd and Duluth. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Elementary Education from The College St. Scholastica in Duluth, a Master of Arts in Education from the University of Minnesota Duluth, and Clinical Pastoral Education certification at St. Mary’s Hospital, Duluth.
Sister Barbara Ann taught for twenty-five years at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart School in Cloquet, Minnesota; St. Timothy’s School in Chicago, Illinois; and St. Thomas the Apostle School in Phoenix, Arizona. She was principal and teacher at St. James School in Duluth, Minnesota, and St. Francis of Assisi School in Brainerd. She continued ministering to others in the Sisters Care Program in St. Paul, Minnesota, and at St. Gabriel’s Hospital and St. Otto’s Nursing Home in Little Falls, Minnesota, as Chaplain.
Sister Barbara Ann also served in the Monastery Business Office and was the Subprioress at the Monastery for twelve years before retiring due to ill health. She served on the Board of Trustees for St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Brainerd for ten years and the Benedictine Health Center in Duluth for six years.
Sister Barbara Ann was preceded in death by her parents George and Rose (Schley) Vierzba and her brother, Michael.
Besides the Sisters of St. Scholastica Monastery, she is survived by one sister, Joanne (Lloyd) Shun, brothers Edmund, Douglas (Marsha) and Marvin, sister-in-law Donette Vierzba, many nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews, and many friends.
The Wake Service/Morning Prayer will be held on May 28, 2016 at 9:30 a.m. in Our Lady Queen of Peace Chapel. The Mass of Christian Burial will follow at 11:00 a.m., Reverend Brian Schultz, Presider. Burial is at Gethsemane Cemetery. Arrangements are by Dougherty Funeral Home. Memorials to St. Scholastica Monastery are preferred.