+Sister Estelle Panger, OSB

Sister Estelle (Loyola Margaret) Panger, OSB, 101, of St. Scholastica Monastery died on May 14, 2014. She entered the Duluth Benedictines in March 7, 1931, and made her Monastic Profession on July 11, 1932.

Sister Estelle was born in Cloquet, Minnesota, on March 31, 1913, and attended Villa Sancta Scholastica for her high school education. She earned a BS degree in Education from The College of St. Scholastica, attended graduate studies at UMD and the Athenaeum of Cincinnati, and later earned certification as a Registered Occupational Therapist from The College of St. Catherine.

Sister Estelle’s ministry began with teaching in the elementary schools in Duluth, Brainerd, Cincinnati, International Falls, and Minneapolis for 23 years. During this time she also taught summer catechetical classes throughout the Duluth Diocese.

After becoming a Registered Occupational Therapist in 1956, Sister Estelle began a professional career in health care at St. Mary’s Hospital, Duluth, where she served as the Director of Occupational Therapy for 22 years. While at St. Mary’s she was the editor of the hospital newsletter “Mary Notes.”  Sister then spent two years gaining additional experience in a nursing home setting at American Health Care Center in Dubuque, Iowa.  When the Benedictine Health Center in Duluth opened in 1980, Sister started the Occupational Therapy Program where she served until her retirement in 1988.

Sister’s professional and civic activities included membership in the Occupational Therapy Association on the national, state, and local levels with service as president of the Minnesota Occupational Therapy Association for three years. She served on the planning committee for the “new” Central High School, on the advisory committee for the Miller-Dwan Occupational Therapy Department, and on a Duluth Diocesan committee for the improvement of handicapped accessibility in parishes.

Sister Estelle was preceded in death by her parents, Fred and Virginia Panger; her sisters: Honorine Oswald, Claudia Johnson, Sister Eunice Panger, OSB, Sister Alicia Panger, OSB, and Ollie Mae Fox and her brothers: Seconal (Joe), Leslie, and Lemire (Lee). Besides the Sisters of St. Scholastica Monastery, she is survived by many nieces, nephews, and friends.

There will be a wake service on Saturday, May 24, at 9:15 a.m. with visitation from 9:45 to 10:15 in Our Lady Queen of Peace Chapel at St. Scholastica Monastery. The Mass of Christian Burial will follow at 10:30 with Father Kevin Gordon as the presider. Burial will be in Gethsemane Cemetery. Funeral arrangements are by the Dougherty Funeral Home. Memorials to St. Scholastica Monastery are preferred.