Sister Ingrid Luukkonen, OSB, 87, died January 30, 2015 at St. Scholastica Monastery. Born in Zim, Minnesota, she was the daughter of Albert and Helmi Luukkonen. Sister was in her 56th year of Monastic Profession.
Sister Ingrid entered St. Scholastica Monastery in 1956 as a Postulant; she professed her Triennial Vows on July 11, 1958 and her Perpetual Vows on July 11, 1963. She began her teaching career at St. Anthony’s Parish in Duluth where she taught fifth and sixth graders (1959-61). Then she was assigned to Our Lady of Victory School in Minneapolis and taught first and second grades from 1961-1966. Also during this time she earned a B.S. in Education with a minor in Sociology from The College of St. Scholastica.
Sister Ingrid had great love for the poor and elderly. In 1967 she volunteered to travel to Salar del Carmen in Antofagasta, Chile, to live and work among the poor. Although she was not familiar with the culture, the people, or fluent in Spanish, she became immersed in the community, eventually forming classes ranging from cooking to Bible study, to church and family issues. She returned to the Monastery in 1974, where she served as Vocation Director from 1975-1981.
Attending Loyola University in the summers of 1980 and 1981, she earned a Master’s Degree in Pastoral Ministry, Adult Education, leading to her service as a Parish Minister at St. Thomas Parish, International Falls from 1982-2001. From 2001-2009, Sister Ingrid volunteered at St. Thomas Parish as a Senior Companion, helping the senior citizens of the parish by visiting them in their homes, taking them shopping, to the library, or to the clinic or hospital. “They are the pillars of the Church, and we should not forget them,” she declared. Sister Ingrid returned to St. Scholastica Monastery in 2010.
Sister Ingrid was preceded in death by her parents, her brothers Everett, Victor, Jalmer J., Roy W., Jack A., and Warner B. Luukkonen, and by her sister Marian Koski. Besides the Sisters of St. Scholastica Monastery, she is survived by her brothers Edwin and Raymond, and by her sisters Esther Koivunen and Lorraine Aho, nieces, nephews, and many good friends.
The Wake was on Saturday, February 7, 2015, at 9:30 a.m. in Our Lady Queen of Peace Chapel. The Mass of Christian Burial was at 10:30 a.m., with Father Ben Hadrich, presiding. The interment was in Gethsemane Cemetery. Memorials to St. Scholastica Monastery are preferred. Arrangements were by Affordable Cremation and Burial.