VanderLoop, Sister Mary Bernice OSM

Other Events:

• Religious Vows: Abt 1947; Servants of Mary
• Obituary: 20 Sep 2011; Ladysmith News

Notes:

Obituary:
Sister Mary Bernice VanderLoop, OSM, 91, died on Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2011, at Rusk County Memorial Nursing Home in Ladysmith. She was born on a farm east of Ladysmith on Jan. 28, 1920, to George and Alice (Reynders) VanderLoop, the fourth of 13 children.
She attended Crabb Grade School and Tony High School. She obtained a teaching certificate from Rusk County Normal School and taught in rural elementary schools for four years. She enlisted in the army during World War II and rose to the rank of master sergeant. While enlisted she worked for a time in a top secret job at the Pentagon.
In 1947, she entered the Servants of Mary, following in the footsteps of her sister Loretta (Sister Mary John). She earned a bachelor?s degree in elementary education from the College of St. Scholastica, Duluth, and a master?s in elementary administration from the University of Wisconsin-Superior.
She ministered for 20 years as a teacher and principal in elementary schools in Minnesota, New Jersey, West Virginia and Wisconsin. She chaired and taught in the education department at Mount Senario College, Ladysmith.
In 1978, she was appointed superintendent of schools for the Diocese of Superior. Prior to that, the superintendent had always been a priest. She served two consecutive terms as President of the Servants of Mary (1980?1986). She ministered as a religious education director in Illinois and volunteered at Howard Area Community Center in Chicago, Ill. She retired to the motherhouse in Ladysmith, where she gave generously of her time and talents to Servite Center for Life.
Sr. Bernice is survived by her sisters Martina Doell, Sr. Mary John, OSM, Dorothy Krajewski, Gertrude O?Brien, Audrey Kvist (Don), and Anne Hauber (Jack); her brothers Paul (Mildred), Theodore (Julie), and George A. (Kathy); her brothers-in-law Joe Haasl and Frank Rotta; and many nieces and nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews, and her Servite Sisters.
She was preceded in death by her parents; sisters Marie Haasl, Eunice Rybicki, and Eileen Rotta; and brothers-in-law Wilmer Doell, Leo Krajewski, Patrick O?Brien, and Daniel Rybicki.
Funeral mass will be celebrated at Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church in Ladysmith on Monday, Sept. 19, at 11 a.m., with visitation in church beginning at 10 a.m. Burial will be in the convent cemetery in Ladysmith.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Servite Center for Life, PO Box 67, Ladysmith, WI 54848-0067.
The Nash-Jackan Funeral Home is assisting with arrangements.