Bertha Beck SSND

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Biography

Bertha Maria Frances Beck was born on April 18, 1909 in Mankato, Blue Earth, Minnesota. She is the daughter of Albert Beck and Sophia Menne. ^{[1] [2]} Being born on a Sunday morning, she was baptized that same afternoon at SS. Peter & Paul Church. After Baptism, her paternal aunt Sister Mary Palemona (Sophia Beck), took her to the convent chapel and placed her under the protection of the Blessed Mother. ^{[3] [4]}

The 1910 Federal Census, taken April 19th, listed Bertha, age 1, as living with her parents Albert and Sophia, her sisters Margaret M. Beck, Mary S. Beck, Theresa M. Beck, Theodora M. Beck, and Agnes M. Beck, her brothers Aloysius N. Beck and Joseph A. Beck and her aunt Clara Menne at 453 North Sixth Street in Mankato, Blue Earth, Minnesota.^[5]

The 1920 Federal Census, taken january 7th, listed Bertha, age 10, as living with her parents Albert and Sophia, her sisters Theodora, and Agnes, and her brothers Joseph and Raymond A. Beck at 453 North Sixth Street in Mankato, Blue Earth, Minnesota. ^[6]

Bertha, along with her brothers and sisters, attended SS. Peter & Paul Grade School. The day after graduation from the 8th grade, in June 1924, she had her first train ride. Of this thrilling experience she writes: "I enjoyed every minute of it. I was in rapt wonder from the moment I boarded the train at 8:00 o'clock at Mankato until the conductor called 'Minneopa,' our destination, at 8:10 - just ten minutes later. You see, it was only five miles from place to place, but then big thrills always end quickly." ^[7]

That same fall found Bertha attending Good Counsel Academy. Following graduation in 1928, she did stenographic work for a short time and then did general cleaning at St. Joseph Hospital for a year until July 1929. ^[8]

The 1929 Mankato City Directory listed Bertha as a stenographer and living with her father Albert J., her brother Joseph and her sister Agnes at 453 North Sixth Street in Mankato, Blue Earth, Minnesota. ^[9]

Bertha had a paternal aunt, Sister Mary Palemona Beck, and a maternal aunt, Sister Mary Reinolda Menne (Theodora M. Menne), who had entered the religious life as School Sisters of Notre Dame. The Sisters had their Motherhouse for the Province of Mankato located there in Mankato.

Bertha also entered the religious life on August 27, 1929, when she entered the Candidature of the School Sisters of Notre Dame. In the Candidature she attended college classes until the second semester when she was told to take a course in nursing. She started immediately to take a correspondence course in nursing. The following June she had the privilege of helping in the infirmary. ^{[10] [11]}

The 1930 Federal Census, taken April 18th, listed Bertha (Sister Mary Aloysine), age 20, as living with other Sisters of the Notre Dame at the Academy and Mother House on Good Counsel Hill, Mankato, Blue Earth, Minnesota. ^[12]

Bertha helped in the infirmary until June 1931 and then entered the Novitiate on July 21, 1931. She professed (granted a religious habit) on August 1, 1932, she took the name Sister Mary Aloysine and for the next 45 years, she took care of he sick and infirm Sisters on Good Counsel Hill. ^[13]

In 1937, with the completion of St. Peter Fourier Sanitorium, Sister Mary Aloysine was given charge of the sick, a service she carried out for 40 years, caring for hundreds of Sisters in the last years of their lives. ^[14]

In 1935, Bertha (Sister Mary Aloysine) was listed as living at the Academy and Mother House on Good Counsel Hill, in Mankato, Blue Earth, Minnesota in 1935. ^[15]

The 1940 Federal Census, taken April 4th, listed Bertha (Sister Mary Aloysine), age 30, as living with other Sisters of the Notre Dame at the Academy and Mother House on Good Counsel Hill, Mankato, Blue Earth, Minnesota. She had completed one year of college. ^[16]

In April 1966, Sister Mary Aloysine was at the Mother House on Good Counsel Hill, in Mankato, Blue Earth, Minnesota.

In 1977, Bertha (Sister Mary Aloysine) retired to SS. Peter & Paul Convent in Mankato. In February 1987, she returned to the Motherhouse, where she patiently endured intense suffering. ^[17] Her niece Sandra Beck said: "If there is one thing I will always remember about Sr. Aloysine, it is the calm way she faced her own death. She did so without any question or anger... she was always so calm and peaceful. I found that incredible."

Bertha (Sister Mary Aloysine) passed away on July 24, 1987 in Mankato, Blue Earth, Minnesota at age 78 from cancer. ^[18] She is buried in Good Counsel Hill Cemetery in Mankato, Blue Earth, Minnesota. ^[19]

Sources

1. ↑ Leonard J. Flesner - Genealogy data base printout, December 28, 1994 - data found under Bertha Maria Frances Beck
2. ↑ ancestry.com - WEB: Minnesota, Birth Index, 1900-1934 - data found under Bertha Maria Frances Beck
3. ↑ Entered by Stephen Fritz, secondhand knowledge, Sep 16, 2012
4. ↑ School Sisters of the Notre Dame Memorial for Sister Mary Aloysine that was passed out at her funeral
5. ↑ FamilySearch.org - United States Federal Census, 1910 - data found under Bertha Beck
6. ↑ FamilySearch.org - United States Federal Census, 1920 - data found under Bertha Beck
7. ↑ School Sisters of the Notre Dame Memorial for Sister Mary Aloysine that was passed out at her funeral
8. ↑ School Sisters of the Notre Dame Memorial for Sister Mary Aloysine that was passed out at her funeral
9. ↑ ancestry.com - U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989, Mankato, Minnesota, City Directory, 1929 - data found under Bertha Beck
10. ↑ School Sisters of the Notre Dame Memorial for Sister Mary Aloysine that was passed out at her funeral
11. ↑ Sister Mary Aloysine Beck's Autobiography
12. ↑ FamilySearch.org - United States Federal Census, 1930 - data found under Bertha Beck
13. ↑ School Sisters of the Notre Dame Memorial for Sister Mary Aloysine that was passed out at her funeral
14. ↑ School Sisters of the Notre Dame Memorial for Sister Mary Aloysine that was passed out at her funeral
15. ↑ FamilySearch.org - United States Federal Census, 1940 - data found under Bertha Beck
16. ↑ FamilySearch.org - United States Federal Census, 1940 - data found under Bertha Beck
17. ↑ School Sisters of the Notre Dame Memorial for Sister Mary Aloysine that was passed out at her funeral
18. ↑ FamilySearch.org - Minnesota, Death Index, 1908-2002 - data found under Sister M. Aloysine Beck
19. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/5585719/mary-aloysine-beck : accessed 07 June 2022), memorial page for Sr Mary Aloysine Beck (18 Apr 1909–24 Jul 1987), Find a Grave Memorial ID 5585719, citing Good Counsel Hill Cemetery, Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minnesota, USA ; Maintained by James Radzak (contributor 46484385) .

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