SISTER LOIS HAUWILLER, OSB
"My ministry and service was always to meet the practical needs of a Parish or other religious facility."
![](https://www.stpaulsmonastery.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Lois-Hauwiller-scaled.jpg)
Formal education began at St. Victoria Parish school (in Victoria, Minnesota), which was staffed by Benedictine Sisters from St. Benedict’s Monastery in St. Joseph. “In seventh grade, Sisters from St. Paul’s Priory became our teachers. As a freshman and sophomore, I attended Waconia High School, and one of my sophomore-year friends said she was going to become a nun. Right then, I said ‘I’m going to, too.’ Must have been the Holy Spirit. My mother told me years later that was the happiest day of her life.
“After sophomore year at Waconia, I finished my high school education at Visitation Convent School in St. Paul. Father (Gerald) O’Keefe taught Theology, but all my other teachers were from St. Paul’s Priory. After our novice reception on May 30, 1954, I began Noviate training on June 14, for one year and a day and then made first profession on July 11, 1955.
“My ministry and service was always to meet the practical needs of a Parish or other religious facility. I primarily worked in kitchens, laundries and general housekeeping. From 1964-65, I worked with my Community members Sisters Monica Raway, Adella Winkelman and Aidan Barthel for Archbishop Leo Binz. I finally came home to live with my Community at our Benet Road Monastery in 2010, the year after it was completed. After I came to Benet Road, I continued helping with household chores and was also on our Monastery’s Liturgy Committee.
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Novice reception, 30 May 1954 (l-r): Sisters Maureen Halladay, Judith Schweiss, Esther Sunberg, Pius Dingman, Mary Claire Inhofer, Gerald Hauwiller