Two Benedictine sisters celebrate special jubilees

Criterion staff report

Two Sisters of St. Benedict at Our Lady of Grace Monastery in Beech Grove recently celebrated milestone jubilees.

Benedictine Sister Eugenia Reibel and Benedictine Sister Patricia Dede marked anniversaries on Aug. 10—the 75th jubilee for Sister Eugenia and the 60th jubilee for Sister Patricia.

In separate ceremonies at Our Lady of Grace Monastery, both sisters renewed their vows, promising stability in the monastery, fidelity to the monastic way of life and obedience according to the Rule of St. Benedict.

Sister Eugenia Reibel

Born Olivia Agnes in Poseyville, Sister Eugenia graduated from Academy Immaculate Conception in Ferdinand, Ind., in the Evansville Diocese.

She entered Monastery Immaculate Conception in 1936 and professed temporary vows in 1938—the profession by which the Sisters of St. Benedict mark their anniversaries. In 1941, she made her vows of perpetual monastic profession at the Benedictine Monastery Immaculate Conception in Ferdinand.

Sister Eugenia went on to become a founding member of Our Lady of Grace Monastery in Beech Grove in 1956.

She received her bachelor’s degree in teaching from the former St. Benedict College in Ferdinand, and a master’s degree in guidance from Butler University in Indianapolis.

Sister Eugenia began her teaching career in 1940 at St. Mary School in Huntingburg. Through the years, she either taught, provided guidance counseling or served as principal at St. Ambrose School in Seymour, St. Mary-of-the-Knobs School in Floyd County, the former Our Lady of Grace Academy in Beech Grove, St. Barnabas School in Indianapolis, St. Joseph School in Evansville, Ind., and Transfiguration School in St. Louis, Mo.

In 1978, Sister Eugenia became the receptionist at Our Lady of Grace Monastery. In 1985, she began working in the business office at St. Paul Hermitage, the home for the aged operated by the Sisters of St. Benedict in Beech Grove.

In 2001, she became the assistant in the development office, where she worked until her retirement in 2011.

Sister Patricia Dede

Sister Patricia Dede was born in Terre Haute and is the youngest of eight children, all of whom became either archdiocesan priests or members of the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods.

Sister Patricia attended Academy Immaculate Conception in Ferdinand, then went on to receive a bachelor’s of arts degree in music from St. Benedict College and a master’s degree in American History from Indiana University in Bloomington.

Sister Patricia entered Monastery Immaculate Conception in Ferdinand in 1951. On Aug. 10, 1953, she professed temporary vows. She made her perpetual monastic profession in 1956 at Our Lady of Grace Monastery in Beech Grove, where she was a founding member.

Sister Patricia began her career as a teacher in 1954 in Evansville, Ind.

Through the years, Sister Patricia also taught at Our Lady of Grace Academy in Beech Grove, St. Bartholomew School in Columbus, St. Anthony School in Clarksville, St. Pius X School in Indianapolis, the former Sacred Heart School in Indianapolis, Sacred Heart School in Terre Haute and Christ the King School in Evansville, Ind.

She also served as a pastoral minister at St. Ambrose Parish in Seymour and St. Cecelia Parish in Clearwater, Fla.

Sister Patricia was a chaplain at St. Vincent Hospital in Green Bay, Wis., the senior sisters’ director at Our Lady of Grace Monastery in Beech Grove and the administrator of St. Paul Hermitage in Beech Grove.

Currently, Sister Patricia works for St. Francis Hospital Palliative Care as a chaplain, and volunteers for the Society of St. Vincent de Paul in her spare time. †