Sister M. Cuniberta Leifeld, SSND

(née Catherine Leifeld)

First Profession 1904

Motherhouse

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Beloved sister of Sister M. Joanita Leifeld, SSND; devoted grandaunt of Sister Mary Petrann "Mary Ella" Sieben (1932-2024) - Find a Grave Memorial.

Eulogy of Sr. Cunibreta

Sister Cuniberta did not have the experience of attending a Catholic school until she was ten years old. Her father's decision to move closer to the village caused him great financial hardship, but it bore abundant fruit in Catherine. She was impressed by the happy spirit of the Sisters and upon entrance into the community, carried this same spirit to those with whom she lived.

In the convent home, she was the person to be relied upon for evenness of temper. Her superiors knew they could use her as a safety valve and be sure that the matter rested there. For the younger sisters, she was a real friend who made them feel they were worthwhile persons even if they got into hot water much too often. She loved to play innocent tricks and had a huge supply of stories and jokes. If there were guests at table and the inevitable lull occurred, it was Sister Cuniberta who could get the conversation rolling again. She cultivated many hobbies: knitting, crocheting, embroidery and making dolls. She had an extraordinary "green thumb." Long hours in the convent garden kept it beautiful. With a few pieces of stale candy and her pleasant personality, she could persuade even the naughtiest child to work hard in the garden with her. She found particular pleasure in caring for the convent chapel.

In the classroom the children loved her. She had the happy faculty of letting children be themselves, of letting them make mistakes and learn from them. Children were real persons to her- not just pupils. "God is Love" was her favorite bulletin board motto and the children sensed this conviction in her. She was an excellent story-teller and could keep children of all levels entranced.

In 1953, Sister retired to Elm Grove for one year but absence from the children was too great a pain and she returned to St. Francis to help in any way she could. She laughingly referred to 1953 as the "year I died." In these last years, she delighted in surprising others by doing their work. She would correct a set of papers leaving just the top two unfinished so that the completed work was a real surprise. She gave the impression that the things she did were not jobs, but pleasures. Her last superior recalls how she (the superior) entered the classroom at St. Francis as the first teaching principal the school ever had, in fear and trepidation. When she entered the office later on for an errand, there was Sister Cuniberta, rosary in hand. "Don't worry, Sister, everything will be all right," and Sister recalls that it felt like tons of lead dropped from her.

Sister Cuniberta had a curvature of the spine and as years passed she grew shorter and shorter, yet no one suffered because of her pain. She was young in heart to the end. The day before she lapsed into unconsciousness she still had a joke to tell. One might sum up by saying that Sister was a good religious who was not afraid to be genuinely human.

School Sisters of Notre Dame, Milwaukee Province

Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord!