March 7, 2025
Sister Clare (Marie Clare) Boehmer, ASC, of the Adorers of the Blood of Christ, died peacefully at 4:30 a.m. at Benedictine Living Community at the Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows on Friday, March 7. She was 88 years old and had been professed for 64 years.
Baptized Clara at St. Mary’s Church in Conneaut, OH, she was the only child of Joseph and Anna Marie (Betz) Boehmer. Her family moved to the Midwest when she was young. She graduated from St. Teresa Academy in East St. Louis, IL, in 1954. Sister Clare made her first profession on July 1, 1960, and her final vows on July 1, 1965, at the Ruma Convent, Ruma, IL.
Her bachelor’s degree in English was earned in 1958 and her master’s in 1968, both from St. Louis University. She studied Educational Media at Loyola University in Chicago and did onsite work at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. She completed her certification in Library Science through the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks in 1969. Her final ministry, a Certified Healing Touch Practitioner, spanned more than 20 years.
Sister Clare’s service as a secondary teacher of English for 16 years included Precious Blood Institute in Ruma, IL, Sts. Peter and Paul in Waterloo, IL, St. Pius X in Festus, MO, St. Teresa Academy and Assumption, both in East St. Louis, IL. Her certification in Library Science was invaluable at St. Mary Elementary in Chester, and Gibault in Waterloo, both in Illinois. For several years, she paired her knowledge as a librarian with her computer savvy at St. John Evangelist School in Tucson, AZ. She brought her talents in the computer field to St. Blaise/Sts. Peter and Paul in St. Louis, MO. In the early years of this century, she served for eight years as Webmaster and Associate Editor of the periodical Review for Religious.
She also ministered at the St. Louis Archdiocesan Catholic Charities initiative at Marian Hall, an emergency shelter for teenaged girls.
One of Sr. Clare’s stellar achievements was Echoes in Our Hearts, published in 1994, two years after our five sisters were killed in Liberia, West Africa. The book gives pertinent background, reality of the situation, a glimpse of the tragedy, and repercussions of our loss as a community with the exit of these five creative, courageous women. Sister Clare’s straightforward style of writing relays the message to interested readers of all ages.
While Sr. Clare’s face could seem serious enough to demand order in the classroom, her friends experienced the wit and adventure that lay behind the twinkle in her eyes. When she and a jubilee classmate celebrated their twenty-fifth anniversary of vows, her classmate received a gift certificate to a restaurant in Chicago. Clare eagerly agreed to drive with her friend to Chicago for dinner. They left in a car from Ruma on Friday after work, planning to return Sunday evening. Braving a snowstorm on the way home, they slid into a ditch but were helped by a good Samaritan in a semi-truck. They returned the undamaged car to Ruma, slept fast that night and arrived in time for work Monday morning.
In 2022, Sr. Clare moved from the Ruma Center to Benedictine Living Community at the Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows near Belleville, IL. Even in retirement there, she was often called to help one of the sisters or other residents with their computer glitches.
Sister Clare was preceded in death by her parents.
She is survived by friends, including the ASC community.
Sister Clare asked to be cremated, and her celebration of her life will be Friday, March 14 at the Chapel of Benedictine Community Living Center. Visitation will be at 12:15 p.m., Eucharist at 1:30 p.m., followed by burial in the Ruma Cemetery.
Adorers of the Blood of Christ, United Sates Region