Sister Hedwig Neff, ASC

September 29, 2025

Sister Hedwig Neff, ASC, of the Adorers of the Blood of Christ, died peacefully at 9:05 p.m. on Friday, September 26, 2025, at Benedictine Living Community in Belleville, IL.  She was 90 years old and had been professed for 72 years. 

Sister Hedwig was born in Paderborn, IL, the third of 12 children in the family of Gregory and Hedwig (Wachtel) Neff who belonged to St. Michael Parish in Paderborn. She made her first profession on July 1, 1953, and her final vows on July 1, 1958, both at Ruma.

She earned her certificate in Supervisors’ Food Services from Fontbonne University in St. Louis, MO in 1969.

Sister Hedwig’s ministry included a variety of services: dietary, sacristan, seamstress, lunch program worker, elder home caregiver, and inner-city service. Her work in the dietary field was done in institutions rather than smaller convents. She served at the Loretto Home, and the Catholic Children’s Home in Alton, IL, Cantian Seminary in St. Louis, MO, and St. Henry Seminary in Belleville, IL, De Mattias Hall in St. Louis, St. Ann Home in Chester, IL, the Ruma Center in Ruma, and Clementine Residence in Red Bud, IL, where she also worked as seamstress. Her dietary service also included several convents in Illinois: St. Stephen in Flora, St. Bernard in Albers, St. Clare in O’Fallon; and St. Joseph in Zell, MO. She assisted with the lunch program at St. Ann School in Nashville, IL.

She worked for several years with Catholic Urban Programs in East St. Louis at Holy Angels Shelter. She served as sacristan at Regina Cleri, a home for retired clergy in St. Louis. Sister Hedwig’s last ten years in ministry in the St. Louis Archdiocese were with CSJ Home Care.

In her retirement at Benedictine Living Community, she continued her hobby of crocheting the tops for small kitchen towels. One of her self-appointed ministries, even in retirement, was to send greeting cards—birthday, feast day, sympathy, holiday, and many other occasions, simply letting sisters know she remembered and cared for them.

Another hobby, especially in her later years, was watching birds and their antics. She fed them regularly while she was able. When she moved to Assisted Living, she appreciated the bird feeder outside her window and continued to delight in the number and variety of the birds who visited there.

Sister Hedwig is survived by her sisters Aurelia Bell, Dorothy DeLancey, Celestine Neff, Alice Grohmann, Patricia Cortner, Myra Middendorf, and her brother Cletus Neff.      

She was preceded in death by her parents, her sister Loretta Chapman, and her brothers, Stanley (Rita) Neff, Norman (Rosalie) Neff, Thomas (April) Neff, brothers-in-law Donald Grohmann, and Donald Cortner, nieces and nephews.

Visitation for Sister Hedwig will be in Benedictine Living Chapel on Thursday, October 2, at 12:15 p.m. for the family and 12:30 for the public. Mass will begin at 1:30 with Fr. Clyde Grogan as the celebrant. After Mass, the Funeral Procession will travel to the ASC Cemetery in Ruma for burial.

Donations in Sr. Hedwig’s memory may be sent to the Adorers at 4233 Sulphur Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63109, or made online at www.adorers.org.

Adorers of the Blood of Christ, United Sates Region