by Sr. Regina Siegefried, ASC
As part of the process of preparing the Ruma archive to move to the Wichita site, Sr. Joan Weiler and I have been transferring each deceased sister’s information from hanging files in the cabinets to bankers’ boxes for safer and easier transport. The alphabetical order contains files from Sr. Emilie Zimmerman, buried in Piopolis, to Sr. Lucille Kern, recently interred in the Ruma cemetery. I’m very careful that each sister’s file is recorded and that each file makes it from the cabinets to the boxes.
Some files have only a single aging and yellowing sheet indicating family information and places of ministry; other sisters’ records are in many folders. Each one has the story of a life dedicated to service, prayer, and community. Each file represents a sister who was once part of the former Ruma province or the U.S. region.
Behind those manila folders are stories of relationships – sisters, cousins, aunts, nieces, friendships, and the ASC family of sisters. For example, the little we know about Sr. Aquiline Harter is that she was born on Feb. 3, 1872, in Freiburg, Germany, made first vows, and died of pneumonia in Mt. Carmel, IL on Nov. 24, 1895, at the age of 23.
The record does not provide a date for final vows, so we can assume she was a vowed member with temporary commitment. There is no list of places of ministry or type of service. Although details of her life and story have faded into the mists of our history, she’s one of us and always will be.
We, however, are more than our files. While each record deserves careful handling, I often thought about the life behind those papers and questioned, “Who were you, sister? I hope your life was enriching and enriched. I hope you were happy. Were you proud to be part of our heritage?”
Those sisters are members of our great cloud of ASC witnesses and their files deserve to be handled with the greatest respect and care. Sister Joan Weiler and I have processed 577 deceased sisters’ files and filled 24 bankers’ boxes. We always try our best to be careful and respectful of lives that are now part of our records.