ROCK ISLAND — A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated at the St. Mary Monastery Chapel on April 17 for Sister Beatrice (Mary Grace) Flahaven, OSB, who taught music and served as an organist at parishes throughout central Illinois for more than 40 years.

Interment was in Calvary Cemetery, Rock Island.

Sister Beatrice died on April 14, 2010, at St. Mary Monastery. She was 82.
The daughter of Willard C. and Clara Venetta (Berry) Flahaven, Sister Beatrice was born on Jan. 30, 1928, in Wenona. She attended Garfield Elementary and St. Mary’s School, both in Wenona, and then went on to St. Mary’s Academy in Nauvoo.

She also studied at St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa, earning a bachelor’s degree in music and organ, and at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, where she received a master’s degree in music. In addition, she attended the Chicago Conservatory of Music.

Sister Beatrice entered the Sisters of St. Benedict in June 1948 in Nauvoo. She made her first profession on July 11, 1949, and professed final vows on July 11, 1952.

A classroom music teacher who also gave private instruction and was a parish organist, Sister Beatrice ministered at St. Mary’s in Moline, Immaculate Conception in Monmouth, St. Anthony’s in Atkinson, St. Mary’s Academy in Nauvoo, and at St. Thomas More in Munster, Ind. Her music ministry extended to her own community at St. Mary Monastery, where she was the organist.

She was preceded in death by her parents, four brothers and a sister. Surviving are one brother, Bernard; many nieces and nephews; and her Benedictine Sisters.

Online condolences for Sister Beatrice may be left at www.wheelanpressly.com.