Sister Norberta Vandersnick, OSB

ROCK ISLAND — Sister Norberta Vandersnick, OSB, a member of the Sisters of St. Benedict of St. Mary Monastery for more than 70 years, died on July 7, 2018, at UnityPoint Health-Trinity in Rock Island. She was 90.

Visitation is planned for today, July 9, from 4 to 7 p.m. in the chapel of St. Mary Monastery, 2200 88th Avenue West. A wake service will take place at 7 p.m.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, July 10, in the monastery chapel. Burial will follow at Calvary Cemetery, Rock Island.

Born in Atkinson on Aug. 19, 1927, Sister Norberta was the dauther of Amandus and Emma (Eeckhkout) Vandersnick. She attended St. Mary’s Academy in Nauvoo and entered the Benedictine community on Sept. 8, 1945.

She professed vows on July 11, 1947, and made her final profession on Aug. 16, 1950.

Soon after entering the Benedictine community in Nauvoo, Sister Norberta worked as an assistant on the health care floor of St. Mary Monastery. She attended St. Ambrose College in Davenport, Iowa, and then served as a teacher at St. Boniface in Peoria (1951-52), St. Roch in LaSalle (1949-50 and 1957-58), St. Benedict in Ladd (1953-56), and St. Thomas More in Munster, Indiana.

She also worked in and managed the food service at St. Mary Monastery and St. Mary’s Academy in Nauvoo for 30 years. After retiring from this position, she went to Holy Trinity in Bloomington where she served in a variety of roles from 1996 to 2007.

When she celebrated her 70th anniversary of consecrated life in 2017, she told The Catholic Post, “Christ’s constant presence in my life has made my vocation a delightful adventure and has given me much joy and peace.”

Preceded in death by her parents and siblings, Sister Norberta is survived by many nieces, a nephew, cousins, and her Benedictine Sisters.