SISTER KRAMER DEPARTS FOR DUBUQUE AFTER 15 YEARS OF SERVICE AT ST. PAT'S

When she donned her habit for her recent farewell festivities, people saw something they weren't accustomed to.
Over the past 15 years, residents have come to expect the sight of Sister Margaret Anne Kramer, looking just like "one of us" in a regular, casual skirt and blouse.
She's been busy holding meetings, teaching school, or just joining other area women over coffee for a welcome chat. "I'll miss the people," she says. "They've been family to me."
So while her official garb was something of a surprise, her record of service is not. Along with Father Lechtenberg, she's been a reminder in our daily lives that faith seeks to release what's holy in all of us, and remains as real on Tuesday as Sunday.
It's a different clerical world these days, to be certain, than the one the teen-age Margaret Kramer entered in 1962.
A native of Farley, Sister Kramer was the fourth of six siblings to attend St. Joseph's Parochial School in her hometown. It was a school, says Sister Kramer, primarily staffed with Presentation Sisters, an Irish order founded by Nano Nagel of County Cork.
It was a surprised but pleased mother to hear the young Margaret Anne's intention to join the convent. Late in her high school years, she'd become dedicated to the idea of becoming a sister. Accustomed through school with the Presentation Sisters, she entered their rules at Mount Loretta Convent in Dubuque.
As a "semi-cloistered" Order, the Presentation Sisters, at least in 1962, had little contact with secular society, save through community service and other employment. For five years, the novice was not allowed to go home. Her family could visit twice per year.
Days at the convent were comprised of prayer, study, work and after the above, recreation. Standard college training was conducted through Dubuque's Clark College. The girls didn't attend the campus for classes; sisters taught them inside the convent. Upon graduation, Sister Kramer had earned a degree in sociology, with a minor in theology.
From a group of 13 young women, Sister Kramer was among five to take permanent vows. She taught for the next eleven years in different areas of Iowa, Minnesota and Illinois, before placement at St. Patrick's in 1985.
Sister Kramer has filled a variety of needs during her years with the St. Pat's parish. She spent one year teaching the primary grades and six years as active principal at St. Pat's school. She recalls, in particular, searching for staff with the needs of her students in mind. "I really enjoyed teaching," says Sister Kramer of those years. "I got a lot of energy from the students and staff."
She chose for a time to leave the parish and return to Dubuque, working in the cathedral there. Sister Kramer was asked, however, to return to St. Pat's to serve as pastoral associate to Father Lechtenberg, a position she occupied for the rest of her stay within the community.
Her responsibilities have included serving as Director of Religion Education and preparing parish members for special events such as marriage or baptism. She has conducted service when there was not a mass, and worked as an ex-officio member on the parish Board of Education.
And there are also just visits with those generally in need, whether it be a visit to an area rest home or a lent ear over snacks a parish member has, more often than not, dropped by the rectory. She's become close to the parish, she says, over the years. "Father Ed and I," she adds, "have worked well together over the past seven years. He is a wonderful spiritual leader; he's tried to reach the whole population."
She recalls her time with the St. Pat's parish as extremely busy, yet highly rewarding. The nature of her position requires time to "re-fuel," so she has tried, over the years, to pass a bit of quiet time each morning in prayer.
St. Pat's, says Sister Kramer, has grown spiritually over the years, and the number of members participating in retreats and church organizations continues to increase. Like St. Pat's, Sister Kramer says her personal faith has grown with that of the parish. Most of all, she values learning to see people as individuals and not as ideas representative of how "faith" or "education" should be. As she puts it, "things are caught, not taught."
Upon her return to Dubque, Sister Kramer plans to serve as a pastoral associate, similar to her position at St. Pat's. She will visit those who are shut-in, hospitalized or otherwise ill. She will live in an apartment near St. Anthony, and in free time, pursue her enjoyment of reading, visiting, and needlework.
"I'll miss it here," she says. "The people, they've been family." She leaves, she says, with a good feeling. "I've tried to do my very best. There are no regrets."
This past week, Sister Kramer has been walking in the footsteps of her foundress, Nano Nagel, throughout County Cork in Ireland. A number of Presentation Sisters have made the nine day journey.
During the pilgrimage, Sister Kramer will have a long-awaited period of rest to think about her years in Waukon and a future back in Dubuque. Probably she will wonder often how those she loves here are getting on.
Members of the St. Pat's parish and the Waukon community will always bless the welfare of Sister Kramer, and her own words ring true. "People don't remember what you say," she says. "They remember how you treat them."