Obituary: Franciscan Sister Loretta Beyer

Franciscan Sister Loretta Beyer, 82, died Sept. 30 at St. Francis Convent, Little Falls. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 8, at St. Francis Convent. Friends may call at St. Francis Convent Oct. 7 from 4 to 8 p.m., with a Franciscan prayer service at 7 p.m., and on Oct. 8 from 8:30 a.m. until the time of the funeral.

Sister Loretta Pauline was born Nov. 27, 1936, in Brushvale. She was the second of 12 children born to Alphonse and Mary Gertrude (Miranowski) Beyer. She attended grade school in Campbell, and attended St. Francis High School in Little Falls. Her aunt, Sister Mary David Miranowski, was a member of the Franciscan sisters. Loretta entered the Franciscan Sisters of Little Falls July 31, 1954, was accepted as a Franciscan sister July 31, 1955, and given the name, Sister M. Loyola. She was a Franciscan sister for 64 years.

She ministered in St. Cloud, Little Falls and Onamia. Starting in 1972, Sister Loretta, along with Sisters Louise McKigney and Beverly Weidner, worked among the poor to challenge racism in Holmes County, Mississippi. For their efforts, the three sisters received the Rural Organizing Worker Reward in 1988 and the Unsung Heroes, Mississippi, Award in 1989. In 2003 they received the Franciscan Federation Reconciler Award at the Federation Conference in Detroit, Michigan.

Sister Loretta was preceded in death by her parents, sister Joan, and brother-in-law Gary Mittendorf. Survivors include siblings: Mary (Neil) VanWechel and Dorothy Mittendorf, Phoenix, Arizona; Dennis (Beth), Breckenridge; Gladys (Allen) Amundsen and David (Janet), Wahpeton, North Dakota; Kenneth (Barbara), Shoreview, Minnesota; Evelyn (Anthony) Stangler, Albany; Eugene (Phyllis), Audubon, Minnesota; Florence (Alois) Lucken, St. Cloud; Therese (Gerald) Watkins, Livingston, Montana, many nieces and nephews and her Franciscan community.

Arrangements are by Shelley Funeral Chapel, Little Falls. Please direct memorial gifts to Franciscan Sisters Ministries.

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Author: The Central Minnesota Catholic

The Central Minnesota Catholic is the magazine for the Diocese of St. Cloud.

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