Benedictine Sister Anne (Antone) Malerich, 93, died Oct. 27 at St. Scholastica Convent, St. Cloud. The Eucharist of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 31, at Sacred Heart Chapel, St. Benedict’s Monastery, St. Joseph. Burial will be in the monastery cemetery.
Friends may call at St. Scholastica Convent on Wednesday, Oct. 30, for a prayer service at 1 p.m. followed by visitation until 4:15 p.m. or for a vigil prayer service at 7 p.m. at St. Benedict’s Monastery. Visitation continues Thursday at 9 a.m. until the time of the funeral.
Sister Anne was born Sept. 15, 1926, to Joseph and Phyllis (Coles) Malerich in Minneapolis. She graduated from Shakopee Public High School in Shakopee, Minnesota. She entered St. Benedict’s Monastery on Sept. 13, 1944, was received into the novitiate on June 21, 1945, as Sister Antone, made her first monastic profession on July 11, 1946, and perpetual monastic profession on July 11, 1949. Her golden jubilee was celebrated in 1996 and her 60th anniversary of profession in 2006. She reverted to her baptismal name in 1968.
She received a bachelor’s degree in mathematics with minors in philosophy, chemistry and music theory at the College of St. Benedict in St. Joseph and earned a master’s degree in education at the University of Dayton in Dayton, Ohio. Sister Anne also attended the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma; St. John’s University in Collegeville; the Catholic University in Ponce, Puerto Rico; Columbia University in New York and University of Notre Dame in Indiana. She completed two units of clinical pastoral education at Abbot Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis and was a certified pastoral associate and member of the National Association of Catholic Chaplains.
Teaching was her first ministry. She taught in elementary schools in Long Prairie and Anaconda, Montana, and in secondary education at St. Benedict’s High School, St. Joseph, and Cathedral High School, St. Cloud. She also served in Puerto Rico for several years as a teacher, a religious education consultant and in parish ministry.
Additionally, she served as a religious education coordinator in Sauk Rapids and as a hospital chaplain at St. Benedict’s Hospital in Ogden, Utah, and St. Joseph’s Hospital in Brainerd, Minnesota. Sister Anne also worked with refugees in Arizona and Texas, as well as in St. Cloud where she ministered with the Hispanic community. She was involved with the sanctuary movement, Sister City Project and Partners Across Borders.
She is survived by the sisters of her Benedictine community; her brother, Joseph Anthony (Tony); sister, School Sister of Notre Dame Carmel (Kathleen) Malerich, and nieces. Sister Anne was preceded in death by her parents and her sister, Mary Malerich.