Benedictine Sister Georganne (Dolores) Burr, 84, died Aug. 22, at Saint Scholastica Convent, St. Cloud. The Eucharist of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 27, at the Sacred Heart Chapel, Saint Benedict’s Monastery, St. Joseph, with burial in the monastery cemetery. Friends may call at Saint Scholastica Convent on Monday, Aug. 26, for a prayer service at 3 p.m. followed by visitation until 4:15 p.m., or for a vigil prayer service at 7 p.m. at Saint Benedict’s Monastery. Visitation continues at 1 p.m. until the time of the funeral on Aug. 27.
The youngest of seven children of George and Alvina (Peine) Burr, Dolores was born Jan. 30, 1940, in Hampton, Minnesota. She attended St. Boniface Grade School in Hastings, Minnesota, and St. Benedict’s High School in St. Joseph. She entered Saint Benedict’s Monastery Sept. 1, 1957, was received into the novitiate as Sister Georganne on June 17, 1958, made her first monastic profession July 11, 1959, and perpetual monastic profession on July 11, 1962. She celebrated her golden jubilee July 19, 2009, and her 60th jubilee in 2019.
Sister Georganne graduated from the College of Saint Benedict, St. Joseph, in 1967 with a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and from the University of Dayton, Dayton, Ohio, in 1972 with a master’s degree in guidance and counseling. She completed one unit of CPE from the University of Minnesota Hospitals, University of Minnesota, in 1974.
Early in her ministry, she taught at St. Peter’s School in St. Cloud, was a teacher and principal in Pierz and teacher at St. Paul’s School in St. Cloud.
Sister Georganne served as chaplain at the St. Cloud Hospital from 1973–1986. In 1986, she co-founded St. Therese Center for grief counseling and served as director until 2008. During this time, she served as director and counselor of multiple groups centering on grief and loss. Following this, she served at Saint Benedict’s Monastery as the life transition facilitator and as pastoral counselor. In 2017, she also assisted in the mission advancement office.
Sister Georganne is survived by members of her Benedictine community, her brother-in-law, William Schommer, as well as nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents, her brother and sister-in-law, George (Sara), and her sisters and brothers-in-law, Janet (Albert) Waldbillig, Helen (Michael) Schoen, Eileen (Raymond) Schommer, LuVerne (John) Haberkorn, and Marilyn Schommer.
Please direct memorial gifts to the Sisters of the Order of Saint Benedict Outreach Ministries.