Benedictine Sister Sandra (Marie) Fleischhacker, 99, died Sept. 12 at St. Scholastica Convent, St. Cloud. The Eucharist of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 16, at Sacred Heart Chapel, St. Benedict’s Monastery, St. Joseph, with burial in the monastery cemetery. Friends may call at St. Scholastica Convent on Thursday, Sept. 15, from 3 to 4:15 p.m., or for a vigil prayer service at 7 p.m. at St. Benedict’s Monastery. Visitation continues at 9 a.m. until the time of the funeral on Friday, Sept. 16.
Sister Sandra (Marie) Fleischhacker was born Dec. 28, 1923, to Joseph and Catherine Fleischhacker in Tony, Wisconsin, the third of four children. She attended public school in Tony and St. Agnes Elementary and High School in St. Paul. She entered St. Benedict’s Monastery on Sept. 12, 1945, was received into the novitiate as Sister Sandra on June 19, 1946, made first monastic profession July 11, 1947 and perpetual monastic profession on July 11, 1950. She celebrated her golden jubilee in 1997, her 60th anniversary of profession in 2007 and her 75th anniversary in July this year.
Sister Sandra studied at the St. Cloud Hospital School of X-Ray Technology and at the College of St. Benedict, St. Joseph. Her training led to ministry as an x-ray technician and later manager and supervisor roles in the St. Cloud Hospital x-ray department and school. At St. Benedict’s Hospital in Ogden, Utah, where she was later based for several years, she served as manager and supervisor of the x-ray department and assisted in the public relations department.
When she returned to Minnesota in 1977, she served in the business office of St. Benedict’s Monastery as secretary to the treasurer, as community secretary, and then as business office manager. On retirement from the business office, she served in the artisan studios preparing cards for sale. In 2007, Sister Sandra moved to St. Scholastica Convent, where she helped with clerical work and in the laundry and dining room, as well as undertaking a ministry of prayer.
Sister Sandra is survived by the sisters in her Benedictine community, her sister-in-law, Frieda Fleischhacker, nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents, her brothers, Fritz and Joseph (Marguerite), and her sister, Katherine (Ed) Blees.
Please direct memorial gifts to the Sisters of the Order of St. Benedict Outreach Ministries.