July 28, 2011

A Mass of Christian Burial for Franciscan Sister Susan Eifert was celebrated July 18 at the motherhouse chapel of the Sisters of St. Francis, Oldenburg, Ind. Sister Susan, 77, died July 13 at St. Clare Hall, the congregation’s healthcare facility.

A native of Dayton, Sister Susan entered the Oldenburg Franciscan community in 1954 and professed her final vows in 1960. She served as a elementary and secondary teacher and principal for nearly 20 years and ministered at Carroll High School in Dayton from 1956-1975 and at several schools in Indiana.

In 1975 Sister Susan began serving a two-year term as her congregation’s formation director. She went on to train in hospital ministry and served as a chaplain at Children’s Hospital in Chicago, Good Samaritan Hospital of Dayton and Hospice of Dayton. She retired to the Oldenburg motherhouse in 1997.

Sister Susan is survived by her sisters, Dolores Weber and Thelma Westbeld, both of Dayton, and Dorothy Eifert of Centerville, and brothers, Paul, Melvin and Earl, all of Dayton. Interment was in the congregation’s cemetery.