Recent Deaths

Sister Geraldine Schulte
1925–2020

Sister Geraldine Schulte, OSM, 95, of the Servants of Mary, Ladysmith, Wis., died peacefully at Ladysmith Care Community on Dec. 21, 2020.

Geraldine Marcella Schulte was born in Cumberland, Wis., on Nov. 2, 1925, to Louis and Helen (Blume) Schulte, the eldest of three children. She entered the Servants of Mary in 1940 and made her first profession of vows in 1942. She was known for a time as Sister Mary Leo.

She held a bachelor’s degree from Viterbo College, La Crosse, Wis., with a major in biology and a minor in mathematics, and a master’s degree in earth science from the University of Oklahoma. She studied geology at Temple University, Philadelphia, Pa., and Medical Record Science at Harper College, Palatine, Ill.

She spent 28 years teaching in grade schools staffed by the Servants of Mary in Illinois, Minnesota, New Jersey, and West Virginia. She taught science at St. Viator High School, Arlington Heights, Ill., and physics and earth science at Mount Senario College, Ladysmith. She worked as a secretary at the National College of Education, Evanston, Ill., and at Underwriters Laboratories, Northbrook, Ill. She ministered as a director of religious education in Mishawaka, Ind. She served as treasurer and assistant finance manager for the Servants of Mary from 1987 to 1993.

She served on the board of the Coalition of Wisconsin Aging Groups and was chair of District 8. She was a member of TRIAD, which brings together law enforcement personnel and concerned citizens to work together to reduce the criminal victimization of the elderly, and she promoted the work of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

In her retirement years, Sister Geraldine knitted mittens for the Social Concerns Committee of St. Anthony de Padua Parish in Tony, Wis., to distribute to needy children. She would begin knitting each year on July 1 and work to late October, making one mitten a day. Thanks to her, hundreds of area children had warm hands while playing in the winter snow.

She was an avid bridge player and for many years joined a group at the Ladysmith Senior Center for a game on Monday afternoons.

Sister Geraldine is survived by her sister Alberta (late James) Linder of Cumberland, nieces, nephews, and the Servite Sisters, with whom she shared life for 80 years.

She was preceded in death by her parents and brother Leo (late Joan) Schulte.

Her funeral mass was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Father Papi Reddy Yeruva presided at a private graveside service on Dec. 23, 2020, with burial in the convent cemetery in Ladysmith. Sister Patricia Ann Ferguson, OSM, who died Dec. 18, 2020, was buried during the same ceremony.