Recent Deaths

Sister Marie Rubbelke
1938–2020

Sister Marie Rubbelke, OSM, 82, of the Servants of Mary, Ladysmith, Wis., died peacefully at Cerenity Marian in St. Paul, Minn., on May 29, 2020.

Marie Agnes Rubbelke was born in St. Paul, Minn., on February 10, 1938, to John and Agnes Wolf Rubbelke, the sixth of eight children. She entered the Servants of Mary as a junior high school student in 1954 and made her first profession of vows in 1958.

She held a certificate in Early Childhood Development from St. Paul Technical College. She studied nursing and clinical pastoral studies in Milwaukee and held an LPN license in Wisconsin and Minnesota. She pursued theological studies in Michigan, Missouri, and Pennsylvania. She studied cosmetology in St. Paul and was a licensed cosmetologist.

She taught in Catholic elementary schools in St. Louis Park, Minn., and Ladysmith, Wis. She served as a licensed practical nurse for 35 years in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Illinois. She worked as a cosmetologist and salon manager at Great Clips and Cost Cutters in St. Paul, Minn., and provided cosmetology services to the homebound elderly. She volunteered with the American Red Cross, Catholic Charities, Head Start, Dorothy Day Center, St. Paul Children's Museum, and Portage Home Hospice. In 2006 she was named Hospice Volunteer of the Year by Home Health United Hospice of Portage, Wis. In an interview about her hospice ministry she said: "Death is part of life. It is the end of one part of life and the beginning of another."

She is survived by her brother John, sisters Margaret (Floyd) Larson and Colleen (Wayne) Mashuga, sisters-in-law Lois and Ruth, many nieces, nephews, and friends, and the Servite Sisters, with whom she shared life for 66 years.

She was preceded in death by her parents, stepmother Regina, brothers Robert (Theresa), Jerome (June), Richard, and Michael, and sister-in-law Delores.

Her funeral mass was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Father Papi Reddy Yeruva presided at a private graveside service on June 1, 2020, with burial in the convent cemetery in Ladysmith.