Sister Betty Reinders 

I was born on August 10, 1935, and baptized Elizabeth Mary at St. Sebastian’s Church in Milwaukee on August 18. I grew up in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. I had one brother, Jerry, who was three-and-a-half years younger than I was. My dad’s name was Jack and my birth mom’s name was Monica. She died when I was three. My dad married again, and Arlene was the person I knew and called mom.

As a youngster, I attended Christ King Grade School, taught by the Notre Dame Sisters. When I attended Holy Angels High School, I was taught by the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. After graduating from high school, I went to Dubuque, Iowa with the intention of becoming a BVM Sister. But after four months as a postulant, I became sick and was asked to go back home, grow up a little, and come back later. Mom and Dad came and picked me up and took me back home.

I enrolled at Marquette University and after two years, under the guidance of Jesuit Father Dachauer, I felt called to become a sister. This time, I checked out some orders around Milwaukee and chose the School Sisters of St. Francis. I liked the simplicity of the room I was in while waiting to meet Mother Corona. My parents were supportive throughout this “in-the-convent,” “out-of-the-convent,” “back-in-the-convent” phase of my life, but my dad did wonder if he and mom had done something wrong in parenting me because I chose to enter the convent twice!

I just knew that I wanted to serve the Church completely the way that sisters did. I became a Postulant in September 1955 and attended Alverno College. I asked to take courses so that I could become a nurse, but I was told to finish my degree in education and become a teacher instead. I was received as a Novice in June 1956, given the name Sister Magdalaine, and told to “bear it in a worthy manner.”

On June 21, 1958, I made my vows and was Professed as a School Sister of St. Francis. In August 1958, I received my first assignment to go “out on mission” to teach first grade in Fremont, Nebraska. The following summer, I went back to Alverno, where I finished my degree in education and graduated. I then taught children in grades one, two, and three in various places. I loved teaching the younger children. Many times, they taught me about keeping my life simple.

After 11 years in education, Sister Mary Rose Menting and I were the only two sisters left in Keyesville, Wisconsin, when the La Crosse Diocese made a decision to close the school there in 1969. The provincial leaders in our Wisconsin Province asked both of us to consider going to graduate school to get degrees in religious studies. We decided to accept the challenge so that we could become religious education directors.

After getting our degrees, Sister Mary Rose and I stayed together and worked in the La Crosse Diocese until 1977. Later we continued to work together at St. Thomas More Parish in Appleton, Wisconsin, for 38 years in various pastoral positions. I enjoyed working with adults with their many different and beautiful personalities.

In 2015, we received a call from our province’s ministry director, asking, “Have you two ever thought of retiring?” So, we thought about it and we both decided that it was time to retire.

We moved to Sacred Heart in September 2015. My body keeps getting older, but I try to keep my spirit young, Franciscan, and simple. I am grateful for the many opportunities here at Sacred Heart to help me to do just that.

Congratulations, Sister Betty, for carrying out the charism of the School Sisters of St Francis with children and adults in your parish ministries.