Sister Charla Buening

I am the second oldest of 12 children. Growing up, religion was an important part of our lives. Going to Sunday Mass and praying the rosary as a family was what our parents lived and encouraged for us.

I received my education in several schools in Fennimore, Highland, and Muscoda, Wisconsin. The School Sisters of St. Francis were my teachers during all those years. One of them, Sister Pauline Drewniak, encouraged me to become a sister once she knew that I was interested in her community. But one of the hardest things after leaving home for the convent was missing my family. In those years, we could not visit our families often.

My ministry was in the food service in various institutions, both within and outside of our community. In my early years, I took a food management course and received my certification. My first assignments were in the public sector, and this certification was well accepted in my work in Waupun Memorial Hospital from 1957 to 1968. From there, I worked for the next ten years at Villa Clement Nursing Home in West Allis.

Beginning in 1978 through 1995, I worked in the Maryhill Retirement Center, which housed about 80 sisters who needed nursing care. Some of the sister nurses who worked at Maryhill lived across the street.

Later, from 1995 through 2014, I was assigned to work at our St. Joseph Convent in Campbellsport, Wisconsin. The last year was rather challenging as our community closed our home at Campbellsport and moved the sisters to the remodeled Sacred Heart in Milwaukee. The care and concern that these retired sisters received during this transition was filled with much understanding and compassion.

Now in my retirement, I enjoy baking cookies as treats for my neighbors and friends. I am happy for the extra time for quiet prayer and reflection, and happy to celebrate 70 years as a School Sister of St. Francis!

Congratulations, Sister Charla, on these years of service to and for others