On March 8, 1936, in Winsted, Minnesota, Mary and Leo Lyman welcomed the fourth of their 11 children, a daughter, whom they named Elizabeth Mary. Her family still calls her Betty, but as a young child she called herself, “Little Bit Mary.” Sister Beth had five sisters and five brothers. All of her sisters are living today: older sister, Pat, and four younger sisters: Margie, Mary, Rita, and Colleen. Of her five brothers, only her youngest brother Tom is living.
The young family lived in Winsted, a community influenced as early as 1901 – and until recently – by the School Sisters of St. Francis. Holy Trinity Catholic School was attended by the oldest Lyman children. In this parish, the seed of Sister Beth’s religious vocation took root. Even though she spent only six-and-a-half years of her young life there, she held great memories of that Catholic community.
When her father lost his job, successfully finding a new one with the John Deere Company required him to relocate his family in the Twin Cities, specifically in Minneapolis. Although Beth dearly loved her sisters, they would fight, argue, and scrap like all siblings do. She remembers her mother chiding her saying: “How can you fight? I wish I had a sister like Pat, like Margie, like Mary, like Rita, like Colleen.” Beth would reply, “You can have her, Mom! You can have her!”
Returning as often as possible to Winsted to visit and vacation with Beth’s grandparents and many relatives there kept her a “Winsteder.” Secretly, those trips were a lifeline for her to stay in touch with her first-grade teacher, Sister Catherine Mary (formerly Sister De Chantal). She was her constant inspiration to choose to join the School Sisters of St. Francis instead of the Benedictines who were her teachers at St. Joseph School in Minneapolis.
Sister Beth easily recalls the time in the third grade when she knew that she wanted to be a sister. She persevered in her desire, and when she was a junior in high school, she left her Minnesota home and traveled to Milwaukee, entering the School Sisters of St. Francis as a postulant. There, she completed her senior year, graduating from St. Joseph Convent High School in 1954.
That same year, Beth was received into the School Sisters Community on June 13. Like all novices at that time, she received her new name, Sister Leonis. She was delighted since she had asked for a form of Leo, her Dad’s name. Two years later, Sister Beth professed her first vows. And having finished her first year at Alverno College, she began her first mission assignment, while earning her bachelor’s degree in education during the ensuing summers.
Thus, in 1956 Sister Beth began 64 years in various ministries. Her teaching years were the first 20 years in Illinois: 11 years at St. Liborius in Steger, then two years at St. Mary’s in McHenry, and the final seven years in Aurora at Our Lady of Good Counsel School. It was there that she joined sisters working in the area to respond to the needs of Hispanic families. In evenings, she taught English in the Centro Cultural Program. In summers, she served as teacher-director of the Aurora Preschool Spanish Program. To communicate with her learners, both adults and children, she attended Spanish classes in the evenings.
In 1976, she responded to another call of community that moved her into pastoral care, this time with elderly sisters. For five years, she served as personal services coordinator at Maria Linden, one of the established retirement homes of the School Sisters of St. Francis in Rockford, Illinois. Those were great years of providing service and building relationships that Sister Beth thoroughly enjoyed. "These were really joy-filled years, being with our sisters," she commented.
In 1982, she began many years of service in Milwaukee, continuing her personal services and pastoral care ministry. Her first year in Milwaukee was at St. Luke’s Hospital as student and chaplain, followed by eight years at St. Joseph Convent with the retired sisters at the Motherhouse. Here she shared ministry with Sister Mary Louise Miller and Sister Elaine Weber as an all-around service team, building community and responding to multiple needs in these post-Vatican II transition years in religious life.
Beginning in 1990 and for the next 29 years, Sister Beth’s life was intertwined with the Discalced Carmelites at Holy Hill and their provincial leadership services. For the first 14 years she had part-time secretarial responsibilities, which enabled her to offer her time and talent to meet many School Sister needs as well. Some of her part-time engagements were working at the monastery store at Holy Hill National Shrine, other times as a seamstress and also assisting the School Sisters of St. Francis’ archivist.
Over the years, Beth’s community life experiences found her living with small groups of sisters as well as in larger houses, finding much delight in her relationships with the sisters and the people with whom she ministered.
Her final ministry for the Discalced Carmelites was as an administrative assistant to the Provincial from 2004 to 2020, working at their monastery offices in West Milwaukee connected to St. Florian’s Parish. There, she guarded all her office work with appropriate confidentiality. One of the more complex responsibilities she managed was arranging with dioceses and Carmelite priests for the annual fundraising visits to parishes.
Besides providing faithful service in the office, she was known as a fun-loving colleague to them. One Halloween, she and Sister Rosie Reier, both heavily masked, rang the Carmelites’ bell at St. Florian’s, were invited in, and kept their identity hidden for the whole visit. Later one of the priests asked if she knew anything about the visitors, but he received no answer. She was so valuable in this ministry that, during a period when she could not drive, a priest would pick her up from home and take her to the office.
In Fall 2006, Beth offered to help drive a group of sisters on their way to celebrate a milestone at Winsted’s Holy Trinity Parish, as well as enjoy a visit with her dear friend, Sister Catherine Mary, still a Winsted resident. Unfortunately, the four travelers did not arrive. On October 6, they met with a tragic automobile accident near Hudson, Wisconsin. The two sisters on the driver’s side were killed, Sisters Lucia Bayerl and Rita Gall, while Sisters Marionita Gergen and Beth on the right side survived. Both were taken to Regions Hospital in St. Paul. Beth sustained cervical neck fractures and was sent to the trauma unit. Six days later, Beth left the hospital and was transferred to a care center where her mother was also a resident. The rest of the family was also nearby. Both sisters faced a hard road to recovery but after much therapy and her own determination, Sister Beth returned to her position with the Carmelites, continuing until 2020.
That COVID year found Beth experiencing significant health challenges. She got stuck for more time than anticipated at St. Francis Hospital and St. Francis Rehab before she was able to move to Sacred Heart, where her ministry continued as prayer and presence. Always ready to participate in Eucharist and community prayer, Beth was a quiet presence among many sisters she knew and who knew her.
Along with 13 classmates on June 15, 2024, she celebrated her 70th Jubilee as a School Sister. It gave her great joy that her brother, Tom, two nieces and a nephew were present and enjoyed a celebration luncheon at Sacred Heart with her. In reflecting on those many years, she found it hard to believe all that God has asked of her and allowed her to do.
Beth died on the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Was it a coincidence that she died on this Carmelite feast?
Sister Beth, we your family, friends, and School Sisters of St. Francis are grateful for your caring, healing, compassionate, and loving presence among us. We will miss you. May you rest in peace.