Corina Amanda Stifter was the second child born to Eugene and Angela Stifter on a farm near Winsted, Minnesota in 1921. She was one of 11 children, and shared in the responsibilities of farm life. She attended Holy Trinity School where she met the School Sisters of St. Francis. Corina admired and loved her teachers, and thought it would be wonderful to have a nun as her sibling.

As a youngster, she enjoyed climbing into the hayloft and looking out the window where she could survey the rolling farmland. She recalled a time at age 12 when, standing at that window, she said to herself, “This won’t be my life.” Reflecting on this moment, Sister Corina believed God was calling her to be a sister.

When Corina was 15, her father became very ill. He was bedridden for months and did not seem to be improving. Loving him very much, Corina was inspired to offer her life to God for his cure. When her dad recovered, she tried to forget her promise, but she had no peace until she said “yes” to the Lord. She entered the School Sisters of St. Francis and became a novice in 1938.  Her religious name was Sister Ceslas.

Sister Corina spent 12 years as a homemaker, but always wanted to be a teacher.  While living on mission in New York City, Sister Corina decided to talk to someone about her desire to teach and confided in Sister DePadua Hurley. Sister advised her to write Mother Corona a letter. Later that week, an opportunity presented itself when Sister Rita Stoehr needed a traveling partner to Milwaukee.  Sister Corina was chosen for this task. In Milwaukee, she spoke with Mother Corona and shared her desire to be a teacher.  Plans were made for sister to attend Alverno College that fall.

This plan changed when Mother Corona needed a second-grade teacher for Holy Angels School, Chicago. With no preparation to teach, Sister Corina arrived at Holy Angels. Sister Celesta Blackbird, also a second-grade teacher, took sister under her wing. In addition to teaching. Sister Corina took courses in teacher education on Saturdays, as well as summer school at Alverno College. She spent nine years at Holy Angels, and then taught at Holy Ghost School in Milwaukee. 

While at Holy Ghost School, Sister Corina read an article about the Peace Corps and felt inspired to work among the poor in Latin America. When the congregation asked for sisters to minister in Latin America, she volunteered. In 1965, Sister Corina traveled to Costa Rica and taught at Colegio Santa Clara. From 1967 to 1968, she also was Formation Director for the ULAF Province, in addition to her teaching.

In 1968 the provincial leadership team of ULAF (Sister Ruth Vasen and Sister Sandra Smithson) was invited to Peru by Bishop McNabb who asked if the School Sisters of St. Francis would start a mission in Montero, Peru. Since two North American priests were already there, the bishop wanted to advance the mission through catechizing and nursing. The provincial team asked Sister Corina to consider this catechizing ministry. Their description of the needs of that remote mountain village moved her to say yes.

Arriving in Montero in 1969, Sister became acquainted with the people and their needs by conducting a town census. The children were learning their catechism by memorizing the text they had copied into notebooks. The pastoral team remedied this situation by getting the teachers together monthly and providing them with catechetical methods, songs along with doctrine and scripture. Sister Corina recalled, “It was exciting to find how eager the people were to learn and acquire new knowledge in their faith.” She traveled to many villages surrounding Montero to catechize.

In 1976 Bishop McNabb asked Sister Corina and a sister from a Peruvian community to start a formation program for young adults who were actively volunteering in their parishes. The main goal was to train young women and men in catechetics so they could return to their parishes as catechists. Leaving her beloved Montero, Sister moved to Canchaque and worked with Sister Isabel Vegas, a Peruvian sister. Starting anew, the two sisters developed a four-month program, gathered materials and developed outlines of the courses to be taught.  Sharing responsibility with Sister Isabel, Sister Corina gained valuable insights which helped her to be sensitive and understanding of those she served.

Sister Corina found the Canchaque mission challenging. Students lacked self-confidence and didn’t think they could learn to teach. Sister helped these students believe in themselves. She recalled how rewarding it was to see students grow in self- knowledge, take on responsibility, and prepare for the future. She was delighted that their self-esteem and self-confidence grew.

When Sister Corina learned her father was dying, she traveled to Minnesota to be with her family. While at home, Sister received an invitation from a priest in Paita, Peru, to join the pastoral team at his parish. Once again, Sister felt inspired to answer this call and in 1983 went to Paita to coordinate liturgy, minister to the sick and dying, and prepare adults for marriage, baptism, and confirmation. She worked in Paita for nine years. She completed 30 years of missionary work in 1995 while in Costa Rica working with Sister Alida in the formation of postulants.

Back in the United States, Sister Corina continued her ministry through Interfaith Near Southside by helping Hispanic persons who did not speak English. She assisted them by making phone calls, bringing them Communion, and tutoring adults seeking to learn English as a second language. Sister Corina kept in touch with family and friends in the United States and Latin America through email.  Playing bridge became a pleasurable pastime for her.

Reflecting on her life, Sister Corina saw her years in the missions as most enriching. She wrote, “I came to know, love, and appreciate other cultures and at the same time, I recognized in a deeper sense the beauty of my own culture.”

We are grateful for Sister Corina’s patient, caring, and dedicated ministry wherever she answered God’s call to love and serve others. May joy and peace be her heavenly reward.