The housekeeper
Did you know that in the 1930 U.S. Census, if you were a nun living in a convent, you were referred to as an “Inmate”?
And so, Sister Reinilda Wigger, 36, was listed as an inmate. Her occupation was listed as “Embroiderer.”
A decade later, the Census upgraded its nomenclature to include Sister as an option for the relation column. For occupation, Sister Reinilda was listed as a Housekeeper.
At this point, the phrase Cleanliness is Next to Godliness comes to mind. It’s been overused to the point of triteness over the years, but in the case of Sister Reinilda, it fits perfectly.
Gary remembers stories his dad told about Sister Reinilda. She was his aunt, Rosa Wigger. Born May 28, 1893, the second child of seven. Oldest daughter.
Who’s who? Front row, from left: John, Emma (Gary’s grandmother) and Albert.
Of course, the seated couple behind them are Gary’s great-grandparents, Paul and Mary Schaeffer Wigger.
The back row, from left: Rosa, Ed, Rob, and Francis.
Rosa entered the Novitiate on January 27, 1921, to prepare for religious life.
According to her obituary, she received the holy habit and her name – Reinilda – on August 11, 1921. Exactly one year later, Sr. Reinilda pronounced her Temporal Vows.
She took her Final Vows on August 12, 1925.
Gary remembers his dad’s stories about Sister Reinilda and what a hard worker she was at home. On her knees with a knitting needle, she would clean out the grooves in the wooden floors. I guess today we call that “detailing.”
By 1925, Sister Reinilda had already served as Housekeeper at the Convent of the Immaculate Conception in Ferdinand and at nearby Mariah Hill. Next, she served in Elberfeld and Tell City.
She was called home early Sunday morning, June 21, 1942. Sister Reinilda was 49 and suddenly taken by illness. As it got worse over the course of a week, the doctor sent her to Saint Joseph Infirmary in Louisville, Kentucky, for treatment. An infection resulted in fatal septicemia.
Her obituary was reassuring: Several sisters were with her when she breathed her last. Well fortified by the last Sacraments of the Holy Church, Sister died in resignation and peace.
Sister Reinilda is buried with the Sisters who went before her, at the peaceful cemetery at the Monastery Immaculate Conception in Ferdinand. May she always rest in peace.
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