The Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 4 p.m., on Tuesday, May 12, 2009, at Sacred Heart Chapel, Saint Benedict’s Monastery, St. Joseph, for Sister Eleta (Gertrude) Gapinski, who died on May 7, 2009, at Saint Scholastica Convent, St. Cloud. Burial will be in the monastery cemetery. Friends may call at Saint Scholastica Convent on Monday, May 11, from 1-6 p.m. or for a Prayer Vigil at 7 p.m. at Saint Benedict’s Monastery. Visitation continues at 9 a.m. until the time of the funeral on Tuesday, May 12, at 4 p.m.
S. Eleta (Gertrude), the fourth of Harry and Mary (Zylla) Gapinski’s seven children, was born on March 16, 1923, in Gilman, Minn. She entered Saint Benedict’s Monastery in 1942, made her first monastic profession on July 11, 1947, and her perpetual profession on July 11, 1950. She celebrated her golden jubilee in 1997 and her sixtieth anniversary in 2007.
S. Eleta attended Gilman Elementary School and graduated from St. Benedict’s High School in St. Joseph, Minn. After receiving a certificate from the Diocesan Teachers College in St. Paul, she graduated with a B.A. degree in elementary education from the College of Saint Benedict, and completed additional studies in religious education at the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth, Minn.
Elementary education was S. Eleta’s ministry from 1947–1992. She began her teaching career at Sobieski teaching grades one to four, and then moved to St. Augusta, where she was principal and taught the first four grades She served as a first grade teacher at St. Joseph’s School, St. Philip’s and Ascension Schools in Minneapolis, St. Michael’s School in Buckman, and St. Mary’s School in Melrose.
After a year of spiritual renewal in 1992, she moved to Saint Scholastica Convent where she assisted in dining room services and ministered to the elderly Sisters.
S. Eleta is survived by her Benedictine community, including her sister, Sister Marl, one brother, John, of Foley, Minn., and one sister-in-law, Esther Gapinski. Four sisters (Frances Prom, Margaret Mary Gapinski, Bridget Czech and Monica Korson) preceded her in death. Please direct memorial gifts to the Vocation Fund at Saint Benedict’s Monastery