Sister Mary Ernest Gibson
Sister Mary Ernest Gibson, 96, died Tuesday, Feb. 27, at Notre Dame of Elm Grove.
Sister Mary Ernest was born Nov. 21, 1921, in Waucoma, Iowa, to Ernest and Rose Rodenkirch Gibson. Mary Ernest was given the name Harriet.
She attended school at St. Gabriel and St. Mary’s Academy in Prairie du Chien. On July 17, 1941, Sister Mary Ernest made her profession to the School Sisters of Notre Dame.
Sister Mary Ernest taught school at Holy Redeemer in Madison, in 1958; Holy Angels in Gary, Ind., in 1960; and in 1962, she taught at St. Mary, in Glen Haven, and St. Gabriel’s, in Prairie du Chien. Sister Mary Ernest earned her bachelor’s degree in education from Mount Mary College in Milwaukee in 1965. When her mother, Rose Gibson, became ill in 1972, she returned to Prairie du Chien to care for her and she taught at St. Gabriel’s again. In 1984, she ministered as a nurse’s aide at Notre Dame of Elm Grove, where she retired and enjoyed her gardening.
Sister Mary Ernest is survived by nieces and nephews and local cousins Rosemary (Joe) Novey, Bill (Sandra) Rodenkirch and Virginia Lochner.
She was preceded in death by her parents; her brother Ernest, Jr.; sisters Rosemary Schwingle, Sister Frances Therese Gibson, SSND; and Cecilia Nystrom.
A Mass of Christian Buriel was held March 5 at Notre Dame of Elm Grove, with burial at the Notre Dame Cemetery. A memorial gift in Sister Mary Ernest’s name can be made online www.ssndcentralpacific.org/donate.