Mercedes Geib

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Download the booklet for the Mass of Christian Burial as a PDF.

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Sister Mercedes Geib, CSA, baptized Lois Catherine, died peacefully March 13, 2023, at St. Francis Home, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin.

Lois was born March 25, 1922, in Barton, Wisconsin, the daughter of Peter Geib and Mathilda Meyer Geib. She was always proud to say that she grew up with her brother and three sisters in Barton, one block from the original motherhouse of the Sisters of St. Agnes established by Father Caspar Rehrl.  After attending St. Mary’s Springs Academy for two years, Lois entered St. Agnes Convent in 1938 where she completed her high school education. She made her first profession of vows in the Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes as Sister Mercedes on August 15, 1941, in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin.

Sister Mercedes was a gifted educator, musician, organist, liturgist, and pastoral minister. She earned several credits in music from Alverno College, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and St. Norbert College, DePere, Wisconsin. She received certification as a Choirmaster from St. John’s University, Collegeville, Minnesota, in 1951. In 1957, she earned a BS in Education from Marian College, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, and an MST in Teaching from the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh, Wisconsin, in 1974.  Her musical and educational skills were enhanced by attending courses in theology and certification programs in religious education.

Sister ministered as an elementary teacher, music teacher, and principal in parish schools in Wisconsin and Indiana from 1941-1975. Beginning in 1975, she served as a Religious Education Coordinator in parishes in Wisconsin and Kansas.  From 1984-1989, she was the music minister and parish minister at St. Mary’s Parish, Ellis, Kansas. She returned to Fond du Lac in 1989 to be the liturgist and organist at St. Agnes Convent. In 1993, Sister Mercedes moved to Ohio where she spent the remaining twenty years of her active ministry beginning with four years in Cincinnati as a Pastoral Minister at Good Samaritan Hospital and Our Lady of Victory Parish and sixteen years in Circleville, Ohio, where she was a companion to one of her CSA sisters ministering in that area. While in Circleville, she was a member of St. Joseph’s Parish and very active in the Ministry of Neighboring.  She could be found volunteering in the hospital, playing piano and organ at nursing homes and senior care residences, and serving as a substitute organist for the parish. She was well known and loved for her smile, her caring, and her wholehearted hospitality.

In June 2013, Sister Mercedes joined the community of sisters at Nazareth Court and Center in Fond du Lac, sharing her love for music and her compassionate presence with her sisters in the retirement center. Frail health necessitated her move to St. Francis Home in August of 2020.  There she received loving care until the time of her death.

Sister Mercedes was preceded in death by her parents Peter and Mathilda; her brother Sarto; her sisters Orlinda Schacht, Loretta Kirchner, and Dolores Sauter.

She is survived by several nieces and nephews and their families and the Sisters of St. Agnes with whom she lived, prayed, and ministered.

Visitation will be held on Tuesday, March 21, 2023, from 8:30 - 9:45 a.m. at Nazareth Center Chapel, 375 Gillett Street, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. 

A Prayer Service will be held at 9:45 a.m. on March 21, 2023, in Nazareth Center Chapel. Visitation will continue following the Prayer Service until 10:45 a.m.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be offered for Sister Mercedes at 11:00 on Tuesday, March 21, 2023, at St. Francis Home Chapel, 33 Everett Street, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, with Father Randy Knauf, OFM Cap., presiding. Burial will follow at St. Joseph Springs Cemetery, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin.

Memorials may be directed to the CSA Mission Advancement Office, 320 County Road K, Fond du Lac, WI 54937.

The Sisters of St. Agnes are grateful to the nurses and staff of Nazareth Court and Center, St. Francis Home, and Hospice Hope for their devoted care of Sister Mercedes.

Zacherl Funeral Home is serving the Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes.