Sister Agatha Niebrugge (Zita Therese), PHJC passed away on Wednesday, October 4, 2017 at the Catherine Kasper Home in Donaldson, Indiana.    

Sister Agatha was born in Effingham, Illinois to Anthony and Anna (Aulenbrock) Niebrugge who preceded her in death along with her siblings Paul, Lawrence (Dorothy), Alphonse, Martha Muehlenfeld (Joe), Johanna Spracklin (Bernard), Ambrose (Dorothy), Father Herman, Dolores Bede (Stockman), Mary Ann, Anna Marie, Father Richard, and Bernard. Her brother Tony Niebrugge survives along with sister-in-laws Barbara, Dolores and Margaret Niebrugge.  Sister Agatha noted in her biography, “Needless to say, Father and Mother had sufficient opportunities to practice parenting.”

Sister Agatha entered the Poor Handmaid of Jesus Christ Community as a postulant on September 2, 1946. She professed her first vows on June 25, 1949. Sister Agatha graduated from Alverno College in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Loyola University in Chicago. In addition, she pursued Art Training from the Washington School of Art.

Sister’s teaching career spanned 55 years. She taught at St. Monica School in Mishawaka, Indiana (1949-1953), St. John Orphanage in Belleville, Illinois (1953-1958), St. Augustine High School, Chicago (1959-1976), Mater Dei High School in Breese, Illinois (1976-1987) from there she received the Distinguished Educator of the Year Award. In 1987 she moved on to Ancilla College in Donaldson becoming a Professor of Sociology (1987-2005). The Ancilla College Board of Trustees awarded Sister Agatha the Trustee Emeritus Status. Sister Agatha once said of teaching, “Teaching has been an excellent vehicle for bringing Christ to the world. Hopefully the ‘ripples’ outward continue from the values and truths imparted to the students thus enabling them to face their challenges and hopes.”

Sister Agatha officially retired to the Catherine Kasper Home in 2013. She continued her humble quiet ministry of listening as she reached out to many of the Catherine Kasper Home residents.  

Visitation will be held at the Ancilla Domini Chapel on Sunday, October 8, 2017 beginning at 4:30 p.m. EDT. Evensong Service will be held the same evening 7:00 p.m. EDT 

Funeral Liturgy will be held in the Ancilla Domini Chapel on Monday, October 9 at 10:00 a.m. EDT

Burial will follow in the Mt. Carmel Cemetery, Donaldson, Indiana. 

Contributions may be made in Sister Agatha’s memory to the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ, PO Box 1, Donaldson, Indiana 46513.