Sister Maria Josefine ND 5109 PDF Download
Rosa Gertrud PILLE
Maria Regina Province, Coesfeld, Germany
Date and Place of Birth: 31 December 1933 Mühlen, County Vechta
Date and Place of Profession: 31 August 1957 Coesfeld, Liebfrauenburg
Date and Place of Death: 16 May 2025 Coesfeld, Kloster Annenthal
Date and Place of Funeral: 22 May 2025 Coesfeld, Convent Cemetery
“The joy of God is our strength. Hallelujah.”
Following this antiphon from the Prayer Book, Sr. M. Josefine outlined her path through a fulfilled religious life.
Sr. M. Josefine’s parents, Josef Pille and his wife Emma, née Kolbeck, ran a farm in Mühlen. Gertrud grew up there together with her twin sister and 9 other siblings. From Easter 1940 she attended the elementary school in her home village and from 1945 the private middle school in Lohne. In 1950 she passed the entrance examination for the lower secondary level of the private secondary school in Vechta from where she graduated. After her first semester at the Catholic teacher training college, she joined our religious community in the fall of 1954 and received her religious name, Sister Maria Josefine, when she was invested.
Sr. M. Josefine had many talents. Her favorite subjects at school were mathematics, biology and music. So, it was easy for her to take the additional examination in organ playing in 1960 as part of her first examination for the teaching profession at primary schools. She was now allowed to work part-time as a church organist. In January 1963, she passed the second examination for the teaching profession at elementary schools in Lower Saxony.
In 1963, Sr. M. Josefine was transferred to the Vincenzhaus in Cloppenburg. She taught at the special school for children in the home. She deepened her pedagogical knowledge in a further year of study in Hanover. There she passed the examination for special schoolteachers in 1965 with the grade “good”. From then on, the Vincenzhaus in Cloppenburg became the center of her life, in the first years as a teacher and from 1970 to 1987 as principal. Many former students remained close to her throughout her life.
With her transfer to Vechta-Marienhain, Sr. M. Josefine took over the management of the Marienhain children’s home for 10 years, at the same time becoming organist and sacristan at the Hedwigstift. Even after her retirement, she remained faithful to church music. She played twice a week in the Hedwigstift and as a substitute in the Marienhain convent church. From 2004 – 2010, Sr. M. Josefine took over the community management in Salus; she lovingly cared for the elderly and sick sisters entrusted to her with sweets, cards and flowers. One last service for the sisters was the personalized recitation of the rosary before every funeral.
Sr. M. Josefine had been a patient at Salus since 2014 and had to move to the Hedwigstift for a few months when the ward was closed in 2017, where she was lovingly welcomed as a former organist.
The move to the senior center in Kloster Annenthal was easy for her; she appreciated the convent atmosphere with regular prayer times and daily Eucharistic celebrations. Sr. M. Josefine was outgoing. When her health permitted, she took part in the activities offered by the social service,
with particular fondness when the singing circle came together. She was happy when she was driven outside and asked for a time of silence in our chapel. Sr. M. Josefine kept in good contact with her relatives. She was happy to receive visits from home. In the last few months, Sr. M. Josefine became increasingly quiet. When she learned of the death of her twin sister Margareta, she said: “Now Margareta has gone before me”. No one suspected that she would soon follow her. Sr. M. Josefine was only bedridden for a few days. Over the years, she received competent help from the nursing staff and every support from her fellow sisters. A long religious life has come to an end.
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