Sister Maria Gertrudis ND 4714 PDF Download
Elisabeth KOCH
Maria Regina Province, Coesfeld / Germany
Date and Place of Birth: 05 March 1927 Selkentrop, Ct. Meschede
Date and Place of Profession: 13 April 1955 Mülhausen
Date and Place of Death: 23 June 2025 Mülhausen, Haus Salus
Date and Place of Funeral: 30 June 2025 Mülhausen, Convent Cemetery
“Jesus lives, and so do I with Him! This is my confidence.”
Gotteslob [German Songbook] Nr. 336
Elisabeth Koch was the eldest daughter of Franz-Josef and Theresia Koch in Selkentrop, Meschede district. She had one sister and two brothers.
After finishing elementary primary and secondary school, she did an apprenticeship in housekeeping on her parents’ farm and passed her exams in a recognized external company. She then attended the Rural Women’s School in Geldern. After the sudden death of her father, she ran the family business with her mother and was responsible for the young women in training.
After her younger siblings had completed their training, Elisabeth entered our congregation in Mülhausen in 1952 and was given the name Maria Gertrudis when she was invested.
After graduating from the Liebfrauenschule in Mülhausen, Sr. M. Gertrudis began her studies at the Vocational-Pedagogical Institute Frankfurt am Main, specializing in home economics. This training qualified her for her later tasks at the Rural Women’s School in Geldern, and she was able to teach and instruct young people according to her wishes. Sr. M. Gertrudis was appointed head of the vocational schools in Geldern in 1969. In addition to this task, she was also entrusted with the office of local superior. At times she was also head of the boarding school, provincial councillor and directress of the juniorate. She carried out all the tasks entrusted to her with reliability and great zeal, just as she had done in her parents’ farm and household. Sister M. Gertrudis said afterwards that she “couldn’t please everyone”, then added, “But neither could Jesus!”
In 2013, Sister M. Gertrudis moved to Haus Salus in Mülhausen together with Sister M. Irmengarde. Both sisters had known each other since their novitiate days and were reunited through their teaching activities in Geldern. Sr. M. Gertrudis often said, “We always complemented each other.” As friends, they supported each other in the limitations of old age and lived from shared memories.
Despite severe hearing and sight impairments, Sr. M. Gertrudi’s attitude to life remained positive. She took part in community life and social activities, and it was important to her to attend church services. She was interested in everything until the end and followed developments in the Church, society, the Congregation and in Geldern.
Her family was also very important to her, and she always included them in her prayers. A few weeks ago, on the occasion of her 70th religious jubilee, a visit to her family in the Sauerland was a special event, which she was happy about until the end.
The daily reading on the day of her death read: “The Lord said to Abraham: Go forth from your country, from your kindred and from your father’s house …” Sr. M. Gertrudis followed this call of the Lord over 70 years ago and on the evening of June 23 she has arrived for good.
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