Sister Maria Hiltburg ND 4750 PDF Download
Marianne Uchtmann
Maria Regina Province, Coesfeld, Germany
Date and Place of Birth: June 01, 1930 Meppen
Date and Place of Profession: September 01, 1953 Coesfeld
Date and Place of Death: December 20, 2025 Coesfeld, Kloster Annenthal
Date and Place of Funeral December 30, 2025 Coesfeld, Convent Cemetery
Marianne Uchtmann was the daughter of Karl Uchtmann and his wife Antonia, née Koch. She spent a happy childhood with her six siblings, though it was overshadowed by the turmoil of the war. She once said herself: “As a child and adolescent, I was enthusiastic and torn between the spirit of the times and the Christian values that were instilled in our parental home. Because of this, I caused my parents a lot of worry.” Marianne attended the primary school ‘Meppen–Altstadt,’ from which she graduated in 1944 with good grades. In conversations, she often regretted that no religious instruction was offered at the primary school. All the more grateful was she that during her time as an apprentice cook with our sisters in Bonn, she became familiar with Christian values once again. Over the years, she developed the desire to become a sister. Thus, on November 20, 1950, she began her postulancy in Ahlen and at her investment, she received her religious name Sister Maria Hiltburg.
After her first profession, Sister Maria Hiltburg was assigned to various places in our province. For health reasons, she made her perpetual vows in 1960 in Coesfeld. After her recovery, she took over the leadership of a girls’ group in our boarding school in Ahlen for many years. Social pedagogical work was to be her main area of responsibility from then on. Therefore, she attended the College of Social Pedagogy in Geldern from 1971 to 1973 and then moved to the kindergarten management in Warstein, where she also simultaneously took on the position of local superior. Sr. Maria Hiltburg remained in Warstein until 1983, albeit with a brief interruption of almost two years. She had requested to be allowed to take care of her elderly parents, a request that was gladly granted.
Sr. Maria Hiltburg moved to Bocholt in 1983 to a girls’ boarding house, known as Herz-Jesu-Hospiz. There she ministered as local superior and was partly responsible for young women in sometimes difficult life situations. With her open and warm manner, she quickly made contact. Her high level of empathy quickly made her a valued confidante and companion.
In 1995/1996 and from 2003 to 2006, a great wish came true for Sr. Maria Hiltburg: She was able to help out at the guesthouse Villa Maria Regina in Rome and take part in the apostolate of adoration at the motherhouse, a service that perfectly matched her longing for contemplation.
Assignments in other local communities followed until on November 20, 2014, she moved to Kloster Annenthal in Coesfeld. Here she settled in well and was, as always, sociable and friendly towards her fellow sisters and staff. She enjoyed visits from home and when former boarding school students from Ahlen came bringing cakes and little surprises. Then Sr. Maria Hiltburg was in her element.
Due to several falls and extended hospital stays, she ended up needing a wheelchair. Over time, she developed signs of dementia, yet she still enjoyed working and praying. She was very accurate in folding laundry, looked forward to her almost daily wheelchair rides through the park, and always participated in the activities offered by the social service.
Her life motto, a phrase from our Mother Julie, ‘How good is the good God,’ runs like a red thread through her 95 years of life, an age which she could hardly believe to be true. Sr. Maria Hiltburg was a deeply grateful person. The good God called her to Himself into her eternal home after only a brief period of suffering.
