Sister Maria Martina ND 6263 PDF Download
Martha KEMME
Maria Regina Province, Coesfeld / Germany
Date and Place of Birth: December 25, 1935 Kettenkamp, County Bersenbrück
Date and Place of Profession: July 13, 1967 Vechta
Date and Place of Death: July 27, 2025 Coesfeld, Kloster Annenthal
Date and Place of Funeral: July 31, 2025 Coesfeld, Convent Cemetery
Lord, You know my heart and You know everything.
Sr. Maria Martina was the daughter of Josef Kemme and his wife Elisabeth, née Meyer. She was given the name Martha at her baptism. She had three brothers. From 1942 to 1951 she attended the primary elementary and secondary school in Kettenkamp, then the agricultural vocational school in Nortrup for two years. At the end of her schooling, she used the skills she had acquired in her parents’ household. In 1955, she met our sisters in Löningen, where she worked as a trainee cook for a year. The local superior at the time, Sr. Maria Elfriede, wrote in Martha’s report: “…Miss Martha’s fundamental attitude, her cheerful nature, her commitment and willingness to help ensured her the recognition and trust of the sisters, the loyal solidarity with her companions and the goodwill of all who got to know her.”
Martha returned to her parents’ household for a further six years; after that she worked as a domestic employee for a veterinary family until 1964. She left there with a very good certificate.
In 1964, Martha entered the novitiate of the Sisters of Notre Dame in Vechta and received her religious name at her investment: Sr. Maria Martina. After her first profession in 1967, Sr. Maria Martina was assigned to various domestic duties until she was able to begin her training as a geriatric nurse at St. Marien-Heim in Belm in 1968. She completed this training in 1969 with great success. From then on, her area of activity was the nursing ward of the provincial house in Vechta – Marienhain. From 1974 to 1977, Sister Martina expanded her knowledge of nursing care for the elderly and sick at the nursing school in Vechta. With a few regional interruptions, Vechta remained the center of her life. She worked as a nurse on the ward in Marienhain until 2018. Throughout her life, she worked with all her strength and dedication for the sisters entrusted to her care, both in Vechta and later, when she had already retired, in Coesfeld.
Over the years, Sr. Martina’s health began to deteriorate. As the infirmary in Vechta was closed, Sr. Maria Martina moved with a heavy heart to Kloster Annenthal in Coesfeld after a long stay in hospital; she now lived in the senior center. Here she met some of her fellow sisters from Vechta again. Shared memories of times in Vechta made it easier for her to settle in. Sr. Maria Martina enjoyed taking part in the offers of the social service and enriched the conversations with her contributions and experiences from her life. She kept in good contact with her relatives and was happy to receive visits from home. Over time, painful circulatory disorders made her everyday life more difficult; she was only bedridden for a short time and lived on the nursing ward. She received competent help from the nursing staff and every support from her co-sisters. She repeatedly expressed her gratitude to all those who came to her, helped her and accompanied her.
“Lord, You know my heart and You know everything” was her motto in life. Her trust in God’s help and mercy was fulfilled in the hour of her death. A long religious life was completed in God.
