Sister Sandra (Marie) Fleischhacker, OSB, Saint Benedict’s Monastery, St. Joseph, Minn.

December 28, 1923 – September 12, 2022

The Eucharist of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, September 16, 2022, at the Sacred Heart Chapel, Saint Benedict’s Monastery, St. Joseph, Minn., for Sister Sandra (Marie) Fleischhacker, who died on September 12, 2022, at Saint Scholastica Convent, St. Cloud, Minn. Burial will be in the monastery cemetery. Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to Benson Funeral Home. Friends may call at Saint Scholastica Convent on Thursday, September 15, from 3–4:15 p.m., or for a Vigil Prayer Service at 7 p.m. at Saint Benedict’s Monastery. Visitation continues at 9 a.m. until the time of the funeral on Friday, September 16.

Marie Fleischhacker was born December 28, 1923, to Joseph and Catherine Fleischhacker in Tony, Wis., the third of four children. She attended public school in Tony, Wis., and St. Agnes Elementary and High School in St. Paul, Minn. On September 12, 1945, she entered Saint Benedict’s Monastery, was received into the novitiate as Sister Sandra on June 19, 1946, made first monastic profession July 11, 1947, and perpetual monastic profession on July 11, 1950. She celebrated her golden Jubilee in 1997, her 60th anniversary of profession in 2007 and her 75th anniversary in July this year.

S. Sandra studied at the St. Cloud Hospital School of X-Ray Technology and at the College of Saint Benedict, St. Joseph. Her training led to ministry as an X-ray technician and later manager and supervisor roles in the St. Cloud Hospital X-ray department and school. At Saint Benedict’s Hospital in Ogden, Utah, where S. Sandra was later based for several years, she served as manager and supervisor of the X-ray department and assisted in the public relations department. When she returned to Minnesota in 1977, she served in the business office of Saint Benedict’s Monastery as secretary to the treasurer, as community secretary, and then as business office manager. On retirement from the business office, she served in the artisan studios preparing cards for sale. In 2007, S. Sandra moved to Saint Scholastica Convent, where she helped with clerical work and in the laundry and dining room, as well as undertaking a ministry of prayer.

S. Sandra is survived by the sisters in her Benedictine community, her sister-in-law, Frieda Fleischhacker, nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents, her brothers, Fritz and Joseph (Marguerite), and her sister, Katherine (Ed) Blees.

Please direct memorial gifts to the Sisters of the Order of Saint Benedict Outreach Ministries.