May 8, 1938 – December 29, 2024
Sr. M. Hildegard Schmidt was born on May 8, 1938, in Obermässing as the sixth child of the master locksmith Karl Schmidt and his wife Katharina, née Regnath.
She was baptized Hildegard in Obermässing on May 15, 1938. She attended elementary school from 1944 to 1952 and then vocational school.
On November 22, 1954, she entered the community of the Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother in Abenberg. There she attended the kindergarten seminar and passed the state examination in 1957.
On August 12, 1957, she was invested and after two years of religious training, she made her first profession in 1959 and her perpetual profession in 1964.
After the novitiate, she worked for eight years as a kindergarten teacher at St. Stilla in Abenberg. In 1967, she spent two years as a kindergarten teacher at Burgoberbach, where she was also the local superior.
From 1972 until the boarding school was closed, Sr. M. Hildegard was a teacher at the boarding school of the girls’ secondary school in Abenberg.
At that time, working as a teacher at the boarding school was a special challenge because the students were only allowed to go home every 4 weeks on weekends. With a lot of love and patience, she accompanied the adolescent girls, took their needs and concerns seriously, and offered help with school problems. She was very creative in the leisure activities she offered at the weekend in the boarding school.
She was the local leader of the Realschule for 6 years and was also a provincial councilor for a while.
In September 2004, she was transferred to the reopened local community in Pullach im Isartal. She did volunteer work at Missio in Munich. She collected stamps, coins, jewelry and watches and sold them to dealers. The money was always donated to Missio. Due to an eye disease, she had to end her volunteer service in July 2020.
Sr. M. Hildegard was a great writer and took every opportunity to bring joy to her fellow sisters on their name days and birthdays with her letters. She thus maintained contact with many former students and took their worries and needs into her prayers, because she was not only a great writer, but also a great prayer.
For health reasons, she had to return from Pullach to the sisters’ residence in Abenberg in December 2023.
Shortly before Christmas 2024, she fell and broke her thigh. She was then admitted to the district hospital in Roth and never recovered from the operation and its effects.
She went to her eternal home on December 29, 2024. Strengthened by the sacraments of the Church and the prayers and support of Sr. Eberharda, Sr. Meinrada, Sr. Raphaela and other sisters.
On January 7, 2025, she was buried in the sisters’ cemetery in Abenberg.
Her biological sister, nieces and nephews, fellow sisters, friends and acquaintances, former students and teachers of the girls Realschule were able to say goodbye to her. After the funeral, we celebrated the Requiem in the Stilla Church. May she now find rest and joy with the Lord and be our advocate there.
Submitted by Sr. Beate Nieberler