August 25, 1934 – January 26, 2024
Sr M. Reginbalda was born on August 25, 1934 in Unterölsbach. She was the second child of parents Josef and Klara Prem, née Himmler. She was baptised Maria Theresia in Unterölsbach on August 28, 1934. “I spent a happy time with my parents until I started school;” she writes in her curriculum vitae.
She started school at the age of five and attended primary school in Gnadenberg from 1939 to 1947. She grew up with six siblings and the war years were not easy for her. Three siblings are still alive.
After primary school, she attended vocational school and during this time she worked in the parish household to learn how to cook. She attended courses for youth leaders and handicraft courses.
In 1949 she worked for a master tailor for a while and then worked as a piecework seamstress in a factory.
In 1950, her aunts, Sr. Diomira Himmler and Sr. Manuela Himmler, helped her decide to enter the convent. In 1950, she joined the Congregation of the Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother in Abenberg and attended the kindergarten seminary. Two years of lessons were followed by a year of practical training. In 1953, she completed her training with the state examination as a kindergarten teacher.
In 1954 she was invested and given the name Sr. M. Reginbalda. She made her first holy profession on August 12, 1956, and her perpetual profession in 1961.
In October 1956, Sr. M. Reginbalda came to Buxheim (Upper Bavaria). She had taken over the management of the kindergarten there. She continued in her curriculum vitae “…working with the little ones is a joyful duty for me.”
During her time in Buxheim, she attended further training courses in nursing and infant care, youth work and in-service training for pre-school education. In Buxheim, in addition to her nursery school duties, she also played the organ in the parish.
After 17 years as a nursery school teacher and organist, she was transferred to Kleukheim in Upper Franconia in 1973. In her new place of work, she was once again in charge of the nursery school and also worked as an organist in the parish.
Sr. M. Reginbalda was not only active in the parishes, she was also open and willing to serve in the community. She was elected to the Provincial Council for four years from 1990 to 1994.
In 2002, the branch in Kleukheim was closed and Sr. M. Reginbalda returned to Abenberg in the Marienburg convent. There she very conscientiously took over the gate service, looked after the guests and pilgrims and played the organ in our Stilla Church. Making the “Stilla hearts” was one of her specialities.
Sr. M. Reginbalda loved flowers and was always concerned that the guest dining room and the gate entrance were beautifully decorated. She was very open-minded and hospitable. She was a great praying person and especially venerated St. Anthony. He was her constant travelling companion.
She told many stories in the community.
In recent weeks and months, her health has suffered a lot and she moved into the sisters’ residence after being hospitalised. It was always her wish not to need nursing care for long. This wish was fulfilled. So, in the midday hours of January 26, 2024, she went to be with the Lord surrounded by her fellow sisters.
On Wednesday, January 31, 2024, she was buried in the Sisters’ Cemetery in Abenberg, after which we celebrated the requiem in the Stilla Church. Her siblings, nephews and niece, fellow sisters and colleagues were able to bid her farewell.
Rest in peace!
Submitted by Sr. Beate Nieberler