July 30, 1928 – January 21, 2023
Sister M. Rosilda Kirsch was born on July 30, 1928 in Unterbuchfeld/Opf. She was baptized on July 31, 1928, in the parish church of Deining, receiving the name Elisabeth.
She was the first child of Johann Kirsch and Karolina Kirsch born Obermeier. Her father died on October 6, 1936, leaving his wife alone with five children. Her mother remarried and bore her second husband three more children. She is survived by two siblings, her sister, Sr. M. Ignatia (SSM), and her brother, Xaver Kirsch.
Sr. Rosilda attended elementary school in Siegenhofen from 1934 to 1941, and then vocational school.
On March 10, 1947, she entered the Congregation of the Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother in Abenberg. In the same year she attended the kindergarten seminary and successfully completed her training.
On August 12, 1948, she received the habit, as well as the name Sr. M. Rosilda.
She professed her first vows in 1950, followed by her perpetual vows in 1953.
From 1949 to 1955 she worked as a kindergarten teacher in Gerolfing. In 1955 she was transferred to Kleukheim. She worked there as a kindergarten teacher for six years. She was subsequently assigned to Möning, and from 1973 until the dissolution of Stadelhofen in 1996, she worked in the kindergarten and parish there. Sr. Rosilda attended various ongoing formation courses in order to provide the children entrusted to her with a comprehensive education.
In 1996, she joined the community of sisters at the nursing home in Gerolfing, where she led gymnastics classes and organized physical activities for various groups of residents. She brought Holy Communion to residents who were ill and accompanied many of those who were dying. Sr. Rosilda was a thoughtful and kind person.
She spent her last years in the Schwesternwohnheim in Abenberg. Again, she took on small activities, until she became increasingly frail and eventually reliant on nursing care herself. During her last months, she was bedridden, and Sr. Ignatia visited her every day.
On January 21, 2023, she died peacefully in her sleep. On Thursday, January 26, she was buried in the Sisters’ Cemetery at Marienburg, after which we celebrated a Requiem Mass in the Stilla Church. Her nieces and nephews, acquaintances from Stadelhofen and staff from the Caritas Home for the Elderly in Gerolfing were able to attend and to bid farewell to Sr. M. Rosilda.
May she rest in peace!
Submitted by Sr. Beate Nieberler