Sister M. Adela Diller, 88, of the Sisters of St. Francis, died at 3:45 a.m., Thursday, July 5, 2007, at St. Francis Home.

In July of 2004, Sister Adela wrote: "...I have come to the point where I must ‘let go' of many things that have meant so much to me. It is as if the Lord keeps saying, ‘and that one, too,' so I must and want to say, ‘yes, Lord' over and over again–in the midst of tears, but the tears filled with happiness because I want to offer all I can. This is what consecrated life is all about for me. Jesus gave His whole self for me and the whole world–now it is my turn and I want to do it wholeheartedly for Jesus and the salvation of the whole world. Here is my prayer: ‘All I have is Thine, through Mary Thy most holy Mother.'"

Those words of hers sum up the whole of Sister Adela's life. The Sisters of St. Francis community knew her as a woman attuned to God's love and will. Always positive, always cheerful, she saw only the good in others and constantly affirmed that good.

This spirit of selfless love and giving began when, as she states in her autobiography: "On October 15, 1918, I opened my eyes to this world in a little farm house in St. Anthony, Mercer County, Ohio. There I was greeted by my Mom, Mary Eva, and my Dad, John Joseph, and my four siblings: Harold, Zeno, Adela, and Otto. When my Aunt Anna called upstairs to say she had a surprise, the kids came down to Mom's bedroom. There was Mom in bed with me. Harold said, ‘What are we going to call her?' Mom said, ‘Look at the calendar and see what saint is for today.' It was St. Teresa. So Mom said, ‘Then she shall be Theresa.'"

And so she was Theresa until August 11, 1938, when she received the veil of the Sisters of St. Francis and became "Sister Adela." She had thought of becoming a Precious Blood Sister, because those were the only Sisters she knew. But when her priest brother's friend, Fr. Carl Nieset, heard that she wanted to go to the convent after graduating from eighth grade, he said, "Why doesn't she enter the Franciscans where my sister is?" So he gave her mother the address of Sister Margaret and she started writing to her. After receiving her first letter from Sister Margaret, she wrote, "I changed my mind from Precious Blood to Franciscan."

But she did not, however, go to the convent yet that fall. She stayed to help the teacher at St. Anthony's one-room school and thus began her love for teaching. Her first visit to Tiffin was August 20th, a jubilee day for Sister M. Constantia Dussel, and Clothing Day for Sister M. Barbara and Ethel Catherine. In addition to these celebrations, Sister M. Alacoque Schaefer, the daughter of our foundress, Mother M. Francis, was lying corpse. She later wrote, "On my first trip to Tiffin, I witnessed the beginning and the end of life as a Franciscan. I was deeply impressed! I signed up to be an aspirant."

When Theresa was a sophomore at St. Francis Convent High School, two tragedies struck her family, her father's sudden death in February, and her sister Adela's death from a brain tumor on August 29. She was forced to make a painful decision. Before she could write to Tiffin to say that she would not be returning to school in view of the circumstances at home, Sister M. Cecilia wrote to her suggesting that she consider staying home with her mother.

So, Theresa did not go to school at all that year, but stayed home and helped with the three younger children. She returned to Tiffin for her junior year and entered the postulancy in January. She finished her senior year as a second year novice.

Sister Adela went on to graduate from the College of St. Francis in Joliet, IL, and to receive her master's degree from the University of Notre Dame. She enjoyed her teaching years in elementary schools at Edgerton, Peru, and Blakeslee and served both as teacher and principal at Payne. She taught high school at St. Francis Convent High School, Tiffin, and at St. Mary's, Paducah, KY. She fulfilled roles as aspirant mistress, postulant mistress, and community councilor for the Sisters of St. Francis. In her final years in the infirmary, she was missioned as a Minister of Prayer for the Congregation.

At 3:45 a.m., on Thursday, July 5, 2007, she quietly and peacefully joined other members of her family in Eternal Life: her parents, her sister Adela, and her brothers, Zeno, Father Harold, Donald, Father Otto, and Walter. She is survived by her sister, Ethel Boeckman of Coldwater, Ohio, and her sister-in-law, Rita Diller of Coldwater.

Sister Adela's life was an inspiration to all. The Sisters of St. Francis watched as her "letting go's" wrought in her a beautiful transformation that only suffering that is embraced can effect. She was "their saint" as some liked to refer to her, and most importantly, she was a happy saint.

Visitation was held from 2-7 p.m., Friday, July 6, 2007, at St. Francis Convent Chapel, where a Christian wake service was held at 7 p.m. Visitation was also held one hour prior to Mass on Saturday.

A Mass of Christian Burial was held at 2 p.m., Saturday, July 7, 2007, at St. Francis Convent Chapel, with the Rev. Roger Bonifas officiating. Interment was in St. Francis Convent Cemetery.

Arrangements were under the direction of Traunero Funeral Home.