Birth name Margaretha Bollenbeck.
Sister to Sister Polycarp and Sister Claudia Bollenbeck.
------------------------------------------
Sister Sylvia Bollenbeck, 89, a member of Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity, died Wednesday evening, July 22, at Holy Family Convent, Manitowoc.
Funeral services will be 10:30 a.m. Friday at Holy Family Convent Chapel, Manitowoc. The Rev. Julian Resch O. Praem will celebrate the Mass of Resurrection and burial will be in the convent cemetery.
Sister Bollenbeck, was born Sept 10, 1891, at Cross Plains, Wis., daughter of the late Peter and Clara Riphahan Bollenbeck. She entered the convent in 1907 and professed her vows in 1913. Sister Bollenbeck served the community as a teacher in Clarks Mills, New Holstein, Sturgeon Bay, Francis Creek, Hollandtown, Kaukauna, Oshkosh, Green Bay, Rhinelander, Neopit and Manitowoc, Wis.
Survivors include the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity and two nephews, Walter Hack and Donald Bowar of Cross Plains, Wis.
Friends may call at Holy Family Convent from 7:30 o'clock to 9 o'clock this Thursday evening where a prayer service will be at 7 o'clock. Pfeffer Funeral Home, Manitowoc, is in charge of arrangements.
Herald Times Reporter, July 23, 1981 P. 3.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
New Berlin-
In retirement, Sister Sylvia, 83, is still giving to her church. Her broad face
beaming, etched with character lines, reminiscent of an old Dutch painting, she
sits in her wheelchair in her bedroom workshop at Ozanum home and fashions dolls
for little folks. A whole wall in her room at the home for retired Franciscan
Sisters of Christian Charity is lined with dolls, Raggedy Anns and Andys, clown
dolls, farmer dolls, granny dolls, Indian dolls and Humpty Dumptys.
Sister Sylvia had made 2000 Humpty Dumptys once she started sewing five years ago.
She donates proceeds from their sale to the Franciscan Sisters, reserving only
enough money to buy lace and thread and a few supplies not customarily donated to
her. So professional is her handiwork, so reasonable are her prices that she can
hardly keep up her supply. Many of her dolls are shipped to women friends who work
in offices in Los Angeles and take orders for them, especially for the matched sets
of Raggedy Anns and Andys selling at $5 each. The dolls are all made from her scrap
material, decorated with buttons or lace or sequins and stuffed with nylon stockings.
She eventually uses everything that comes to hand, all packed in boxes, labeled and
within arms reach. She is able to wheel quickly from sewing machine to the bed where
she lays out the material, to her supply boxes that line an opposite wall and reach
half way to the ceiling.
Allthough her legs have given out, she has strong, capable hands and keen eyesight.
She works several hours a day, but stops to watch TV from 6 to 8 pm then goes back
to work again. "That's when I'm wide awake", she said and she may work another couple
of hours. Among her grinning Raggedy Anns and Andys – she paints on their faces – are
many more items she sews, a seal who balances an orange on his nose, crocheted pot
holders, pot holders with a chicken head, a yellow beak and sequin eyes and dozens of
"schmoos", little stuffed huggables from Fantasyland. "I have lots of animal patterns
but I can't get at them. The days just aren't long enough," said Sister Sylvia. She
has kitchen towels to fasten to stove or drawer handles and an attached verse to
explain their use: "Hang me near the kitchen sink, my purpose isn't what you think.
Its not to dry the pots and pans, but to quickly wipe my lady's hands."
Sister Sylvia's talent for sewing goes back through the years to her childhood in
Cross Plains when her mother taught her to crochet and embroider. Through the years –
10 years as a nurse and 47 years teaching elementary schools in various Wisconsin
communities she has done cross stitching. But handiwork is not the only family tradition.
She will show you a photograph of herself at 16 as a novice in a convent in Manitowoc.
Pictured with her and the Mother Superior are Sister Polycarp and Sister Claudia, her
own two older sisters who entered the convent before she did. All three are the
children of Peter and Clara Bollenbeck. On the right side of the photograph are
three more Bellenbeck sisters, her first cousins, "double cousins", Sister Sylvia
calls them because they are the children of Matthew and Gertrude Bollenbeck. Two
sisters married two Bollenbeck brothers. Together the two familes gave the church
six daughters who became Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity and a son, the Rev.
Joseph Bollenbeck, who was serving at a parish in Menomonee Falls at the time of his
death eight years ago. He was Sister Sylvia's older brother. Giving to the church and
working in it has been Sister Sylvia's life, "my pride and joy" as she calls it.
Making dolls is simply an extension of the work Sister Sylvia has dedicated to her
church for the past 67 years.
Waukesha Daily Freeman, Waukesha, WI Apr. 4, 1974
Sister to Sister Polycarp and Sister Claudia Bollenbeck.
------------------------------------------
Sister Sylvia Bollenbeck, 89, a member of Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity, died Wednesday evening, July 22, at Holy Family Convent, Manitowoc.
Funeral services will be 10:30 a.m. Friday at Holy Family Convent Chapel, Manitowoc. The Rev. Julian Resch O. Praem will celebrate the Mass of Resurrection and burial will be in the convent cemetery.
Sister Bollenbeck, was born Sept 10, 1891, at Cross Plains, Wis., daughter of the late Peter and Clara Riphahan Bollenbeck. She entered the convent in 1907 and professed her vows in 1913. Sister Bollenbeck served the community as a teacher in Clarks Mills, New Holstein, Sturgeon Bay, Francis Creek, Hollandtown, Kaukauna, Oshkosh, Green Bay, Rhinelander, Neopit and Manitowoc, Wis.
Survivors include the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity and two nephews, Walter Hack and Donald Bowar of Cross Plains, Wis.
Friends may call at Holy Family Convent from 7:30 o'clock to 9 o'clock this Thursday evening where a prayer service will be at 7 o'clock. Pfeffer Funeral Home, Manitowoc, is in charge of arrangements.
Herald Times Reporter, July 23, 1981 P. 3.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
New Berlin-
In retirement, Sister Sylvia, 83, is still giving to her church. Her broad face
beaming, etched with character lines, reminiscent of an old Dutch painting, she
sits in her wheelchair in her bedroom workshop at Ozanum home and fashions dolls
for little folks. A whole wall in her room at the home for retired Franciscan
Sisters of Christian Charity is lined with dolls, Raggedy Anns and Andys, clown
dolls, farmer dolls, granny dolls, Indian dolls and Humpty Dumptys.
Sister Sylvia had made 2000 Humpty Dumptys once she started sewing five years ago.
She donates proceeds from their sale to the Franciscan Sisters, reserving only
enough money to buy lace and thread and a few supplies not customarily donated to
her. So professional is her handiwork, so reasonable are her prices that she can
hardly keep up her supply. Many of her dolls are shipped to women friends who work
in offices in Los Angeles and take orders for them, especially for the matched sets
of Raggedy Anns and Andys selling at $5 each. The dolls are all made from her scrap
material, decorated with buttons or lace or sequins and stuffed with nylon stockings.
She eventually uses everything that comes to hand, all packed in boxes, labeled and
within arms reach. She is able to wheel quickly from sewing machine to the bed where
she lays out the material, to her supply boxes that line an opposite wall and reach
half way to the ceiling.
Allthough her legs have given out, she has strong, capable hands and keen eyesight.
She works several hours a day, but stops to watch TV from 6 to 8 pm then goes back
to work again. "That's when I'm wide awake", she said and she may work another couple
of hours. Among her grinning Raggedy Anns and Andys – she paints on their faces – are
many more items she sews, a seal who balances an orange on his nose, crocheted pot
holders, pot holders with a chicken head, a yellow beak and sequin eyes and dozens of
"schmoos", little stuffed huggables from Fantasyland. "I have lots of animal patterns
but I can't get at them. The days just aren't long enough," said Sister Sylvia. She
has kitchen towels to fasten to stove or drawer handles and an attached verse to
explain their use: "Hang me near the kitchen sink, my purpose isn't what you think.
Its not to dry the pots and pans, but to quickly wipe my lady's hands."
Sister Sylvia's talent for sewing goes back through the years to her childhood in
Cross Plains when her mother taught her to crochet and embroider. Through the years –
10 years as a nurse and 47 years teaching elementary schools in various Wisconsin
communities she has done cross stitching. But handiwork is not the only family tradition.
She will show you a photograph of herself at 16 as a novice in a convent in Manitowoc.
Pictured with her and the Mother Superior are Sister Polycarp and Sister Claudia, her
own two older sisters who entered the convent before she did. All three are the
children of Peter and Clara Bollenbeck. On the right side of the photograph are
three more Bellenbeck sisters, her first cousins, "double cousins", Sister Sylvia
calls them because they are the children of Matthew and Gertrude Bollenbeck. Two
sisters married two Bollenbeck brothers. Together the two familes gave the church
six daughters who became Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity and a son, the Rev.
Joseph Bollenbeck, who was serving at a parish in Menomonee Falls at the time of his
death eight years ago. He was Sister Sylvia's older brother. Giving to the church and
working in it has been Sister Sylvia's life, "my pride and joy" as she calls it.
Making dolls is simply an extension of the work Sister Sylvia has dedicated to her
church for the past 67 years.
Waukesha Daily Freeman, Waukesha, WI Apr. 4, 1974
Birth name Margaretha Bollenbeck.
Sister to Sister Polycarp and Sister Claudia Bollenbeck.
------------------------------------------
Sister Sylvia Bollenbeck, 89, a member of Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity, died Wednesday evening, July 22, at Holy Family Convent, Manitowoc.
Funeral services will be 10:30 a.m. Friday at Holy Family Convent Chapel, Manitowoc. The Rev. Julian Resch O. Praem will celebrate the Mass of Resurrection and burial will be in the convent cemetery.
Sister Bollenbeck, was born Sept 10, 1891, at Cross Plains, Wis., daughter of the late Peter and Clara Riphahan Bollenbeck. She entered the convent in 1907 and professed her vows in 1913. Sister Bollenbeck served the community as a teacher in Clarks Mills, New Holstein, Sturgeon Bay, Francis Creek, Hollandtown, Kaukauna, Oshkosh, Green Bay, Rhinelander, Neopit and Manitowoc, Wis.
Survivors include the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity and two nephews, Walter Hack and Donald Bowar of Cross Plains, Wis.
Friends may call at Holy Family Convent from 7:30 o'clock to 9 o'clock this Thursday evening where a prayer service will be at 7 o'clock. Pfeffer Funeral Home, Manitowoc, is in charge of arrangements.
Herald Times Reporter, July 23, 1981 P. 3.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
New Berlin-
In retirement, Sister Sylvia, 83, is still giving to her church. Her broad face
beaming, etched with character lines, reminiscent of an old Dutch painting, she
sits in her wheelchair in her bedroom workshop at Ozanum home and fashions dolls
for little folks. A whole wall in her room at the home for retired Franciscan
Sisters of Christian Charity is lined with dolls, Raggedy Anns and Andys, clown
dolls, farmer dolls, granny dolls, Indian dolls and Humpty Dumptys.
Sister Sylvia had made 2000 Humpty Dumptys once she started sewing five years ago.
She donates proceeds from their sale to the Franciscan Sisters, reserving only
enough money to buy lace and thread and a few supplies not customarily donated to
her. So professional is her handiwork, so reasonable are her prices that she can
hardly keep up her supply. Many of her dolls are shipped to women friends who work
in offices in Los Angeles and take orders for them, especially for the matched sets
of Raggedy Anns and Andys selling at $5 each. The dolls are all made from her scrap
material, decorated with buttons or lace or sequins and stuffed with nylon stockings.
She eventually uses everything that comes to hand, all packed in boxes, labeled and
within arms reach. She is able to wheel quickly from sewing machine to the bed where
she lays out the material, to her supply boxes that line an opposite wall and reach
half way to the ceiling.
Allthough her legs have given out, she has strong, capable hands and keen eyesight.
She works several hours a day, but stops to watch TV from 6 to 8 pm then goes back
to work again. "That's when I'm wide awake", she said and she may work another couple
of hours. Among her grinning Raggedy Anns and Andys – she paints on their faces – are
many more items she sews, a seal who balances an orange on his nose, crocheted pot
holders, pot holders with a chicken head, a yellow beak and sequin eyes and dozens of
"schmoos", little stuffed huggables from Fantasyland. "I have lots of animal patterns
but I can't get at them. The days just aren't long enough," said Sister Sylvia. She
has kitchen towels to fasten to stove or drawer handles and an attached verse to
explain their use: "Hang me near the kitchen sink, my purpose isn't what you think.
Its not to dry the pots and pans, but to quickly wipe my lady's hands."
Sister Sylvia's talent for sewing goes back through the years to her childhood in
Cross Plains when her mother taught her to crochet and embroider. Through the years –
10 years as a nurse and 47 years teaching elementary schools in various Wisconsin
communities she has done cross stitching. But handiwork is not the only family tradition.
She will show you a photograph of herself at 16 as a novice in a convent in Manitowoc.
Pictured with her and the Mother Superior are Sister Polycarp and Sister Claudia, her
own two older sisters who entered the convent before she did. All three are the
children of Peter and Clara Bollenbeck. On the right side of the photograph are
three more Bellenbeck sisters, her first cousins, "double cousins", Sister Sylvia
calls them because they are the children of Matthew and Gertrude Bollenbeck. Two
sisters married two Bollenbeck brothers. Together the two familes gave the church
six daughters who became Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity and a son, the Rev.
Joseph Bollenbeck, who was serving at a parish in Menomonee Falls at the time of his
death eight years ago. He was Sister Sylvia's older brother. Giving to the church and
working in it has been Sister Sylvia's life, "my pride and joy" as she calls it.
Making dolls is simply an extension of the work Sister Sylvia has dedicated to her
church for the past 67 years.
Waukesha Daily Freeman, Waukesha, WI Apr. 4, 1974
Sister to Sister Polycarp and Sister Claudia Bollenbeck.
------------------------------------------
Sister Sylvia Bollenbeck, 89, a member of Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity, died Wednesday evening, July 22, at Holy Family Convent, Manitowoc.
Funeral services will be 10:30 a.m. Friday at Holy Family Convent Chapel, Manitowoc. The Rev. Julian Resch O. Praem will celebrate the Mass of Resurrection and burial will be in the convent cemetery.
Sister Bollenbeck, was born Sept 10, 1891, at Cross Plains, Wis., daughter of the late Peter and Clara Riphahan Bollenbeck. She entered the convent in 1907 and professed her vows in 1913. Sister Bollenbeck served the community as a teacher in Clarks Mills, New Holstein, Sturgeon Bay, Francis Creek, Hollandtown, Kaukauna, Oshkosh, Green Bay, Rhinelander, Neopit and Manitowoc, Wis.
Survivors include the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity and two nephews, Walter Hack and Donald Bowar of Cross Plains, Wis.
Friends may call at Holy Family Convent from 7:30 o'clock to 9 o'clock this Thursday evening where a prayer service will be at 7 o'clock. Pfeffer Funeral Home, Manitowoc, is in charge of arrangements.
Herald Times Reporter, July 23, 1981 P. 3.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
New Berlin-
In retirement, Sister Sylvia, 83, is still giving to her church. Her broad face
beaming, etched with character lines, reminiscent of an old Dutch painting, she
sits in her wheelchair in her bedroom workshop at Ozanum home and fashions dolls
for little folks. A whole wall in her room at the home for retired Franciscan
Sisters of Christian Charity is lined with dolls, Raggedy Anns and Andys, clown
dolls, farmer dolls, granny dolls, Indian dolls and Humpty Dumptys.
Sister Sylvia had made 2000 Humpty Dumptys once she started sewing five years ago.
She donates proceeds from their sale to the Franciscan Sisters, reserving only
enough money to buy lace and thread and a few supplies not customarily donated to
her. So professional is her handiwork, so reasonable are her prices that she can
hardly keep up her supply. Many of her dolls are shipped to women friends who work
in offices in Los Angeles and take orders for them, especially for the matched sets
of Raggedy Anns and Andys selling at $5 each. The dolls are all made from her scrap
material, decorated with buttons or lace or sequins and stuffed with nylon stockings.
She eventually uses everything that comes to hand, all packed in boxes, labeled and
within arms reach. She is able to wheel quickly from sewing machine to the bed where
she lays out the material, to her supply boxes that line an opposite wall and reach
half way to the ceiling.
Allthough her legs have given out, she has strong, capable hands and keen eyesight.
She works several hours a day, but stops to watch TV from 6 to 8 pm then goes back
to work again. "That's when I'm wide awake", she said and she may work another couple
of hours. Among her grinning Raggedy Anns and Andys – she paints on their faces – are
many more items she sews, a seal who balances an orange on his nose, crocheted pot
holders, pot holders with a chicken head, a yellow beak and sequin eyes and dozens of
"schmoos", little stuffed huggables from Fantasyland. "I have lots of animal patterns
but I can't get at them. The days just aren't long enough," said Sister Sylvia. She
has kitchen towels to fasten to stove or drawer handles and an attached verse to
explain their use: "Hang me near the kitchen sink, my purpose isn't what you think.
Its not to dry the pots and pans, but to quickly wipe my lady's hands."
Sister Sylvia's talent for sewing goes back through the years to her childhood in
Cross Plains when her mother taught her to crochet and embroider. Through the years –
10 years as a nurse and 47 years teaching elementary schools in various Wisconsin
communities she has done cross stitching. But handiwork is not the only family tradition.
She will show you a photograph of herself at 16 as a novice in a convent in Manitowoc.
Pictured with her and the Mother Superior are Sister Polycarp and Sister Claudia, her
own two older sisters who entered the convent before she did. All three are the
children of Peter and Clara Bollenbeck. On the right side of the photograph are
three more Bellenbeck sisters, her first cousins, "double cousins", Sister Sylvia
calls them because they are the children of Matthew and Gertrude Bollenbeck. Two
sisters married two Bollenbeck brothers. Together the two familes gave the church
six daughters who became Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity and a son, the Rev.
Joseph Bollenbeck, who was serving at a parish in Menomonee Falls at the time of his
death eight years ago. He was Sister Sylvia's older brother. Giving to the church and
working in it has been Sister Sylvia's life, "my pride and joy" as she calls it.
Making dolls is simply an extension of the work Sister Sylvia has dedicated to her
church for the past 67 years.
Waukesha Daily Freeman, Waukesha, WI Apr. 4, 1974
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