Skip to main content

Sister Bonaventure Gierl, OSB papers

 Collection
Identifier: OSBCHI-D-GIERBONA

Scope and Contents

This collection contains biographical information and personal papers. Biographical information includes photographs, a personal data sheet, and obituary, teaching certifications, a diploma, jubilee and funeral materials, ministry lists, and prayer cards. Personal papers contain correspondence and community notes, academic transcripts, and two 1917 photographs.

There is a 1982 letter to Sister Bonaventure Gierl, OSB from Rudy Unger, Saint George School, class of 1944 and a photograph of Rudy and his father, Robert which accompanied Robert's book Twenty-five Years of My Life in My Homeland, a gift to Sister Bonaventure. The book Twenty-five Years of My Life in My Homeland (TWE.1980) is cataloged in LibraryThing. In the letter, Rudy gives an update of families from the parish and some of his classmates, giving a glimpse, like his father's book, into the immigrant experience of families who settled and moved on from the Back of the Yards neighborhood of Chicago.

Dates

  • Creation: 1911-2004

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Sisters' papers are restricted for 50 years after the Sister's death. Photographs, previously published, and widely distributed materials are unrestricted.

Biographical / Historical

Sister Bonaventure Gierl, OSB was born Mildred in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on June 26th, 1902. The youngest of nine children, she attended Saint Boniface Parochial School and Saint Scholastica High School Chicago. She joined the community on September 1st, 1920, making her perpetual vows in 1925. After joining the community, she recieved a Bachelor's Degree from DePaul University.

Sister Bonaventure served as a teacher for more than 50 years. She taught at many of the community's parochial schools in both Chicago and Colorado, primarily grades 6 through 12. She also taught at various Colorado religious vacation schools during the summer, as well as in Chicago Catholic Youth Organziation schools. In addition to teaching, she also assisted in the church sacristy, the training of altar boys, and in presiding over study hall at Saint Scholastica High School Chicago.

Sister died on December 31st, 1983 at the age of 81. She is buried in the All Saints Cemetery.

Extent

.26 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Metadata Rights Declarations

  • License: This record is made available under an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International Creative Commons license.
Title
A Guide to Sister Bonaventure Gierl, OSB papers
Author
Clara Finkelstein, Virginia Jung
Date
2025-10-13
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the Benedictine Sisters of Chicago Archives Repository

Contact:
Archives
Benedictine Sisters of Chicago
7430 N. Ridge Blvd.
Chicago Illinois 60645 United States
(773) 764-2413 ext. 203