Kurt RSM, Sister Bernice

Sister Bernice Kurt RSM, 78, died Thursday, July 26, 2012, at Mercy Hallmar Care Center in Cedar Rapids after a short battle with cancer. Services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Monday, July 30, at Chapel of Mercy at Mount Mercy University in Cedar Rapids by the Rev. David Ambrosy. Burial will follow the funeral service at Mount Calvary Cemetery in Cedar Rapids. Friends may call from 4 to 7 p.m. Sunday, July 29, at Chapel of Mercy at Mount Mercy University in Cedar Rapids, with a wake service at 7 p.m. Arrangements are with Teahen Funeral Home.

Sister Bernice was the seventh child of 12 children born to John G. and Ella (Moorman) Kurt in Bernard, Iowa on Nov. 9, 1933. She attended St. Patrick School in Garryowen and graduated from Mount Mercy Academy in Cedar Rapids in 1952. In August 1950, she entered the Sisters of Mercy just before her 17th birthday where she joined her sister, Mary.

Sister Bernice spent 26 years in education, 14 years as a teacher in parochial schools in Ames, Decorah, Cedar Rapids, and Fairfax, Iowa. She also served 12 years in administration serving as teacher and principal at Our Lady of Grace School in Edina, Minn., and at St. Patrick's, Fairfax, Iowa, and as principal at All Saints in Cedar Rapids, at St. Nicholas, Evansdale, and at St. John's, Waterloo.

In 1972, Sister Bernice earned her master's degree in elementary administration and theology from Loras College in Dubuque. Starting in 1979, her focus turned to pastoral ministry and she assisted with parish work at St. John's, Mount Vernon. In 1984, Sister Bernice studied pastoral ministry at Research Medical Center in Kansas City, Mo., and served as a chaplain at Mercy Hospital, Iowa City, from 1985 to 1987, and at Mercy Medical Center in Cedar Rapids from 1987 to 2007.

Sister Bernice retired in 2007, but remained active tutoring at the Catherine McAuley Center and serving on the Micro-Lending Committee sponsored by her religious community up until her death.

Sister Bernice was preceded in death by her parents; two brothers, Henry and Dorrance; and a sister, Germaine Bechen.

She is survived by her brothers, Charles (Kit) and Earl (Louetta) of Cascade and Tom (Rita) and Pete (Mary Jane) of Bernard; her sisters, Sister Mary Kurt RSM of Cedar Rapids, Lois Donovan and Rita Martin of Bernard and Jane (Lloyd) Steffen of Dubuque; and several nieces and nephews, including Sister Linda Bechen RSM and other Sisters of Mercy.

Memorials may be made to the Sisters of Mercy at 1125 Prairie Dr. NE, Cedar Rapids, IA 52402.

Published July 28, 2012 in The Gazette