Thank You Sister Noreen! Amanuensis Monday

Way back in November I posted about my great-great aunt Martina Marxer. Martina was a nun with the Sisters of the Precious Blood in OH and died in 1939. I tripped across her death certificate one day and decided to find out a bit more. I sent an email to the convent and hoped to hear back. After the hustle and bustle of the holidays I received a very nice email from Sister Noreen of the convent archives. She promised to look into my requests ASAP. Today I received a brief summary of Martina's time at the convent.

CPPS Archives
Sisters of the Precious Blood
Dayton OH

Name: Sister M. Gabriela Marxer, CPPS
Birth Name: Martina
Birth: March 29, 1862, Eschen. Lichtenstein
Father's Name: Andrew Marxer
Mother's Name: Anna Schaechle
Entered the Sisters of the Precious Blood: March 12, 1883, Maria Stein, Ohio
Received as a novice: February 18, 1885, Maria Stein, Ohio
Profession: March 10, 1888, Maria Stein, Ohio
Ministry: Domestic Arts [included cooking, gardening, making hosts, making rugs and care of orphans]
Died: July 15, 1939, New Riegel, Ohio
Buried: New Riegel, Ohio
Cause of death: Stroke

Note: There are different versions of the spelling of the family name: Marxer, Merxer, Merxes. Some records also show the name of Sister Gabriela [her given religious name] was not always used but the name of Sister Martina, her birth name.

From CPPS Archives
Date: March 15, 2012
CPPS Archivist

The story of Sister Martina Marxer

Death Certificate of  Sister M. Martina Marxer
1862-1936
source Familysearch.org

Here we have the death certificate of M. Martina Gabriela Marxer. She was born on 29 Mar 1862 to Andreas and Anna Marie Marxer, in Eschen Liechtenstein. She was my great grandfather, Joseph Marxer's sister. She came to the US with her father and siblings in 1884 and lived, for a time in St. Paul MN. By 1926 she was living in New Riegel, Seneca County, OH as a Catholic Nun with the Sisters of the Precious Blood. Her death certificate states that at the age of 72 and suffering from senility, she was working the garden of the convent in 108 degree temperatures  She suffered heat stroke and died. I find this scenario so sad. I've sent a request to the archives department of the Sisters of the Precious Blood for any other information, stories or photos they may have of Sister Martina Marxer. I hope to hear something very soon.