Sister M. Germanus Bauer, SSND
(née Philomena Bauer)

First Profession August 18, 1938
Motherhouse
St. Louis, Missouri

Beloved sister of Sister M. Teresella Bauer, SSND; and Rev. Msgr. Sylvester Bauer.

The fourth daughter and seventh of 12 children was born to Theresa (née Redel) and Henry Bauer on the morning of August 22, 1918, at the 500-acre Dixie Blossom Farm near Freeburg, Mo. Two days later, she was baptized at Holy Family Church and named Philomena. One of her sisters died shortly after birth. Four boys and the remaining seven girls grew up in the pioneer days, which involved walking the four-mile distance to school in all kinds of weather and assisting with the multiple tasks required for farming.

Her parents instilled in them a deep love of prayer and dependence upon God. God blessed the family with five vocations: S. Teresella and S. Germanus to the School Sisters of Notre Dame; S. Virgine, a Holy Spirit missionary; Brother Leonard, a member of the Society of the Divine Word; and Rev. Msgr. Sylvester of the Springfield-Cape Girardeau diocese.

During her grade school years, Philomena was inspired by the concern and care of her SSND teachers for the Bauer children and desired to become one of them. Her parents readily gave her permission to enter the candidature. Six days after her 17th birthday, on August 28, 1935, she entered at Ripa and continued her high school studies. She was received into the novitiate on August 17, 1937, and given the name Mary Germanus. First vows were pronounced on August 18, 1938, and final vows on August 18, 1944.

Following profession, she ministered as sacristan and worked in the ecclesiastical department at the motherhouse for four years. She then began 40 years of teaching elementary students. In Missouri, she taught at St. Gabriel, St. Andrew, St. Bernadette, and Sts. Peter and Paul in St. Louis; St. Joseph, Westphalia; Immaculate Conception, Jackson; St. Peter, Jefferson City and St. Francis Borgia, Washington. She also taught at Immaculate Conception, Marrero, La.; Our Lady of Lourdes, Mobile, Ala.; and Holy Family, Linda Vista, and St. Aloysius, Tulare, Calif. In Illinois, she taught at St. Peter Cathedral, Belleville; Holy Angels, East St. Louis; and St. Augustine, Breese. In between these teaching years, she was a switchboard operator at the motherhouse and did general housework at Notre Dame Hall, St. Louis. In the 1970s, she was an Osage County ambulance attendant in addition to teaching at St. Joseph's in Westphalia.

At the age of 68, she answered the call to go to Kabala, Sierra Leone, West Africa, where she opened a clinic for secondary students and gradually extended these services to the Kabala townspeople. With the outbreak of civil war, she returned to the States. She became a staff member at Maria Shelter in Chicago, which provided food, clothing and housing for drug addicts and homeless people. In 1993, she was missioned to the West African Novitiate in Sunyani, Ghana, as director of maintenance and personnel services. Four years later, she returned to the motherhouse and did community service. This was followed by two years of caring for family members. During this time, she became involved in hospice care, the Legion of Mary and prison ministry in the Jefferson City area. In June 2004, she retired at Veronica House and was transferred to Anna House in March 2009. She was placed on hospice in early September 2009 and died peacefully at Anna House on the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, September 14, 2009, around 12:40 p.m. while sisters prayed with her.

In a recent interview, Sister Gerry stated, "Anything I've accomplished was because of God's great goodness, His gifts, His graces, His blessings…this is my joy! Knowing that it is what Jesus asks me to do is a great grace and so satisfying." May she rejoice in the fullness of life God now gives her!

(School Sisters of Notre Dame, St. Louis Province)

Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord!