Sister Josephine Seier, 94, died May 1. A medical examiner’s postmortem examination revealed she tested positive for Covid-19, according to Michael O’Loughlin, communications director for School Sisters of St. Francis.
The convent cares for retired religious sisters from the School Sisters of St. Francis and the School Sisters of Notre Dame.
Seier’s death is the fourth among former nuns from the School Sisters of St. Francis, according to officials. The others are Sister Marie June Skender, 83, who died April 7; Sister Annelda Holtkamp, 102, who died April 19; and Sister Bernadette Kelter, 88, who died April 26, O’Loughlin told CNN. They were all diagnosed postmortem.
Two School Sisters of Notre Dame who lived in the Wisconsin facility were also diagnosed with coronavirus postmortem, according to Trudy Hamilton, spokeswoman for the School Sisters of Notre Dame Central Pacific Province. They are Sister Mary Regine Collins, 95, who died April 6, and Sister Mary Francele Sherburne, 99, who died April 9.
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“For many weeks, Our Lady of the Angels has been working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, the Milwaukee County Health Department, infection control specialists, and the Greenfield Health Department for months to protect our sisters and staff against Covid-19; and once the presence of the virus was identified, to prevent further spread,” Jane Morgan, administrator of Our Lady of the Angels, said in a statement.
“We are also working closely with the leadership of the School Sisters of St. Francis and the School Sisters of Notre Dame to keep them informed,” she said.
