Emma Willmann was born in Baden, Germany on January 4, 1864. She came to the United States in 1883 and lived in St. Joseph, Missouri before entering at Clyde on Sept. 8, 1884. She was invested with the Benedictine habit on Feb. 10, 1885, and made profession as Sister M. Bernard on Feb. 10, 1886. Perpetual vows were made on June 13, 1891, and her Golden Jubilee was celebrated in 1935.

Sister was a tall, stately, virile person, of noble bearing, strong willed, somewhat stern, yet lovable and very tender-hearted. She had a keen sense of duty, was trustworthy and conscientious in everything she did, and kept the Rule with childlike simplicity. She had a great love for the community and was always intent on promoting its interests. She felt it keenly when unable to join the Sisters at the community exercises, and once when recuperating from an illness at the infirmary she asked the doctor: "Doctor, can I go with the bunch now?"

In her earlier years Sister M. Bernard made collecting tours, soliciting funds for building the chapel. She made two trips to Europe to recruit postulants, and in all brought back some thirty promising young women, many of whom persevered and became good religious. While in Europe she also made valuable contacts with the German bishops for Father Lukas in his Caritas work and arranged for the purchase of splendid materials for church vestments.

Sister was sacrificial and often did heavy outdoor work such as helping with the harvesting. In later years she did clerical work in the Correspondence and Order departments. Her love for prayer often found oral expression in beautiful spontaneous prayers while working, and everything was sanctified by a good intention.

Sister M. Bernard had a strong constitution and customarily took the difficult early morning hours of adoration, after which she assisted at Lauds and the Little Hours, Mass and Benediction. She and Sister M. Teresa were on the prie-dieu when lightning struck the chapel in the early morning of Father Lukas' First Holy Mass. The shock of this experience left its impress on both Sisters.

Heart trouble and other complications finally claimed Sister's life on Oct. 21, 1945 at the age of eighty-one.