Sister M. Engelberta was "awake" and ready when the call came: "The Bridegroom is here!" It was shortly after seven in the morning of the first Sunday of Advent, December 2, 1984, that she went forth to meet Him, bearing her well-trimmed light, bedecked with the jewels of her beautiful life, and ready for the eternal espousals.

Sister M. Lucina Thompson, infirmarian at Tucson, where sister had lived since March 10, 1983, heard Sister M. Engelberta coughing about twenty minutes to seven, and went to her room. She had her robe and slippers on, and said she was so cold. Sister told her to return to bed, and she would take care of her. As she wrapped a blanket around her, she heard the death rattle and called another sister to get the prioress, and assistant. The latter hastened for Abbot Anselm Coppersmith, who was visiting overnight. He came immediately and anointed Sister M. Engelberta. Sister M. Bede told her Jesus was coming for her. She opened her eyes wide, gave a big smile, and as Sister M. Bede prayed, "I commend her spirit to God," she took her last breath. Everyone was in slight shock at the suddenness of her leaving them, for though Sr. M. Engelberta was ninety-two on the preceding May 30th, she retained her zeal and strength, and had even made an hour of adoration the night before.

Sister M. Engelberta Bischoff, a native of Canton St. Gallen, Switzerland, where she was born May 30, 1982 was the daughter of Pauline Schildknecht and Gottlieb Bischoff. She was named Albertina Rose. She loved the mountains where her early life was spent. At an early age she felt a call to religious life, and was encouraged by her aunts, Sister M. Leona and Benedicta Schildknecht, who were professed Sisters at the Clyde Benedictine convent. She expressed her intentions when she wrote about it in 1972: "I had intended to enter in Switzerland, to go to the missions. In fact, I had my trunk already packed to go the next day. But my father preferred another place. I saw he was not happy with my decision. So I really did not know what to do. I went to our parish priest and asked him. He said. 'You are not strong enough to wait till you are twenty.' I went home and wrote that I had concluded the missions were not for me. It was while in service to a family that my mother made a visit to me to tell me there was a priest from Conception visiting his relatives in Germany. Would I want to go with him to Clyde? Sister M. Leona had asked Mother John if I could come to Clyde and she said alright, but they would need my answer right away. So my father wrote that I would come. This letter had been sent before I knew it, but it was still left for me to say 'yes' or 'no'. I said 'yes'. So my father was fully satisfied.

Albertina Rose arrived in Clyde on September 9, 1911. Her first meal was pancakes and molasses. The day to be invested with the religious habit arrived on January 13, 1912, and profession of vows on January 18, 1913. Perpetual Vows were made in Chewelah, Washington, on 'September 12, 1918. She remained in Chewelah until 1925. She was consecrated a virgin in Mundelein on January 4, 1953.

Sister had learned to sew when a little girl in Switzerland, and used her talents as a seamstress and for needlework, in the vestment department. As a young Sister, she taught sewing to the girls in the Clyde Academy. She was also sacristan for a time in Mundelein. In Chewelah, where she had gone in 1915, one of her duties was to keep the garden and grounds clear of squirrels, which were a real pest. Sister kept after them with a hoe. She was called as a pioneer to Mundelein on October 17, 1928. She remained as a member of this community for almost thirty years, leaving on December 25, 1958 for Old Town, San Diego. In 1962 then took up residence in Kansas City until she went to Tucson, March 10, 1983.

Sister M. Engelberta made a first visit back to her relatives in Switzerland in 1968, and then others. In 1980, she went all by herself at the age of eighty-eight..

Her Diamond Jubilee was celebrated in Kansas City on February 10, 1973, and ten years later the seventieth followed. Sister M. Engelberta had remarkably excellent health throughout her religious life.

Sister M. Engelberta was "awake" and ready when the call came: "The Bridegroom is here!" It was shortly after seven in the morning of the first Sunday of Advent, December 2, 1984, that she went forth to meet Him, bearing her well-trimmed light, bedecked with the jewels of her beautiful life, and ready for the eternal espousals.