Sister was born in Manitowoc, Wis. of German-born parents, on Dec. 3, 1868. She entered at Clyde on Feb. 12, 1907 and was invested as a novice on Mar. 14, 1908. Because of a hereditary heart condition, Sister became critically ill near the end of her novitiate and made her vows, seemingly on her deathbed on August 12, 1909.  She wrote and signed her vow formula on August 28, 1909, the day she had been scheduled to make vows. However, she rallied and lived to a ripe old age, though the heart condition worsened with the years.. She made perpetual vows on Feb. 4, 1917. As she was the first trained nurse to enter our community, Father Lukas chose the name Euphemia for her so that she might claim St. Ephrem, a doctor, for her patron.

After being Infirmarian at Clyde for eighteen years, Sister served in the same capacity at Chewelah, Washington for three years and at Mundelein for five years. She continued this service at Clyde for many more years on her return. Her dedication to the life of adoration was exemplary, and her devotedness to the sick, of whom there were many when she entered, was sacrificial. Kind and sympathetic, she made every effort to help those who were ill. We owe to her the introduction of standards of hygiene hitherto not observed, which effected a marked improvement in the health of the community, in which there had been an incidence of tuberculosis from the beginning. (The early death of so many of the pioneer Sisters bears witness to this fact.)

Sister was always a quiet, recollected person, and often prayed five or six rosaries a day. A double hip fracture, resulting from a fall, caused intense pain during the last few weeks of her life. Sister bore all with heroic patience, uniting her sufferings with those of our Savior and offering an almost continual flow of ejaculatory prayers.  About a week after undergoing hip surgery she died at the Maryville hospital on Apr. 17, 1958 at the age of ninety.