Marion Alice Ambrose was born June 6, 1923 at Johnson Creek, in Farmington Township, Jefferson County, Wisconsin to Lawrence Henry Ambrose and his wife, Frances Anna Schneeberger Ambrose. She was baptized four days later, on June 10th at St. Mary Magdalen Parish.

Marion was the second of seven children and the eldest daughter. She had an older brother, three younger brothers and two younger sisters. Her family came from German and Swiss heritage, though both of her parents were born in Wisconsin.

Living on a farm Marion was still able to attend parochial school at Johnson Creek taught by Franciscan Sisters. While attending a public High School, Marion continued to faithfully attend religious instruction until she was twenty-one, when her work conflicted with the class schedule.

From childhood Marion felt a call to religious life, but she suffered from severe asthma throughout her school years. For five years after her graduation from high school Marion worked part time as a switch-board operator, and helping with the family at home. Marion said of her telephone work, “That is an interesting occupation in a small town, and one that is appreciated by the community as a link to so much that affects daily life.”

In 1945 she was accepted by the Dominican Sisters in Sinsinawa, Wisconsin. After a few weeks there Marion had such a severe asthma attack she had to be rushed to the hospital. Her health was deemed too fragile for religious life. So Marion returned home.

That autumn Marion went to Tucson for her health. There she began to consider contemplative life and to discern if this was God’s will for her. She confidently prayed for health. She spent hours praying at the chapel of our monastery in Tucson, even though she was only in the city for a few months.

Marion had already known about our congregation through her aunt’s subscription to “Tabernacle and Purgatory.” Her aunt shared each issue with Marion and, when she was financially able, Marion got her own subscription.

Returning to Wisconsin she again went to work at the telephone office and to help at home. In 1947 her health became a serious problem. Then she learned about a doctor in Milwaukee who might have some help to offer her.

Marion lived in Milwaukee for another five years, doing office work, bookkeeping and typing for a company there. She lived with a young couple, and was able to have regular medical treatment. During this time Marion was able to attend daily Mass and receive Holy Communion.

When not at work, or helping around the house, Marion spent her time praying before the Blessed Sacrament, visiting the aged, the infirm, the homebound and the blind. She would take them shopping, to plays and musicals, and mend or alter their clothing. She also helped in the parish office doing clerical work. During those five years she never missed a day of work. Her doctor declared her cured. Marion had been praying the Divine Office in English daily and had her own 15 Volume edition of “The Liturgical Year.” A good part of what drew her to the Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration was her love for prayer, the Eucharist and the Liturgy of the Hours.

Marion entered Clyde Aug. 6, 1952 at the age of 29. She was received into the novitiate Feb. 10, 1953 and made her first monastic profession Feb. 11, 1954. She was given the name Sister Mary Thecla which she kept until April of 1968 when she requested a return to her baptismal name.

Besides living in Clyde, Marion was part of our monastic communities in St. Louis, San Diego, Mundelein and Tucson. She served as cook, baker and kitchen manager. She would take the pick-up truck to Maryville to do the grocery shopping. Marion’s back-ground in business also was put to good use. She was bookkeeper, treasurer, and she managed the altar bread department. She also served in caring for our elderly and infirm sisters.

Within the community she was most renowned for her photographic memory. She could remember names, dates and events for each sister in community.

Although she typically did not travel, in 1976, Sister Marion attended the Eucharistic Congress in Philadelphia that had as its theme "The Eucharist and the Hungers of the Human Family." Those hungers were not only the hunger for food and for God, but also for freedom, for truth, for justice, for peace and, of course, for the Eucharist. There was an attempt to show that there can be no true peace or justice without a spiritual transformation, without the conversion of people's hearts.

As monastery cook, as baker of communion bread, as helper of the sick, the infirm, the blind, as the living memory of the community, Sister Marion had an instinct for how to find our hungers and feed them with grace and understanding.

A series of strokes when Sister Marion was in Tucson in the late 1980s began her own journey into infirmity. Eventually Marion took up residence in our health care center, Our Lady of Rickenbach, at Clyde. 

Marion’s two sisters, Evelyn and Gertrude, and some of their families came to see her just days before her death. She rallied to be present to them, but failed quickly after they left. She died at 4:00 on the morning of July 24, 2008, with Sr. Lioba praying by her side.