Mary Margaret Humbel was bom Sept. 8, 1924 in Cleveland Ohio. Her father, Fred Humbel, was a cabinet maker from Cleveland. Her mother, Katherine Seman Humbel, was a homemaker born in Austria. Mary was the oldest of four children, two brothers, Carl and Fred, and a sister, Dorothy.

Mary attended St. Vincent de Paul grade school and was taught by Sisters of St. Joseph. The family moved and Mary attended St. Stephen Commercial High School for girls taught by the Sisters of Notre Dame, where she studied typing, shorthand and bookkeeping. She did housework to help pay tuition.

After graduating from high school Mary worked as a bookkeeper for a manufacturing company. The United States entered World War II and Mary went to work at a bomber plant for six months before enlisting in the Women’s Army Air Corp. She served Stateside for two years, then transferred to the WAC to get overseas. She arrived in Paris on V-J Day. She was a driver for a General and assigned as a clerk-typist during the ten months she was stationed in Vienna, Austria. When the war was over Mary received an honorable discharge.

Returning to Cleveland, Mary worked as an accounts payable bookkeeper in the business office of a hospital and attended college through night classes. During this time Mary and her brother, both veterans, arranged to buy a house for their parents on the G.I. Bill. That mortgage was paid off before Mary entered the monastery.

Mary had been discerning religious life for at least six years before pursuing her vocation actively because of family obligations. Feeling a call to contemplative community, Mary discovered the Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration through one of our booklets found in the vestibule of St. Mary’s Church, a Jesuit parish in Cleveland.

She entered at Clyde as a postulant Feb. 2, 1950 and was invested as a novice that year on her birthday, Sept. 8, 1950. Mary became Sr. Miriam when she made her first monastic profession on Sept 15, 1951. After several years as a junior sister in Clyde, Sr. Miriam was transferred to our monastery in Tucson. In 1956, Sister returned to Clyde for her final monastic profession and remained there until 1966 when she was transferred to our monastery in Kansas City.

In 1974 Sr. Miriam was appointed Treasurer General for our Congregation and moved to St. Louis where she served in that position for twenty- two years. Retiring from the Congregational position, Miriam became monastery bookkeeper until the finance offices were consolidated. Sister spent a short time in Tucson before she returned to Clyde as a resident of our new health care center, Our Lady of Rickenbach.

Sr. Miriam was an intelligent and dynamic member of community and enhanced every place she lived and worked. She was a typesetter in the Clyde printery, baked altar breads in Tucson and Kansas City, handled the monastery bookkeeping in Clyde and Kansas City before being appointed Treasurer General. Early on, Sister worked outside on the Clyde Farm and was responsible for all the correspondence for the pedigree Holstein herd. Sr. Miriam also served as prioress of the monastic community in Kansas City.

Sr. Miriam was well known for her sense of humor and her sense of adventure. When a personality profile categorized her as a tiger Sr. Miriam was quick to embrace the animal as her own.

Sr. Miriam loved a challenge. She had the mind to understand and enjoy working with investments and did very well for our congregation during her years in the finance office. She was a fierce card player and very competitive. When dealt an unlucky hand she would stand up and circle the chair to change her luck. She enjoyed watching sports, playing chess and winning at Scrabble. In later years she was able to play chess and Scrabble with her computer. The machine gave her some tough competition, but the victory was made sweeter for Miriam when she won.

Sr. Miriam began having some memory difficulties in St. Louis and her physical health continued to slowly deteriorate. She started to fail markedly towards the end of January 2009. Sisters Cheryl, Virginia Anne, Jean Frances and several OLR sisters were with her when she died January 29, at 9:30 AM .

The Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated with Fr. Daniel of Conception Abbey presiding.