Theresia, the second oldest of five children, was born January 6, 1901 at Radolfzell, Baden, Germany, to Aloysius and Sophia (Bohm) Dietrich. Her father died when she was only seven years old, and Theresia lived with an uncle. She worked hard, and learned the wisdom of patient endurance at an early age. When Sr. M. Bernard Willman went to Europe after the World War I to recruit postulants, she visited a cloistered Benedictine convent in Germany where two of Theresia’s aunts were members. Through them she came to know of Theresia, their niece, who was working in an ammunition factory at the time. Because the family did not have the money, Theresia would not have been able to join the convent in Germany where a large dowry was required. Mrs. Dietrich gave permission for her daughter to accompany Sr. M. Bernard Willman to America to join the convent at Clyde.

Theresia entered the postulancy on October 21, 1923. At her first profession of vows, February 13, 1926, she received her mother’s name and became Sr. M. Sophia, a name that means "wisdom." Final profession was on February 14, 1931. Sr. M. Sophia’s 69 years in our midst were spent in our monasteries at Clyde, Mundelein, Kansas City and San Diego. She was always a hard worker, whether at the chicken house, in the garden, or in the kitchen. Wherever she lived, she became an indispensable and loving community member. What kind of "wisdom" did she share with her sisters? To someone looking burdened or sad, our Sophia would say: "Don’t be so serious!" Sophia had lived through the poverty of war times in her native country, she knew what it meant to be poor and hungry, she learned the wisdom of patient endurance. She would urge: "keep it simple." When those in the kitchen were planning menus and needing to use up left-overs, Sophia would say, "they eat with their eyes, put it in a new bowl." When she cut her finger while working in the slaughter house, instead of going to the infirmary, she went to the porch and ate an apple. Sr. M. Sophia could smile through her eyes with a radiant sparkle that no one else’s smile could equal.

When Sr. M. Sophia moved from our San Diego monastery to the St. Louis Health Care community in St. Louis on November 5, 1988, she came with her usual spirit of joyful enthusiasm and a sense of humor. After some time, when she had fallen in her room and broken her hip, she began to feel "kaput" and seemed to lose some of her sparkle. She welcomed visitors to her room with the words, "thank you for coming" which really meant, "you can leave now."

When she was diagnosed with cancer she peacefully accepted the news and began to look forward to going home to heaven. Her sister, Sr. M. Meinrada, came from Tucson to be with Sophia, and never left her bedside. Sophia was very grateful, and certainly knew that she was loved as Meinrada and her sisters in community faithfully kept night and day vigil with her through her journey of those final days. Even in her weakened state, when asked to "smile through her eyes" she made the effort to open her eyes and form a smile on her face. One of the last things she was able to say to those around her was, "I love you." Sr. M. Sophia took her final breath, very quietly, at 6:45 PM, on October 18, 1992, with Sr. M. Meinrada faithfully at her side.

Her final journey to Clyde, to be buried in Mount Calvary cemetery, took place on the very same date as her first journey to Clyde, October 21, but 69 years later.