Martha Eichenhofer was one of seventeen children born in a deeply religious family in Baden, Germany, Sept. 17, 1894. Seven of the girls became perpetual adorers at Clyde; two of the boys were priests of the Congregation of the Precious Blood in Ohio; and one brother, Severin, led a saintly life as a worker on the Clyde farm for many years.

Sister entered at Clyde on Oct. 19, 1912, was invested on July 5, 1913 and made profession on Jan. 30, 1915. Perpetual vows were made on Mar. 5, 1921 and Consecration of Virgins with the first group at Mundelein in January, 1952.

After her entrance in 1913 Sister M. Willibalda worked at the dairy barn and orchard, of which her elder sister, Sister M. Hildegard had charge. She went to Mundelein as a pioneer in 1928 and remained there till 1964, with the exception of brief intervals at Clyde for the burial of her sister, Sister M. Wunibalda and for her Golden Jubilee in 1963.

Sister was full of life and gaiety in her younger years, a real prankster, and in her exuberance would hippityhop down the long back porch or roll down the terrace. Nothing seemed to faze her, and one might have thought her to be light-minded or irresponsible. But this was not so. She also had a very serious side, and led a deeply interior life. She was zealous for the 'Work of God' and was ready for holy adoration at any time of the day or night. She was also very charitable. Sister was a diligent, responsible worker, kept silence conscientiously and was outstanding in the practice of poverty, being content with what was 'meanest and poorest,' and mended her clothing until it was sometimes difficult to distinguish the original from the patchwork.

At Mundelein Sister had charge of the bakery for years; also helped with the canning, the gathering and preparing of fruits and vegetables. She felt privileged to be assigned to the Altar Bread department, conscious of the fact that the small hosts in her hands would one day become GOD. In keeping with Cardinal Mundelein's request of the Sisters at the convent, she prayed much for the priests and seminarians of the archdiocese, and as she worked, she prayed for the sanctification of those whose anointed hands would handle the hosts at the altar and whose lips would speak the words that would transform them into the Body and Blood of Christ.

Having suffered a stroke, Sister was taken by ambulance to Clyde in March, 1964. There, responding to the devoted care of the infirmarians, she gradually improved and in time was able to walk at a slow pace with the help of her two sisters, Sisters M. Sabina and Eusebia, also confined to the infirmary because of ill health even to the extent of going daily to the adoration chapel for Vespers. Though mentally alert, she recovered the power of speech only to a very small extent. Nevertheless she was always cheerful and smiling, and bore her afflictions with great patience and resignation to the Will of God. Following close upon another stroke, she died on December 8, 1969  at the age of seventy-five years.