Maxine Marie Rummelhart, BVM (Rupert)
Maxine Marie Rummelhart, BVM (Rupert) died Monday, April 25, 2016, at Marian Hall in Dubuque, Iowa. Visitation will be from 9–11 a.m. on Tuesday, May 3, 2016, in the Marian Hall Chapel followed by a prayer service at 11 a.m. Funeral liturgy will be at 1:30 p.m. Burial is in the Mount Carmel cemetery.
She was born in Riverside, Iowa, on June 26, 1926, to Rupert and Clara Florang Rummelhart. She entered the BVM congregation Sept. 8, 1943, from St. Mary Parish, Riverside. She professed first vows on March 19, 1946, and final vows on Aug. 15, 1951.
Sister Maxine was an elementary school teacher in Chicago and DeKalb, Ill.; Mason City, Iowa; and Los Angeles and North Hollywood, Calif. She ministered as home health aide in Chicago and volunteered at Roberta Kuhn Center, Mount Carmel, Dubuque.
She was preceded in death by her parents; sisters: Marie and Mildred, and Helen Green; and brothers: Paul, Francis, Mark, Omer and Melvin. She is survived by a sister Marceline Schiefelbein, Elkhorn, Wis.; nieces, nephews and the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, with whom she shared life for 72 years.
Sister Maxine Marie Rummelhart, BVM (Rupert)
Funeral Welcome
Marian Hall, May 3, 2016
Good afternoon and welcome to the celebration of life of our Sister Maxine Marie Rummelhart.
Maxine Rummelhart entered this world on June 26, 1926, as the eighth of 10 children born to Rupert and Clara Florang Rummelhart of Riverside, Iowa. Her mother had a faith that could move mountains and was a calming force as her father frequently moved the family from farm to farm. Maxine worked hard on the farm, and yet, she had a happy childhood and enjoyed country living. She attended country school for the first and second grades and recalled, “In the wintertime we were allowed to bring a potato to put into the ashes of the pot belly stove and it was baked to perfection by noon.”
Maxine considered herself a tomboy and wrote, “During the summer I enjoyed playing baseball with anyone who came to the park. There were mostly boys but that didn’t matter . . . Mom approached me and said that I needed to learn some ladylike things. I wasn’t the least bit interested until she told me she would pay me to learn to embroider His and Hers on pillow slips . . . Each stitch [had to] be very tiny or I received no pay. I did learn correctly and was paid. From then on I spent less time playing baseball . . . thanks to my mom for teaching the art.” A number of her paintings and needlework are displayed around Mount Carmel.
Maxine began attending St. Mary’s in the third grade. By the time she was in seventh grade, she often stayed after school to help clean the classroom. She wrote, “Mom could never understand how the nuns could get me to help clean after school and at home I didn’t want to do any work.”
During Maxine’s junior year, her father’s health necessitated a move to a southern climate. They were in Texas for only a few months when Maxine knew she was called to religious life. She moved back to Riverside and lived with an elderly cousin to finish the school year at St. Mary’s. Maxine entered the congregation on Sept. 8, 1943, and received the name Rupert upon her reception on March 19, 1944. She completed her high school education during her first year at Mount Carmel and professed her first vows on March 19, 1946.
Maxine spent 23 of her 73 years as a BVM teaching first through fifth grades at Annunciation, Our Lady Help of Christians, and St. Vincent in Chicago, Ill.; St. Mary in DeKalb, Ill.; Holy Family in Mason City, Iowa; St. Brendan and Assumption in Los Angeles, Calif.; and St. Charles in North Hollywood, Calif. She also taught art to the middle and upper grades at St. Jerome in Chicago. It was a big transition, but Maxine, being very artistic, embraced the challenge and worked diligently to become an excellent art teacher. She showed great interest in her students and displayed their work in the hallway outside her room. She later returned to Assumption in Los Angeles to teach remedial reading and preschool. She dearly loved the little ones and was so wonderful with them that parents frequently asked her to babysit.
After retiring from teaching in 1978, Maxine moved to Wright Hall and worked as a home health aide for the Neighbor’s Program in Chicago. She would ride her bicycle to the home of a shut-in and generously help in any way she could—cooking, cleaning, shopping and companioning. She was always kind and giving, gathering up unwanted items and distributing them to someone in need.
In 1991, Maxine moved to Vista Heights at the Visitation convent in Dubuque, Iowa, and volunteered at the Roberta Kuhn Center at Mount Carmel. Her farming experience revealed itself after she moved to Mount Carmel. She enjoyed growing large amounts of vegetables in one of the garden plots, sharing them with the Motherhouse kitchen, and sending visitors home with an abundance of fresh produce. Her father, whom she loved dearly, would have been so proud. Maxine became acquainted with an Amish family who ran a stand at the Farmer’s Market in Dubuque. She encouraged people to purchase their baked goods and invited the mother, and the child who accompanied her, to Mount Carmel for lunch. The mother brought a different child every week. It was a delightful experience for both the children and the residents.
Maxine was such pleasant person—friendly, happy, smiling and frequently laughing. One member of her set recalled that while in the novitiate Maxine would get herself, and all the other set members, into trouble with her infectious giggle. She had a great sense of humor that made it possible for others to laugh through difficult times. One BVM put it simply, “Maxine helped a lot of people in her life.” She truly was “[God’s] handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for the good works that God [had] prepared in advance.” (Ephesians 2:10). We thank God for the gift of Maxine and rejoice that God has called home this “good and faithful servant.” (Matthew 25:21)