Sister Austin (Pauline) Hellman, 86, died at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 22, 2003, at Maryhouse in Pierre, South Dakota.

Pauline was born November 25, 1916, on a farm thirteen miles south of Glen Ullin, North Dakota, one of fifteen children of Frederic and Ida (Friedt) Hellman, Her parents were born in Russian of German Ancestry.

Before entering the convent, her education took place in a one-room rural school. Following her eighth-grade graduation, Pauline entered Sacred Heart Convent in Yankton. She graduated from High School at Mount Marty Academy and pursued her college education at Mount Marty College, when it first opened in 1936. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree, with a major in Elementary Education and minors in English and History.

Sister Austin was an elementary teacher in Stephan, Hoven, Polo, Aberdeen, Kranzburg, Ipswich and Watertown, in SD; Richardton, ND; and Hartington, NE. Because of health problems, after forty-four and one-half years of teaching, Sister Austin retired from the classroom on January 14, 1983. She returned to Polo as a Teacher's Aide in the fall of that year. Sister Austin was missioned to St. Mary's Convent in Pierre in 1985, where she assisted in the Sisters' Foster Care Program for elderly women. Sister Austin moved to St. Joseph's School in Pierre in 1987, ministering as a Teacher's Aide until her retirement. She has been a resident of Maryhouse Nursing Home for the past two years.

Sister Austin is survived by her Sisters of Mother of God Monastery, four sisters: Tillie Bertsch, Milwaukee, WI, Eva Braun of Bismarck, ND, Regina Liegang and Monica Kannedy of Yakima, WA, and her sister-in-law, Mary Hellman of Bismarck, ND.