Mother of God Monastery
110  28th Ave. SE ~  Watertown,  SD  57201
Phone: 605-882-6600  Fax: 605-882-6658
monastery@dailypost.com

OBITUARY

Sister Joan Sand

Sister Joan Sand, 88, died on January 11, 2001, at Mother of God Monastery, Watertown SD.
Sister Joan (nee Catherine) was born October 24, 1912, in Balta, North Dakota, one of fourteen childreen of Paul A. and Clara (Vetch) Satch) Sand. She attended Manheim Elementary School in Balta and high school at St. Mary's in Richardton, North Dakota.
When she was 24 years of age, she joined the Benedictine Sisters at Sacred Heart Convent in Yankton, South Dakota. upon completion of her novitiate year, she acquired a teacher's certificate and began to teach in the fall of 1938. She earned the remainder of her college credits in summer sessions, graduating from Mount Marty College in 1960 with a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in English.
Sister Joan taught elementary school for 38 years and spent a number of years as school librarian. She found teaching both challenging and rewarding, and helped the children develop a love for learning. She challenged them to strive to reach their potential. Throughout her teaching career, Sister Joan was missioned in Richardton and Glen Ullin, ND; Hartington, Lincoln, and York, NE; and Epiphany, Hoven, Ipswich, Kranzburg, Polo, Tabor, and Webster, SD.
Sister returned to the Monastery in 1978, where she helped care for the elderly Sisters and assisted in the hospitality program. During the planning and construction of the new monastery, Sister Joan lived in Gettysburg, SD; she returned to the monastery in May of 1997.
Sister Joan is survived by three sisters, Agnes Axtman and Monica Grove of Rugby, North Dakota, and Joan Borczyk of Chicago, IL; her sister-in-law, Gloria Sand of Bismarck, and her Sisters of Mother of God Monastery.