Sister Maryanne Dooher, OSB, 75, a Benedictine sister at Saint Bede Monastery, died at Clairemont Nursing and Rehabilitation here in Eau Claire on Friday, July 6, 2007, following a lengthy illness. She was born in Minneapolis to Thomas and Anne (Mercier) Dooher, the fourth in a family of two brothers and three sisters.\r\nSister Maryanne attended high school in St. Paul and later transferred to St. Patrick's High School in Eau Claire when she became a postulant in Saint Bede Monastery in 1949. She professed her first vows in 1951. On July 11, 2001, Sister Maryanne celebrated fifty years as a Benedictine sister.\r\nAfter attending St. Therese's College in Winona, MN, and later graduating from Viterbo College in LaCrosse, WI with a BA in education, she pursued graduate work in theology and religious studies at St. John's University in Collegeville, MN.\r\nA very talented primary teacher, she taught in several schools in the La Crosse Diocese including Eau Claire, Onalaska, Ellsworth, and La Crosse. Sister Maryanne was an avid storyteller and thoroughly enjoyed reading and telling stories to her students. Always, she made each of her students feel important and loved. Daily learning in her classroom was an exciting experience, remembered and cherished by her pupils. In 1997, Sister Maryanne retired from teaching due to poor health.\r\nThough her eyesight failed, she became an astute listener as she relayed stories and news items heard on the radio\r\nIn addition to her teaching career, she served the community as postulant mistress from 1964-1967, and as sub-prioress in 1984-1985.\r\nShe was preceded in death by her parents; a sister, Lorraine Skelly; and two brothers, Thomas and Robert Dooher. \r\nSister Maryanne is survived by two sisters, Margaret Zachman of Kokomo, IN, and Betty Lou Miller of Robbinsdale, MN; many nieces, nephews, grandnieces and nephews, and her Benedictine community.\r\nA Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, July 10, 2007, at Saint Bede Monastery, Eau Claire with Father Thomas Donaldson officiating. Visitation will be held at Saint Bede Monastery, 1190 Priory Rd, Eau Claire from 4:30 to 7 p.m. Monday and one hour prior to the Mass on Tuesday. A public prayer service will be held at 7 p.m. Monday at Saint Bede Monastery. Burial will be in St. Patrick's Catholic Cemetery, Eau Claire.

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