Sister Augustina Hoechbauer Osb

Sister Augustina Hoechbauer, OSB, of the Abbey of St. Walburga, died very peacefully at the Abbey around 6 p.m. on Tuesday, October 8, surrounded by all the nuns of her monastic community.

Born in 1925 in a small town in Germany, she endured the hardships of World War II with her extended family before feeling called to enter the nearby Abtei St. Walburg, motherhouse of the present Abbey of St. Walburga. After professing vows in 1950, Sister Augustina was sent to what was then the Convent of St. Walburga in Boulder Colorado. She had an abiding love for all animals and expected to work on the monastery's dairy farm but found herself sent instead to take charge of the kitchen. A local woman had to come in to teach her how to cook! She took to it with humble dedication and great skill. For many years, she provided three delicious meals a day to the community and to a growing number of retreatants. Other nuns helped but she alone baked the endless loaves of bread and wonderful cookies for which she is still remembered. Soon after the community moved to our present location Virginia Dale, age forced Sister to hand responsibility for the kitchen over to others, but she continued to bake cookies by the dozen. When she could no longer do that, she worked in the monastery's altar bread distribution department, fittingly bagging altar breads until very shortly before her death. She never lost her desire to feed others.
At community meals, she immediately offered whatever food she had been given to every Sister sitting near her. Only when she was convinced everyone had enough to eat would she eat her own meal. Surely the Lord, who placed a high value on feeding the hungry, welcomed her with open arms and the words, "Well done, good and faithful servant!"