January 19, 1917 – May 2, 2002
Sister Alexia (Rosa Maria) Kaschmitter, 85, died at the Monastery of St. Gertrude, Cottonwood, May 2, 2002. The third of ten children, she was born January 19, 1917, to Joseph and Anna Weber Kaschmitter of Denver, ID.
Sr. Alexia entered the monastery in Cottonwood in 1931 where she made her Profession as a Benedictine sister in 1933. Her 30 years of teaching took her to Nezperce, Genesee, Cottonwood, Greencreek, Nampa, Grangeville, Pocatello, and Boise ID, Colton and Pomeroy, WA, and Waunakee, WI. Sr. Kaschmitter loved teaching, especially preparing second graders for their first Holy Communion.
After retiring from teaching in 1965, she did housekeeping at the monastery and for her aging mother who lived with her brother Richard. Following their mother’s death, she continued to do housekeeping for Richard. In 1996 she fully retired and did many small jobs at the monastery. People remember Sr. Kaschmitter for her devotion and dedication, faithfulness to duty, deep attachment to and love for her family, and enjoyment of nature’s beauty.
She is survived by her sisters Gertrude (Lawrence) Broemeling, Genesee and Loretta (John) Ready, Lewiston, and her brother Ted (Regina) Kaschmitter, Cottonwood. Her sisters Agnes, Dorothy, and Louise, and her brothers John, William, and Richard preceded her in death. She was very fond of her many nieces and nephews and their families.
A Vigil Service was held in the Monastery chapel in Cottonwood on Sunday, May 5, at 7:00 p.m. A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated on Monday, May 6, 2:00 p.m. in the Monastery chapel with Rev. Meinrad Schallberger, OSB, Monastery Chaplain, presiding, and Sister Jean Lalande, OSB, Prioress, giving the Reflections.