Sister Mary William Stadick

Sister Mary William Stadick, died Nov. 10, 2020. Sister Mary William’s Mass of Christian burial will be 11 a.m. CST (10 a.m. MST) Friday, Nov. 13 at  Assumption Abbey with Abbot Daniel Maloney as celebrant. Burial will be held at the Sacred Heart Monastery Cemetery, Richardton.  Because of Coronavirus restrictions, a service livestream will be available on the funeral home’s website.

Sister Mary William Stadick, OSB, died as she lived: with gentleness, joy, and willingness to give all her life to the pursuit of serving God and others.  She embraced her religious vocation early in life and was an exemplary Benedictine Sister of Sacred Heart Monastery, Dickinson, for 74 years.

Sister Mary William was born in Underwood in 1931, the youngest child of John and Martha (Manacke) Stadick.  She entered her monastic community at the age of 15 and earned her teaching credential to pursue her first career as a grade school teacher for forty years in North Dakota, Minnesota and Montana Catholic Schools.  She succeeded in this despite her diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis at the age of 25. 

When she retired from teaching, she served in Pastoral Care 1988 to 1995 at the Good Samaritan Home in Malta, MT, and visiting shut-ins and later at St. Benedict’s Health Center in Dickinson.  After retiring from Pastoral Care in 1995, she returned to Sacred Heart Monastery in Richardton where she helped with hospitality and secretarial duties.  In 1993 she received the “People Who Make a Difference” award from the Bismarck Tribune.  Anyone who knew Sister Mary William knew that no one deserved this award more than she did. 

The last phase of her life began at Richardton Health Center and finally to St. Vincent’s a Prospera Community in Bismarck.  Even as a resident, she served others by being a prayerful, gentle, grateful companion to staff and residents. 

Her monastic community, her family, and her many friends know well the blessing of Sister Mary William’s presence on earth.  The compassion, gentleness and care for others she lived despite her physical limitations will remind us to strive to imitate her good example.

Sister Mary Willam is survived by her Benedictine Sisters; her sister, Millie Howe, Anoka, Minn., and numerous nieces and nephews and other extended family.  Her grandniece, Mary McCullough,Bismarck, has been a dear companion for her especially in her last years.

Sister Mary William was preceded in death by her parents; and siblings, Walter Stadick, Evelyn Anderson, Edith Dimitch, Alice Billstein and Agnes Wilke.

To share memories and to view the service livestream of Sister Mary William, go to www.eastgatefuneral.com.