Obituary
Sister Miriam Gehringer lived a hermit’s life
December 21, 2020
Servant of Mary Sister Mary Miriam Gehringer, who lived the life of a hermit for the past 44 years, and who earlier taught in Omaha, died Oct. 2 in Ava, Missouri. She was 95.
Funeral services were held Oct. 6 at Assumption Abbey Church in Ava with burial in Nazareth Cemetery on the abbey grounds.
Born and raised in Omaha, Sister Miriam entered the Servants of Mary in 1942. She professed vows in 1945.
As a Servite sister, she taught at Christ the King School and served as her order’s novice mistress until 1975, when she requested permission to seek solitude as a hermit-contemplative.
In 1976, she helped found the Nazareth Hermitage Catholic Community in association with the Trappist monks at Assumption Abbey in Ava.
A lover of poetry and literature, Sister Miriam celebrated her 75th jubilee in August before suffering a decline in her health.
Sister Miriam was preceded in death by her parents, Joseph and Helen (McLaren) Gehringer, and siblings, Joseph, Helen, Robert and Florence.
She is survived by brothers, Donald and Raymond Gehringer, and her community at the Nazareth Hermitage.