Sister Bina served 55 years in Archdicoese of Omaha

Notre Dame Sister Antonia Bina, whose 77 years of religious life included 55 years of service in the Omaha archdiocese, died Jan. 21 in Omaha. She was 98.

A requiem Mass was held Jan. 27 at Immaculate Conception Church in Omaha. A funeral Mass and interment were Jan. 28 in Sister Bina’s hometown, Spillville, Iowa.

Sister Bina became a candidate at age 17 with the Notre Dame Sisters in Omaha, entering the novitiate in 1938 and professing vows in 1940.

Her primary ministry was meal preparation and housekeeping for Notre Dame sisters who taught and served in Nebraska, Iowa and South Dakota, beginning from 1940 to 1944 at St. Wenceslaus School in Dodge.

Sister Bina prepared and served meals for about 40 years in the Notre Dame Sisters’ motherhouse in Omaha. She also volunteered from 1996 to 2001 with the religious education program at St. Philip Neri Parish, was active in the World Apostolate of Fatima (also known as the Blue Army of Our Lady of Fatima) and often attended Mass at Immaculate Conception Church.

In 2009, her health began to fail and she moved to assisted care, where she served in prayer ministry.

A longtime friend, Kathy Graeve of Neola, Iowa, said Sister Bina was happy and outgoing, loved to pray the rosary and the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, and wore her habit faithfully until the end.

“She considered it a blessed garment,” Graeve said.