Sister Bertilla Brungardt, 86, died Thursday, August 28, 2014, in the Dominican Sisters’ convent infirmary, Great Bend.

Born December 17, 1927, in Liebenthal KS, as Germana Brungardt, Sister Bertilla was the daughter of the late Adam Joseph and Josephine Heili Brungardt. She was raised by her father and stepmother, Emma Wasinger Quint Brungardt. She entered the Dominican Sisters’ Community September 10, 1944, and pronounced her first vows August 13, 1047. She celebrated seventy years of religious profession in 2012.

Sister Bertilla gave much of her ministerial life to domestic work in the sisters’ missions, and in the convent kitchen and sewing room. She also worked in a bishop’s residence, in a house of prayer, and in the Dominican House of Studies in Rome, Italy. She has cooked for a school and an adult day care center. She gave nearly fifteen years in pastoral care duties at St. Catherine Hospital in Garden City. At the time of her death she was volunteering in hospitality at St. Rose Ambulatory and Surgery Center, Great Bend, in worship preparation in the Sisters’ Dominican Chapel of the Plains, and was known for her creative decorations for the convent dining room tables.

Sister Bertilla is survived by her Dominican Sisters of Peace religious community, two brothers and one sister: Thomas (Betty) Brungardt, Raymond Quint, and Shirley Ann (Francis) Richmeier, all of Garden City KS; and two sisters-in law: Cecilia Quint and Sharon Schinstock. Sister Bertilla’s body will be brought to the hospitality area of the Dominican Chapel of the Plains, 3600 Broadway, Great Bend, on Sunday, August 31, 2014, at 4:00 p.m., where it will lie in state until the Liturgy of Christian Burial at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, September 2, 2014, with Rev. Pascal Klein presiding. A wake service will be held Monday, September 1, 2014, at 7:00 p.m. Burial will be in the Sisters’ Resurrection Cemetery. Both the wake and the funeral will be held at the convent (see chapel address above).

Memorials in honor of Sister Bertilla Brungardt may be sent to: Dominican Sisters of Peace, 2320 Airport Dr, Columbus OH 43219-2098 or given securely on line at www.oppeace.org.

Bryant Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. Friends may call at the convent Monday, September 1 from 9:00a.m. until the time of the Wake, and Tuesday morning, September 2, until the time of the funeral Mass.