MARIETTA CHVILICEK, Obituary

HINGHAM/SANTA MONICA, Calif. Sister Marietta (Petronela) Chvilicek, 90, a Franciscan nun, died Thursday, Aug. 29, 2002, at an extended care center in Santa Maria, Calif., of natural causes.

A rosary vigil will be held in the Marian Residence today at 7 p.m. with the Mass of Resurrection on Wednesday at 11 a.m. with the Rev. Howard Hall

OSM officiating. Burial will be at the Santa Maria Cemetery.

Petronela was born Aug. 3, 1912, to Frank and Mary (Klabacka) Chvilicek in Pilsen, Kan., the youngest of five children and the first generation to be born in the United States. The family homesteaded 20 miles north of Hingham in 1915. She attended a rural country school for six years and attended St. Jude in Havre for her junior high years. She entered the Order of St.Frances in her freshman year of high school. Sister worked as a nurse's aide in New York, Ohio, Nebraska, West Virginia, Montana and California. She loved feeding the wild birds around the Marian residence upon her retirement in July of 1990 and crocheting afghans for her friends and relatives. Sister dearly loved visiting her family and continually prayed for them. She had many dear friends in this area and will be missed by all.

Sister Marietta (Petronela) Chvilicek was one of the first young women out of Hingham to join a religious order. Around the same time, a Schwan and a Divish did the same. She studied intensive nurse's aide courses; obtained a certificate in pastoral counseling for the sick and dying, and a certificate in geriatrics.

Sister Petronela was preceded in death by her parents, Frank and Mary (Klabacka) Chvilicek; brothers, John, Frank, and William; sisters, Angeline Cooper, Agnes Sisak and Mary Mendenhall.

She is survived by her sister-In-law, Lavona Mrs. (Frank) Chvilicek of Havre.

Memorials in Sister Marietta's honor may be made to Marian Residence, Att: Sr. Ellen or Sr. Pius, 120 S. College Drive, Santa Maria, CA 93454.