Viatrix Mach

Published 12:00 am Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Sister Viatrix Mach, 83
Sister Viatrix Mach, 83, a Franciscan Sister of the Congregation of Our Lady of Lourdes, Rochester, Minn., died at Assisi Heights on March 15, 2009.
Dorothy Rose Mach was born on Dec. 1, 1925 in Waterville, Minn. Her family moved to Rochester when she was a teenager. In 1943 she was a member of the first graduating class of Lourdes High School. Sister Viatrix entered the Sisters of Saint Francis in 1943 from St. John Parish, Rochester and made vows in 1946. Sister began her years of ministry offering secretarial skills at Mercy Hospital in Portsmouth, Ohio and then at Saint Marys Hospital, in Rochester. For thirty-one years, Sister Viatrix taught in primary schools in southern Minnesota: St. John’s in Rochester, St. John Vianney in Fairmont, Cathedral School in Winona and Queen of Angels in Austin while at the same time serving as part of the school office staff. Her relationship with students was described as built on trust, respect and understanding. Sister Viatrix was well-known among the Sisters of Saint Francis and others for her accurate and devoted performance of secretarial duties for over twenty years in the administrative section of Assisi Heights. A person of outstanding talent in calligraphy, Sister Viatrix shared her skills with students and teachers alike. Many in the Rochester area will remember her for the years she taught calligraphy through Community Education classes. For the past twenty years, Sister Viatrix also taught the art of calligraphy to prisoners at Rochester’s Federal Medical Center on a weekly basis. She was greatly respected and valued by the prisoners and would do anything in her power to encourage and assist them in doing their best. The Sisters of Saint Francis are especially proud of the ways in which she so faithfully represented Franciscan values in the public arena.
Sister Viatrix is survived by two brothers, Milo (Kathy) Mach, Austin and James (Joanne) Mach, Rochester and several nieces and nephews. She is also survived by the members of her Religious Congregation, the Sisters of Saint Francis, with whom she shared life for 36 years.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Thursday, March 19, 2009 at 11 a.m. in the Chapel of Our Lady of Lourdes, Assisi Heights, Rochester. Friends may call at Assisi Heights for the Vigil Service at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 18 and before the time of the service on Thursday. Memorials are suggested to the Sisters of St. Francis of Rochester, Office of Benefactor Relations at Assisi Heights or to The Lourdes Foundation for a legacy Scholarship in the name of Sister Viatrix Mach.

Email newsletter signup