Sister M. Martinette Haskamp

Born: 5 September 1929
Entrance: 16 April 1963
Professed: 28 October 1965
Died: 10 June 2024

Wonderfully sheltered by gracious powers, our dear Sister, Sister M. Martinette Haskamp, Hospital Sister of the Third Order Regular of St. Francis, placed her life back in God’s hands at the age of 95.

By gracious powers so wonderfully sheltered, and confidently waiting, come what may.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, 1944

Elfriede was the third of thirteen children of the carpenter family Haskamp in Mühlen, Oldenburg. She grew up, as she said herself, well protected in the neighborhood of the local Franciscan convent. Not until the age of 34 years, Elfriede was able to enter the Congregation because she had been ill for several years after leaving school. When she felt well again, she went to work as an assistant on the wards of the hospital in Lohne, where she got to know the nursing profession and fell in love with it.  She became a nurse at St Mary’s Hospital in Osnabrück. Shortly afterwards she joined our Congregation and was given the name Sister M. Martinette.

From 1973 to 1989, Sister M. Martinette was responsible for the women’s surgical ward at St.  Marien-Hospital in Vreden. She is still remembered by many people in Vreden for her open and friendly manner and her sense of humour. She then moved to the convent of Maria-Hilf in Telgte. There she took care of the elderly sisters, with whom she did handicrafts. When the pilgrims of the Osnabrück pilgrimage stayed overnight in the St. Rochus hospital, Sister M. Martinette was there to take care of their blisters and other minor wounds.

In 2018, Sister M. Martinette came to St. Heriburg House, where she spent the last years of her life. She was lovingly cared for by the sisters and staff. The day before her death, she was admitted to the neighboring St. Francis Hospital as an emergency case. A few hours later, God called her home.

We say farewell to Sister M. Martinette with gratitude. We remember her in prayer and in the celebration of the Eucharist. We remain united with her as sisters.

On Monday, 17 June 2024, we will say goodbye to Sister M. Martinette at 2 p.m. in the Motherhouse Church. We will then accompany her to her final resting place in the Sisters’ Cemetery.

Then we can share our memories of her over coffee in the Motherhouse.