By David Myers

Southwest Kansas Register

NESS CITY -- It is the end of an era for the Diocese of Dodge City.

When Sisters Evarista Durler and Jude Beckerman, teachers at Sacred Heart School in Ness City, retire to the Sisters Adorers of the Blood of Christ Province Center in Wichita this month, they will bring with them a legacy built by hearty religious in Southwest Kansas over the last century.

Sister Evarista and Sister Jude are the last nuns to teach in Catholic schools in the Diocese of Dodge City.

"New [sisters] go into other areas," Sister Jude said sadly. "Teaching just doesn’t seem to be the thing to do nowadays."

Long gone are the days when nuns were told by their superior what line of work they would accept after taking their vows. In fact, Sister Jude once assumed she’d be "working in an office," while Sister Evarista thought she would be a housekeeper.

But if the response of the pupils is any indication of their success during their combined 43 years at Sacred Heart, you can be sure the Holy Spirit was taking an active part in their job direction. When asked to smile for the camera, one of several students surrounding Sister Jude said, "I don’t feel like smiling. I don’t want her to leave."

The Sisters Adorers began their 83-year teaching mission at Sacred Heart School in 1921. After taking her vows in 1933 at the tender age of 16, Sister Evarista, 87, went on to earn a master’s degree in elementary education. Sister Evarista taught in a host of Kansas towns before coming to Sacred Heart in 1985.

Sister Jude, 84, has worked at the school for 24 years after also having served in other Kansas (and Oklahoma) schools. She entered the convent in 1952, after working several years for Southwestern Bell.

One of 11 children, Sister Jude was reared in Fowler, the daughter of a wheat farmer.

"We raised a few cattle; had the usual farm animals. I remember when I rode the bus to school the first time. It was scary to get on that bus all by myself. I could just see the gable of my house from the school and I would cry. The sisters would have to console me."

Sister Jude said she was 30 and working for a telephone company when her sister decided to enter the Sisters Adorers. A year later, Sister Jude followed suit. She soon found herself at Newman University, and then Marymount, studying to earn a degree in childhood education, and a teaching certificate.

Besides teaching third grade Religion class, Sister Jude works in the library, on the lunch counter, and helps prepare children for the Long Term Care Mass twice per month. She has also helped tutor students in all areas. In the afternoon she spends her time visiting shut-ins.

Born in Spearville -- also to a wheat farmer -- Sister Evarista lived the country life, her family housing a deep faith around which everything else revolved. She recalled a pet mule she and her eight brothers and sisters rode. She remembered visiting her grandmother over the holidays, and using a horse and buggy for transportation when their barn burned down.

"It burnt to the ground with everything in it," she remembered. "The car was in it, all our toys, the chickens, all of the grain, everything. Our grandfather gave us his buggy so we’d have something to travel in."

Sister Evarista attended St. John the Baptist School where she was taught by Precious Blood Sisters.

"Father V.J. Smith was the one who really encouraged me, outside of the Sisters of course," she said. "I always wanted to be a Sister. My teachers encouraged me to fulfill my vocations."

Having taught every grade at the school, Sister Evarista said she found most rewarding being able to see the "progress made with them, especially when they come back to visit and say how grateful they are. I’ve had in my class the grandkids of a child I taught in the second grade."

Besides teaching handwriting, Sister Evarista teaches computers, and tutors students needing extra help. She is also the head of the Labels for Education and Campbell Soup Label program. When not at the school, she trains all the servers for the parish, and serves as a sacaristan for parish.

"They’ve been a wonderful gift to Catholic education," said Diocesan Superintendent of Schools, Ann Depperschmidt, who is principal of Sacred Heart School. "We’re going to miss them in so many ways. There were so many jobs they did to keep us running. They tutored children all the time, and that was such a gift.

"I think the saddest thing about it is that we no longer have religious working with any of our schools. That’s going to be a huge void."