Sister Remberta Westkaemper, OSB

Sister Remberta, known to friends as "Remy", was born January 2, 1890 in Spring Hill, MN and died 98 plant-filled years later on March 13, 1988.  Sister Remberta received her Bachelor's degree from CSB in 1919 and her M.S. (1922) and Ph.D. (1929) degrees from the University of Minnesota.  She played an formative role in development of the natural sciences at CSB.  She started teaching at St. Benedict's and collected plants extensively in  Stearns county.  She deposited more than 600 plants in the herbarium.  Sister Remberta served as the first full-time president of CSB from 1957-1961.  She then taught biology and physiology from 1961 - 1973 when she retired and received the honor of professor emerita.  She was a member of Sigma Xi Honor Society and the MN Academy of Science.  She received many accolades including an "Award for Distinguished Service to Science", "Outstanding Teacher of America Award" in 1972, and an entry in Who's Who Among Women.  Sister Remberta loved field work and got excited about teaching and finding specimens.  She kept hard candy in her pocket to give to her students in the field when they needed energy.  She was famous for her pair of blue high-topped tennis sneakers that served as her standard foot gear for years of fieldwork.