+In Memoriam Sister Lydia Ann Braun

Sister Lydia Ann Braun, Carmel DCJ, 59, died Dec. 17, 2012 in Mandan, North Dakota.  A Mass of Christian Burial was held on Saturday, Dec. 22, 2012 at St. Agnes Home in Kirkwood, Missouri with burial at the Carmelite Cemetery in Kirkwood. 

Born Shirley Marie Braun on March 11, 1953 to Pius Braun and Lydia Volk in Bismarck, North Dakota she felt the calling to the religious life at a very young age while growing up on the family farm. 

Sister Lydia Ann often commented that her vocation stemmed not so much from an authentic religious calling but a desire to “get away from milking those darn cows” which was always followed by a mysterious smile which left everyone around wondering whether she was joking or not.

After six months of formation in the Postulancy, and two years as a Novice, she professed her First Vows. She took the name Sister M. Lydia Ann of the Mother of God–Lydia after her mother and Ann “to add some class.” At the same time, she attended nursing school in Pensacola, Florida where she was stationed after her formation years in St. Louis. She professed her final vows in Kirkwood, Missouri on July 2, 1979.

Sister Lydia Ann was blessed with a tremendous sense of humor and love for life.  Her capacity for friendship was shown in the great number of correspondences she accumulated throughout the years, ranging from people she grew up with to people she met on an airplane. 

With Sister Lydia Ann it was not uncommon for someone to go from being a random passerby to being a close intimate friend of hers within a short conversation.  It did not take much for her to make herself a part of someone’s life. There was something extraordinarily contagious in sister’s joy and appetite for life.

After being appointed Provincial Superior of the Southwest Province and subsequently moving to Corpus Christi, Sister Lydia Ann repeatedly admonished the sisters in her community to “love as Jesus loves.”

“Why is it so difficult to love as He does?” she would ask.  “He gave us one simple commandment and we can’t even get that right.”  This phrase became known as sister’s “theme song” within her community.

In her 38 years as a Carmelite Sister of the Divine Heart of Jesus, Sister Lydia Ann served in various homes; Pensacola, Florida; Jefferson City, Missouri; San Diego, California; Rome, Italy; and most recently as the Provincial Superior in Corpus Christi.  She served in many different capacities including director of nursing, administrator, local Superior as well as being Provincial Superior for both the Central and Southwest Provinces within the United States at different times in her life.

Sister Lydia Ann was known for her great devotion to the Holy Father and was deeply touched when she learned this was to be the Year of Faith.  She said more than once how she wanted to honor the Holy Father’s wishes to make the Catholic faith more present in the world and was constantly coming up with ideas on how to do so.  She even mentioned once or twice how she believed she would die in the Year of Faith.  Little did her sisters at the Mount Carmel Home know that she would in fact be called home to experience the fullness of her faith with her Lord.  

Sister Lydia Ann’s love for life can be summed up in her own words, “Each walk of life has challenges. God does not call us to be perfect, great, famous or fantastic. He calls us to honor his holiness in whatever path we feel he is calling us to pursue.”

Sister Lydia Ann touched the lives of many and will be deeply missed by her mother, Lydia Braun; sisters, Emma Sornsin, Aggie Knudson, Jackie (Ken) Hamel, Rosie (Jack) Wagner, Sandy (Dan) Ryckman; brothers, Fred (Marlene), Michael (Donna), Ed (Connie), Richard (Faye) and numerous adoring nieces and nephews, as well as her sisters in the Southwest Province.

Her father, Pius, preceded Sister Lydia Ann in death.