Caroline Marie Osthoff was born in Lenora, Kan., to Frank Clement Osthoff and Anna Margaret Hickert on November 6, 1926. She was baptized at St. Joseph Church in New Almelo, Kan., on November 11, 1926, and confirmed at Immaculate Conception Church in Leoville, Kan., on March 29, 1939.
Sister Judith wrote a short autobiography while she was serving in Scipio, Kan. She wrote, “On a dark, bleak Tuesday, November 9, 1926, just a few minutes before midnight, Caroline Marie Osthoff came to be. I was the third chunky girl in a family of six children, Paula, Betty, Carol, (me), Greta, Carl and Patty…”
“High school took me to Norton which opened a new phase of living in an apartment with my older sister, Betty, and her friend … These were war years so my sophomore year and junior year were in a small high school at Leoville.
“After graduation, I worked as a clerk-typist in the Base Intelligence Office at the McCook Army Air Field in Nebraska. Within a year the air base was inactivated and although I did not transfer, I took a short business course in Denver and worked as a comptometorist there …
“Dancing, bowling and mountain outings were favorite past times but I didn’t find myself saying yes to anyone special. Yet, I did think people were the important ingredients of life so with the encouragement of a friend, I decided to try the wishbone, backbone and funny bone of the Ursuline Convent in Paola, Kan.”
Sister Judith joined the Ursuline Sisters of Paola on April 19, 1949, the novitiate on October 10, 1949, and made her perpetual profession on August 21, 1954.
During her 29 years of teaching in Kansas, she worked in Kansas City, Garnett, Overland Park, Bucyrus, Paola, and Bonner Springs. Most of her years were in the lower grades.
After Sister Judith moved to the Ursuline Motherhouse in Paola, she began taking food to areas around Paola. Sister Kathleen Condry, Ursuline Superior at the time, said, “When I see Sister Judith loading up the car in the mornings to begin her journey around the countryside to deliver food, I always think of Saint Angela taking bread to the workers in the olive groves. The spirit of our foundress is definitely alive in Sister Judith’s concern for the poor.”
Sister Judith often attended Friday night sessions on peace and justice at Shalom House and was impressed by the presentation of Sister Bettina Tobin, who had spent a year at the prayer and hospitality center founded by Catherine Doherty. In the presentation, Sister Bettina talked about being too comfortable and Sister Judith decided that fit her also. “I wanted to do something more to build the kingdom of God. Saint Francis said the poor were the treasure of the church so I thought this would be a good place to start,” Sister Judith said.
After the Ursuline Sisters of Paola merged with Mount Saint Joseph, Sister Judith moved to Maple Mount in 2009 and continued to actively serve in prayer ministry.
She died July 10, 2017. The visitation was Thursday, July 13, 2017 at 4 p.m., followed by the wake service. The funeral Mass was Friday, July 14, 2017 at 10:30 am. Sister Judith’s remains are buried in the convent cemetery.