Anna Mae Bauer was born on October 24, 1933, the youngest child of George Gustiv and Marie Auberger Bauer of Louisburg, Kan. Her siblings included George, Elizabeth, John, and Tom. A week after she was born, she was baptized at Immaculate Conception Church in Louisburg. Nine years later she was confirmed in the same parish church.
By the time Anna Mae was 3, her family realized that she needed chores too. It was while she was holding the screen door for her brother, Tom, as he carried in wood, that the spring broke and flew into her eye, slicing her eyeball. She lost her eye, but being so young was really a blessing.
Growing up on a farm, Anna Marie began to shadow her brothers. John especially liked to teach her not only about farming, but also about fixing cars, cleaning spark plugs, grinding valves, and changing oil to name a few.
Anna May attended Pony Creek School in rural Kansas. She went to Ursuline Academy in Paola, Kan., for high school. While there she made the decision to become an Ursuline Sister of Paola. She entered as a postulant on February 11, 1951, during her senior year of high school. She became a novice on August 21st that same year.
Sister Susanne earned a bachelor of science degree from St. Mary’s College in Xavier, Kan., in 1968, and a master’s degree from Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, in 1981.
Sister Susanne was an educator for 42 years in Kansas and Oklahoma and was assistant superior and treasurer of her community from 1990-1998. She taught in Kansas at Queen of the Holy Rosary School, Overland Park; St. Philip Neri School, Osawatomie; and Holy Angels School, Garnett. She was principal of Sacred Heart School, Ottawa; and a teacher’s aide at Holy Rosary-Wea School, Bucyrus, where she also helped with the after-school care program. She taught at St. John School, Bartlesville, Okla., and served as principal from 1976-1989. After the 2008 merger with the Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph, she served as chapel sacristan at the Motherhouse at Maple Mount from 2009-2018. She then retired and became a member of the Powerhouse of Prayer.
Sister Susanne died on June 5, 2024. The funeral Mass was at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, June 11, at Mount Saint Joseph. Burial was in the convent cemetery.