Sister Martina Rockers, 92, an Ursuline Sister of Mount Saint Joseph, died June 5, 2018, in Olathe, Kan., in her 76th year of religious life. She was a native of Garnett, Kan.
Sister Martina was an Ursuline Sister of Paola, Kan., until the merger of that community with Mount Saint Joseph in 2008. She was a joyful servant whose work ethic was legendary. She was the heart and soul of Bishop Miege High School in Shawnee Mission, Kan., teaching and serving there the school’s entire 60 years. The school’s courtyard is named in her honor. A science award for the Kansas City area bears her name and she was honored by the National Catholic Educational Association in 2008. If school was out, she often accompanied students on a mission trip to help others.
Sister Martina was a teacher for 67 years in Kansas. She taught at Queen of the Holy Rosary, Overland Park (1946-53), St. Ann, Prairie Village (1953-55), St. Agnes, Roeland Park (1955-56), Ursuline Academy, Paola (1956-57), St. Agnes High School, Roeland Park (1957-58), and Bishop Miege (1958-2013). She continued to serve at Bishop Miege in the development office and the spirit shop until 2018.
Survivors include two sisters, Hilda Lankard, of Garnett, and Agnes Lickteig, of Greeley, Kan.; a brother, Martin Rockers, of Greeley; nieces and nephews and the members of her religious community.
The funeral Mass will be at 10:30 a.m. Monday at St. Agnes Catholic Church, Roeland Park, Kan. Visitation will begin at 3 p.m. Sunday at Bishop Miege High School, with a wake service following at 6 p.m.
Muehlebach Funeral Care, Kansas City, Mo., is handling arrangements.
Gifts in memory of Sister Martina may take the form of donations to the Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph, 8001 Cummings Road, Maple Mount, KY 42356, or to the Sister Martina Rockers Scholarship Fund at Bishop Miege, 5041 Reinhardt Dr., Shawnee Mission, KS 66205.
Comments
R.I.P our Dear Sister Martina
ALL IS WELL
Death is nothing at all.
It does not count.
I have only slipped away into the next room.
Nothing has happened.
Everything remains exactly as it was.
I am I, and you are you,
and the old life that we lived so fondly together is untouched, unchanged.
Whatever we were to each other, that we are still.
Call me by the old familiar name.
Speak of me in the easy way which you always used.
Put no difference into your tone.
Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow.
Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes that we enjoyed together.
Play, smile, think of me, pray for me.
Let my name be ever the household word that it always was.
Let it be spoken without an effort, without the ghost of a shadow upon it.
Life means all that it ever meant.
It is the same as it ever was.
There is absolute and unbroken continuity.
What is this death but a negligible accident?
Why should I be out of mind because I am out of sight?
I am but waiting for you, for an interval,
somewhere very near,
just around the corner.
ALL IS WELL
Nothing is hurt; nothing is lost.
One brief moment and all will be as it was before.
How we shall laugh at the trouble of parting when we meet again.
By Henry Scott-Holland (1847-1918) a Canon -St.Paul’s Cathedral – London
Our family has many fond memories of Sister Martina.
What a fabulous inspiration to the million of lives she touched thru Bishop Miege.Her caring and leadership as the Student Council advisor for our group of 1968 STUCO officers is my fondest memory of her.
My brothers Kenny and Tommy Shannon were also better people because of her being God’s messenger thru teaching.
i was sitting with h ofen at mass she ws really a great person and so loved by all BillGuilfoil st.agnes parish since 1942
What a wonderful person she was. Loved her dearly. I still remember her holding Christina Wolken Darby in her arms @ her Baptism. Such a beautiful lady in her habit.
An amazing sister, aunt and humanitarian. Know she went straight to heaven. God bless you
Sister Martina was a true gift from God. We were so blessed that He shared her with us. She had such a positive impact on me and everyone else while I was at Miege, and even for the 40 years since.
May she rest in peace and be welcomed into the arms of Our Lord.
Sister was always a great example of joyful and trusting love in God. She lived her life as Jesus calls us to. She was our Mother Teresa here in Kansas demonstrating her love for youth for generations! The Rocker Family will miss her so much but know she has joined her family in heaven. So proud to have been her neice, Theresa Wolken Marmon