Sister Rita Menke (formerly Sister Mary Alberta), 81, a native of the Davenport Diocese, died March 12 at St. Francis Convent, Saint Francis, Wis.
Born in Houghton, she entered the Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi at age 20.
Sr. Menke taught in Wisconsin and in Iowa outside the Davenport Diocese, and in California. She also served as a principal. After earning a master’s in pastoral ministry, she served as a pastoral minister in Washington and at parishes in Wyoming, and as adult education coordinator at a Milwaukee parish.
Sr. Menke served the congregation as vocation director (1969-71), personnel director (1971-75), administrator/coordinator of Clare Hall (1988-95), and liaison with the Franciscan Sisters of Baltimore (1999-2000) in preparation for their merger with the Sisters of St. Francis of Asissi in 2001.
Funeral services were held at St. Francis Convent in Saint Francis, Wis. She donated her body to the Medical College of Wisconsin.
