Sister Anthony Marie Elizabeth Davis, 95, of Marty, SD

Funeral services are 11 AM, Monday, January 24, 2011at S. Paul's Catholic Church in Marty. Burial is in the church cemetery. Visitation will be Sunday from 2 PM until 5 PM at the Crosby-Jaeger Funeral Home in Wagner. Wake services are 7:30 PM, Sunday at the church.

Sister Anthony Marie Elizabeth Davis, an Oblate Sister of the Blessed Sacrament was born to David and Louise Ann (Champagne) Davis on June 18, 1915, in Belcourt, ND. She died Friday, January 21, 2011 at the Community Memorial Hospital in Wagner, SD. She obtained the age of 95 years, seven months and three days.

Sister Anthony was baptized at St. Anthony Church near Belcourt, ND. After the death of her parents, she lived with her grandparents until she was a teenager. Her early education took place at a mission boarding school at Seven Dolors, Fort Totten, ND. After that school burned down she attended a government school nearby, later transferring to another mission boarding school, the Little Flower School, in St. Michael, ND, where she graduated from the eighth grade. She attended St. Paul Indian Mission in Marty, SD for high school. While in her 60's, Sister Anthony obtained her Bachelor's Degree in Elementary Education from Black Hills State University.

While at Marty, she and other Native American girls approached Father Sylvester Eisenman, OSB, the superintendent of Marty, about becoming nuns. It was through Father Sylvester and his consultant, Mother Katharine Drexel, the foundress of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, and with the necessary approval of the Bishop of SIoux Falls, Most Rev. Bernard J. Mahoney, that a Pious Association was formed with the hope of establishing a Catholic Indian Sisterhood of Religious. She made Perpetual Vows on June 8, 1954 and took the name Sister Anthony Marie. She celebrated her 75th anniversary as an Oblate Sister of the Blessed Sacrament on October 10, 2010.

During her years at Marty she had been a sacristan, catechist, pastoral visitor, cook, house mother, office worker, teacher's aid and teacher. While most of her years were spent at Marty, she did spend six years working in Eagle Butte and four years in Rapid City.

Sister Anthony is survived by all of her Oblate Sisters, relatives and friends.
She was preceded in death by her parents and younger brother in 1918, due to an influenza outbreak.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made for masses or contributions to the Lake Andes Health Care Center.