Sister Roberta Hesse, SSMN, Muenster native and missionary, dies at the age of 90

Sister Roberta Hesse, SSMN, spent almost half her life working with impoverished families in the Congo, Cameroon, Rwanda, and Tanzania. Much of that time was dedicated to treating children who suffered from malnutrition or tuberculosis. To stave off hunger, the licensed vocational nurse fed them powdered milk mixed with ground sorghum and a little sugar.

“The children loved it, and they gained weight,” Sr. Roberta remembered in a 2020 interview, marking her religious order’s 200th anniversary. “Working in Africa, I received so much more than I could ever give. It wasn’t as much about nursing as it was learning the value of just being present.”

The former missionary, who touched the lives of many with her caring presence, died Oct. 31 in the Our Lady of Victory Center after a long illness. She was 90.

A Memorial Mass is set for Wednesday, Nov. 13 at 11 a.m. in St. Andrew Parish, 3312 Dryden Road, Fort Worth. Keeping with her generous spirit, Sr. Roberta donated her body to medical research.

Sister Charles Marie Serafino, SSMN, who also served for decades in Africa, said the reaction to Sr. Roberta’s death from colleagues who ministered with her in the foreign missions was overwhelming.

“You can’t imagine how many remember her and have written about her in their native French,” she explained. “The African sisters talk about how kind she was and how she always smiled. The words they used to describe her are amazing.”

One sister recalled helping Sr. Roberta open a nutritional center in Mubuga, Rwanda.

“I can still see her smile and her love for the poor,” wrote the former co-worker. “She was a woman that could do anything.”

Another sister said the late missionary inspired confidence and served others selflessly.

“We are grateful each of us was able to live with you in our religious family,” she messaged. “[I remember] your total gift of self, your joy, your smile, your love for the poor. Enter into the joy of the Father with the Sisters of St. Mary who have gone before.”

Villagers in Rwanda often referred to the missionary from Texas as “my sister Berta” according to one Congolese sister.

“Sr. Roberta helped me work without getting discouraged,” she remembered. “We were in the little village of Kingala Matele. Before making my perpetual vows, I was asked to teach in a school two kilometers from our convent. Every day I had to walk four kilometers.”

The missionary always welcomed her home after a tiring day and long walk with the words “a la Katona” — the soldier.

“She was generous, very kind with the people of the village and watched over our students and sick people,” the sister added.

Born Irma Margaret Hesse to Christina Henscheid and Joseph Hesse on June 14, 1934, the Muenster native was the eldest of nine children. After losing both parents early in life, a vocation to enter the convent was realized only after a relative agreed to raise her younger siblings.

She entered the Sisters of St. Mary of Namur in September 1952 as a high school sophomore and later attended St. Joseph Hospital School of Nursing.

A patient’s casual remark sparked an interest in mission work.

“One day a patient asked if I was going to go to Africa,” Sr. Roberta once recalled, admitting the idea of serving overseas had occurred to her.

Five years later, she arrived at one of her order’s missions where she spent years healing the sick, delivering babies, teaching mothers about nutrition and overseeing the construction of schools and clinics.

During the Rwandan genocide of the Tutsi ethnic group by the Hutu population in 1994, Sr. Roberta sheltered with 40 sisters and six young girls until they were rescued by French troops in Operation Turquoise. The missionary returned to Africa and visited the order’s Congo mission for the last time in 2011.

In 2013, a chance meeting between Sr. Roberta and a Congo villager in the U.S. on a fellowship was chronicled in the North Texas Catholic by the late Jerry Circelli. In the article, Jean Bosco Mukolo said he found comfort and support in the company of Catholic missionary sisters who worked in his neighborhood. He remembered Sr. Roberta vividly.

“This was the nun who bandaged his bare feet many times, who tended to his bumps and bruises, who gave him oatmeal and milk in the mornings,” the correspondent reported. “This is the sister, who along her other missionary sisters, provided shoes and clothing. The sisters gave him notebooks, pens, pencils, and school supplies.”

Sr. Roberta, Mukolo recalled, provided strong spiritual guidance along the way.

“I will always remember what Sr. Roberta and the other sisters did in the Congo,” he added. “Today, I am who I am because I passed through them."

During her last years of retirement, Sr. Roberta’s presence was a blessing to everyone who came in contact with her.

“She truly lived the motto of our congregation, ‘In the simplicity of my heart, I have joyfully offered all to the Lord,’” Sr. Charles Marie noted.