Sr. M. Vera Altemeier SAC
20.12.1929 – 10.03.2021
Full of gratitude we return to God’s good hands our dear fellow Sister who committed her life to the missionary service of South Africa.
Anneliese Altemeier (Sr. Vera) was born on December 20, 1929 as the second child of Heinrich Altemeier and his wife Maria. After graduating from school, she attended the Misson School for candidates of the Pallottine Sisters in Limburg from 1948 to 1951. She was sent to Rochdale, England, to earn her GCE degree, and later studied at the Paderborn Pedagogical Academy, passing the second state examination for teaching in geography, English and Catholic religion in elementary schools.
In February 1959, Anneliese was accepted into the postulancy of the Pallottine Sisters and in August of the same year she received her religious habit and new name as Sr. Vera. She made her first profession on August 15, 1961 and already on May 6, 1963, left for South Africa, which became her home for the next 48 years. There she was assigned as a teacher at St. Joseph’s Beaufort West. In August 15, 1967 she made her perpetual profession. In the years that followed, Sr. Vera attended various courses on spirituality and catechesis in South Africa and Ireland. In October 1972, she was appointed house superior at St. Mary’s George. When she was designated Provincial Superior in June 1974, she accepted this ministry with faith and love, for the good of the Congregation.
After twelve years of service, Sr. Vera moved from the Provincial House to Oudtshoorn. Asked by the bishop there, Sr. Vera began a pilot catechetical program. Together with a group of catechists, she was preparing young people for Confirmation in a two-year course. When she was appointed superior in Oudtshoorn in 1990, she continued her catechetical work for young people in various parishes.
In 1992, Sr. Vera was again elected Provincial Superior and again served as such for 12 years. After her term as provincial superior, she continued in leadership responsibilities as provincial vicar. In her last six years in South Africa, Sr. Vera also served as the superior at St. Joseph’s Convent in Philippi, Cape Town and helped wherever she was needed.
In 2011, Sr. Vera left South Africa. She returned to her homeland, Germany, to the community Marienborn in Limburg. Later she occupied herself writing the history from the beginning of the mission in South Africa over the period from 1923 to 2013. She was a Pallottine Sister and missionary with her whole heart. She loved to tell about her experiences and as long as it was possible for her, and remained always in close contact with her fellow Sisters in South Africa.
Trusting in the Lord who had called her to follow Him, she passed away quietly, yet unexpectedly for us. God called our Sr. Vera Altemeier on March 10, 2021. She died in our nursing home Haus Felizitas in Limburg.
