Sister Audrey once taught 72 first graders in Fort Smith

Published: September 11, 2020

Sister Audrey Becker, OSB, who celebrated her 70th jubilee last year at St. Scholastica Monastery in Fort Smith, died Aug. 13. She was 89.

She was born Mildred Loraine Elizabether Oct. 5, 1930, in Paris to Aloysius and Regina Schmitz Becker. Her mother died when she was young and the loss had a lasting impact, according to St. Scholastica Monastery. She was received into St. Scholastica Monastery June 24, 1947, and took the name Sister Mary Audrey. She made her final profession two years later. In 1964, she earned a bachelor’s degree in education from Quincy College in Illinois and in 1973, a master’s in religious education from Loyola University in Chicago.

Sister Audrey taught 40 years throughout Arkansas, Texas and Missouri. Her obituary stated she once taught 72 first-grade students at St. Boniface School in the 1950s. She became assistant director of St. Scholastica Center and then served as the monastery secretary/treasurer from 2001 to 2015. Serious injuries from a car accident forced her to retire from active ministry in 2016. She enjoyed “peanut butter, Native American dream-catchers, PayDay candy bars and playing games on her laptop,” the monastery said.

She is survived by one brother, David Becker; four sisters, Fran Perkins, Jean Holman, Deloris Sax and Glenda Barnett. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at a later date.

Memorials can be made to St. Scholastica Monastery Continuing Care Fund, 1315 S. Albert Pike Ave., Fort Smith, AR 72903.