Regina Buskowiak — Rochester

Sister Regina (Mary Raymond) Buskowiak, 96, a Franciscan Sister of the Congregation of Our Lady of Lourdes, Rochester, died at Assisi Heights on Monday, Sept. 14, 2015.

Regina Elizabeth Buskowiak was born May 9, 1919, in Utica, Minn., to Jacob and Josephine (Nicklewski) Buskowiak. She entered the Sisters of St. Francis in 1939 from Saint Charles Parish, St. Charles, Minn. Sister Regina made first vows in 1942 and Perpetual Vows in 1945. In 1955, she received a Bachelor of Science in nursing from the College of St. Teresa, Winona.

Sister Regina worked at Saint Marys Hospital, Rochester, for 20 years. She was head nurse on 1st Joseph East during the polio epidemic in the 1950s and is featured in the Mayo Clinic Heritage Film "A Cheerful Heart: The Dave Madden Story." Sister Regina also served as the director of nursing at what was then St. Anne Hospice, Winona, from 1962 to 1979. She returned to Assisi Heights and for 10 years served as a nurse in the Assisi Heights Health Care before her retirement in 1989.

Sister Regina is survived by her religious Congregation, with whom she shared life for 76 years, and by several nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents; four brothers, Raphael John, Gregory, Isadore and Bernard; and by three sisters, Sister Bernard Marie Buskowiak, Mrs. Clifford Roeder and Mrs. Howard Streiff.

A Funeral Liturgy will be held Wednesday, Sept. 23, at 11 a.m. in the Chapel of Our Lady of Lourdes, Assisi Heights, Rochester, preceded by a Prayer Service at 9 a.m. followed by visitation.

Memorials are suggested to the Sisters of St. Francis, Office of Development, Assisi Heights, 1001 14th St. NW, Rochester.