Obituary of Sister Alfreda Anton

Sister ALFREDA (Anne) Anton, Ursuline of Prelate, was called into eternal life at the Hospice at Glengarda on June 23^rd, 2023 at 93 years of age.  Daughter of Fred and Philomena Anton, Anne was born on December 14, 1929, the youngest of three children, and grew up on the family farm near Fox Valley, SK.  She received her early education at Bowden country school. In grade eight she attended school in Fox Valley where she had her first contact with the Ursuline Sisters.  The faith, joy, and dedication of the Sisters made a lasting impression on her and confirmed her in her call to religious life.   In 1945, she continued her high school education at St. Angela's Convent at Prelate, SK  and joined the Ursuline community the following year taking the name Sister Alfreda.  After making her perpetual profession on August 15, 1951, she then took a year of teacher training at the Moose Jaw Normal School.   A rich, exciting and often challenging 35 years of teaching, mostly in the Junior High grades, took her to Prelate Public School, St. Walburg, Denzil, Liebenthal, Viscount, Tramping Lake, Fox Valley, Swift Current, Shaunavon and Medicine Hat. Attendance at the Banff School of Fine arts helped to develop her artistic skills and with much enthusiasm she taught oil painting and leather work along with her classroom teaching. Two study leaves enabled her to complete her B.Ed. degree at the University of Regina in 1970 and her Bachelor of Religious Education degree from Newman Theological College in Edmonton in 1984. Her spiritual life was greatly enriched through pilgrimages to the Holy Land, Medjugore and the Ursuline Monastery in Quebec.

In 1971, Sister Alfreda and Sister Louise were the first Ursulines to teach in the Catholic School System in Medicine Hat where they lived in community with other Ursulines near St. Patrick Church.  Upon retiring from classroom teaching in 1992, Sister Alfreda joined Sister Louise in offering an intergenerational “Angela Family Program” that combined religious education with art instruction.  Many are the families whose lives were enriched through participation in the creative educational activities that were offered at the convent. Following cancer treatment at the Tom Baker Cancer Clinic in Calgary, the two Ursulines organized an Interdenominational Pastoral Care Program to minister to the sick in the hospital, lodges and care homes in their city.  Thanks to the Sisters’ warm hospitality, the convent became a gathering place for many support groups and Ursuline Associates who considered it their ‘second home’. It also served as a distribution centre for food donated by city bakeries for people with limited incomes.

In February of 2010, Sister Alfreda moved to St. Angela Merici Residence in Saskatoon where she continued to give art lessons as long as her health permitted. She is warmly remembered as a talented artist with great enthusiasm for teaching and a capacity for taking delight in the little joys of life.  Left to cherish her memory are the Ursuline Sisters, her nieces and nephews and great nieces and nephews and many friends and former students.   She was predeceased by her father in 1953, her mother in 1981, her brother Hubert (Tillie) and her sister Faye (Greg).

The Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at St. Anne’s Church on Wednesday, June 28^th at 10:00 a.m. followed by lunch in the church hall and interment at the Prelate Cemetery.  In lieu of flowers, friends and relatives are invited to contribute to the Ursuline mission of education by donating to St. Angela's Academy Foundation, at 305 Hilliard St. E., Saskatoon, SK, S7J 0E5.  For those unable to attend, the funeral can be viewed by livestream at www.saintannes.ca