Obituary of Sister Brigitta Haag, osu

HAAG,  Sister Brigitta, osu

Sister Brigitta (Mathilda) Haag, osu, (Prelate) was welcomed into eternal life on Dec. 21, 2023 at St. Angela Merici Residence, Saskatoon, SK., three days after her 105^th birthday.  

Daughter of Simon and Philippine (Tumbach) Haag, Mathilda was born on December 18, 1918 on the family farm in the Krassna area near Fox Valley, SK., the second oldest of nine children.

Upon completing her elementary grades at Gladwin, a one-room country school, she took her high school education at St. Angela’s Convent, Prelate, SK.  Impressed by the Ursuline Sisters, she entered the community in 1934 taking the name Sister Brigitta.  She made her First Profession on January 1, 1937 and her Perpetual Profession on January 1, 1940.  After taking her teacher training at Moose Jaw in 1939 she spent 31 years teaching elementary grades in Queensview (near Tramping Lake), Barthel, Richmound, Billimun, Cosine, Tramping Lake, Christ the King in Saskatoon, and Denzil, SK.  She was much loved as an excellent teacher, always calm and gentle, with special concern for less fortunate students. 

Sister Brigitta engaged in several opportunities for growth and enrichment.  In 1979-80, she took the “Credo Program” in Spokane, WA., a program which culminated in a tour to the Holy Land and a seven-day retreat at the Mount of Beatitudes.  Later, she made a 30-day retreat in Spokane.  She accompanied Sister Hermana, General Superior to a UISG meeting in Rome, continued on a tour to Assisi, Desenzano and Brescia and went on to visit the Sisters in Swaziland, Africa, and Cologne, Germany.  These travels, along with attendance at many workshops kept her open to new challenges and new understandings of Religious Life after Vatican II. Her keen interest in other cultures led her into stamp collecting, a hobby that consisted in compiling over 30 meticulously arranged albums.  

During her ten years in Saskatoon she served on the General Council, then as local superior at Glengarda in Saskatoon, and as a volunteer at St. Francis Parish.  In 1980, she joined two other Sisters in ministry with the Oblate Fathers at Marian Press in Battleford where she worked in the Oblate Research library. She moved to Swift Current in 1985 to support retreat ministries at the House of Providence, and ten years later served as support staff at St. Angela’s Academy at Prelate. 

 In her senior years she learned computer skills in order to compile and write the Haag Family History Book.  

In 2010 health issues prompted her to move to St. Angela Merici Residence in Saskatoon.  

Her life was one of gratitude for God’s inexpressible goodness and love expressed in her ever gracious and gentle disposition. 

Sister Brigitta was predeceased by her father in 1947, her mother in 1977, her step-father Ignatius Gaetz in 1969, and six sisters, Katie (Fred) Goldade, Margaret, Laura (Adam) Kuntz, Angela (George) Gaetz, Sister Anne, Sister Claudia, and sisters-in-law, Margaret and Gladys.  She is lovingly remembered by her Ursuline Sisters, her brothers, Matt and Henry and numerous nieces and nephews. 

The Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Dec. 30, 2023 at St. Anne’s Church, Saskatoon, SK. at 10:00 a.m.  This Mass will be livestreamed at www.saintannes.ca   

The rite of Committal will follow at the Prelate Cemetery at 3:00 pm.  

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.