Sister Mary Robert Clare

Sister Mary Robert Clare            ND 5002          PDF Download

Roberta Jane GROTH

Mary Immaculate Province, Toledo, Ohio, USA

Date and Place of Birth:              January 17, 1937        Toledo, Ohio
Date and Place of Profession:   August 13, 1957           Toledo, Ohio
Date and Place of Death:            May 23, 2019              Toledo, Ohio
Date and Place of Funeral:         May 30, 2019              Whitehouse, Ohio

Hers was a simple soul that related so well with little children.
Hers was a gentle soul that discerned the needs of others and gently filled them.
Hers was a kind soul that allowed her to help wherever help was needed.

Roberta Jane was the youngest of five children born to Frederick Groth and Clara Rose (Osterrieder) Groth. Her childhood was spent in Toledo, Ohio, where she attended St. Ann School. She followed the example of her older sister, Sister Mary Rose Bernard, who entered the Sisters of Notre Dame. Roberta attended Notre Dame Academy as an Aspirant graduating in 1955, the same year that she was invested with the habit of the Sisters of Notre Dame and received the name Sister Mary Robert Clare.

In 1958 Sister began her 52 years of teaching the primary grades in Florida, Illinois, and Ohio. She ministered for many years in Delphos, Ohio and Wheaton, Illinois where she prepared children for the sacraments. Besides teaching little children in the classroom, Sister Robert Clare also taught religion to adults with learning difficulties and brought Communion to those confined to their homes. Wherever she ministered the students and parishioners loved her. Sister involved herself in many aspects of the schools and parishes, even assisting with weekly bingo and cheering on former students throughout their high school athletic careers.

The qualities in the Sisters of Notre Dame that attracted her were their kindness, warmth, and friendliness. It was these same qualities she herself possessed. Once, when asked for one thing she liked about being a Sister, she wrote, “I loved being part of a group that I admired and was accepted as one of them.”

In recent years Sister could always be seen at the front door of the SND Center in Whitehouse, Ohio to welcome people for daily Mass. Sister generously and humbly put her whole self into ministry and community living visiting nursing homes, attending to the lonely, and helping colleagues. After a serious car accident years ago, she always wanted to say “good bye” whenever someone left the house in case something happened to them and she would never see them again.

Sister Mary Robert Clare gave back to God her life of 82 years in her 62^nd year of religious profession. May she bask in God’s Welcoming Presence for all eternity.