Sr. Elaine Badzik

Elaine Badzik was born June 23, 1932, in Cleveland, the middle child of Julius and Louise Badzik, with older brother Vincent and younger sister Kathleen. Following her years at Ludlow Elementary School, she attended Beaumont School where she first became acquainted with the Ursuline Sisters. Months after her 1950 graduation, she entered the Ursuline community. Upon receiving her religious habit, she was given the name Sister Mary Benedict.

Mary Benedict earned her undergraduate and graduate degrees, in Education and Administration, respectively, from the old St. John College.

Dedication to teaching - and to her students - marked her 27-year career as an educator. She taught at the intermediate and junior high levels in parish schools of the diocese, including St. Mary Magdalene, St. Ann, Christ the King, St. Clare and Cleveland's Immaculate Conception. In 1969, she transitioned to secondary education, with assignments at Villa Angela Academy and later at Beaumont School.

In 1979 Mary Benedict, or "Sister Ben" as she was lovingly nicknamed, moved to the motherhouse, but retirement was not part of her plan. Her new address was simply a new home base for her many interests and endeavors. She assisted with adult education at St. Angela Merici Parish, taught PSR at St. Basil Parish, served as needed at Beaumont, provided transportation for the elderly and infirm sisters at the motherhouse, and assisted in the office of the congregational treasurer. For a number of years she taught courses for the Arthritis Foundation. One of the Ursulines' first environmental activists, Sister Benedict took great pride in encouraging the recycling effort within the motherhouse community

Even in actual "retirement," Mary Benedict remained busy and engaged in the ministry of prayer and service. She was a frequent visitor in the community's infirmary and health care center, stopping to offer sisters a word of encouragement or share a laugh or a prayer or, on special days, a bag of freshly popped popcorn.

Mary Benedict moved here to Regina Health Center in 2015 and, for a time, served as a reader at Mass. She could frequently be found pushing wheelchair-bound residents to their rooms or to activities. A "doer" to the end!

Sister Mary Benedict was a faith-filled, prayerful and generous woman -- with a dry sense of humor and a distinctive voice -- who extended herself in service wherever she saw a need.

The following quote from her serves as a statement of her fidelity to her vocation.

"A highlight of my life has been being able to do all I did in my many years as an Ursuline. I am most grateful to God for giving me my vocation. I am just so grateful that I have had such good health and the opportunities to serve God as an Ursuline."

A funeral Liturgy for Sister Mary Benedict will be held at Regina Health Center, 5232 Broadview Road in Richfield on Monday, July 22 at 11:00 a.m. Visitation will be at 10:00.