Sister Clare (Marie Clare) Boehmer, ASC, 88, of the Adorers of the Blood of Christ, died peacefully at 4:00am, Friday, March 7, 2025, at Benedictine Living Community at the Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows, Belleville, Illinois.
She was baptized Clara at St. Mary’s Church in Conneaut, Ohio; she was the only child of Joseph and Anna Marie (nee Betz) Boehmer. Her family moved to the Midwest when she was young. She graduated from St. Teresa Academy in East St. Louis, Illinois, in 1954. Sister Clare made her first profession on July 1, 1960, and her final vows on July 1, 1965, at the Ruma Convent, Ruma, Illinois, and had been professed for 64 years.
Her bachelor’s degree in English was earned in 1958, and her master’s in 1968, both from St. Louis University. She studied Educational Media at Loyola University in Chicago and worked onsite at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. She completed her certification in Library Science through the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks in 1969. Her final ministry, a Certified Healing Touch Practitioner, spanned over 20 years.
Sister Clare’s service as a secondary English teacher for 16 years included Precious Blood Institute in Ruma, Illinois, Sts. Peter and Paul in Waterloo, Illinois; St. Pius X in Festus, Missouri; and St. Teresa Academy and Assumption, both in East St. Louis, Illinois. Her certification in Library Science was invaluable at St. Mary Elementary in Chester and Gibault in Waterloo, both in Illinois. For several years, she paired her knowledge as a librarian with her computer savvy at St. John Evangelist School in Tucson, AZ. She brought her talents in the computer field to St. Blaise/Sts. Peter and Paul in St. Louis, Missouri. In the early years of this century, she served for eight years as Webmaster and Associate Editor of the periodical Review for Religious. She also ministered at the St. Louis Archdiocesan Catholic Charities initiative at Marian Hall, an emergency shelter for teenage girls.
One of Sister Clare’s stellar achievements was Echoes in Our Hearts, published in 1994, two years after our five sisters were killed in Liberia, West Africa. The book gives pertinent background, the reality of the situation, a glimpse of the tragedy, and the repercussions of our loss as a community with the exit of these five creative, courageous women. Sister Clare’s straightforward writing style relays the message to interested readers of all ages.
While Clare’s face could seem serious enough to demand order in the classroom, her friends experienced the wit and adventure that lay behind the twinkle in her eyes. When she and a jubilee classmate celebrated their twenty-fifth anniversary of vows, her classmate received a gift certificate from a restaurant in Chicago. Clare eagerly agreed to drive with her friend to Chicago for dinner. They left in a car from Ruma on Friday after work, planning to return Sunday evening. Braving a snowstorm on the way home, they slid into a ditch but were helped by a good Samaritan in a semi-truck. They returned the undamaged car to Ruma, slept fast that night, and arrived on time for work Monday morning.
In 2022, Sr. Clare moved from the Ruma Center to the Benedictine Living Community at the Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows near Belleville, Illinois. Even in retirement there, she was often called to help one of the sisters or other residents with their computer glitches.
Sister Clare is survived by friends, including the ASC community, and was preceded in death by her parents.
It was Sister Clare’s wish to be cremated.
A Memorial Mass will be held at 1:30 pm, Friday, March 14, 2025, at Benedictine Living Community Chapel at the Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows, 726 Community Drive in Belleville, Illinois, with visitation starting at 12:15 pm before the service. Burial will follow at the Convent Cemetery in Ruma, Illinois.
Donations in memory of Sister Clare may be sent to the ASC Retirement Fund, 4233 Sulphur Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63109, or online at www.adorers.org “Support our Ministries”