Sr. Elizabeth Derga RSM

Sister Elizabeth Derga, RSM, 87, died on September 18, 2019, at Hallmar Care Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, after a brief illness. Services will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Monday, September 23, 2019, at the Sacred Heart Chapel, by Rev. Jim Brokman. Burial will be at the Mount Calvary Cemetery in Cedar Rapids. Friends may call from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday, September 22, 2019, at the Sacred Heart Chapel, with a wake service at 6:30 p.m. Arrangements are with Stewart Baxter Funeral & Memorial Services. Sister Elizabeth was born on October 20, 1931, in Cascade, Iowa, the daughter of Henry and Elizabeth (Merfeld) Derga. She attended Olin Public Elementary in Olin, Iowa, and graduated from Mt. Mercy Academy, Cedar Rapids, Iowa in 1949. She entered the Cedar Rapids Regional Community of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas in 1949. Sister Elizabeth received certificates in education from the State of Iowa in 1955 and 1960. She graduated with a B.A. in English from Mount Mercy College, Cedar Rapids, Iowa in 1960 and a M.A. in Administration from the College of St. Thomas, St. Paul, Minnesota in 1984. Sister Elizabeth's first ministry was teaching. From 1952 to 1965, she taught in the following parochial schools: St. Nicholas School in Waterloo, Iowa; St. Matthew's School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa; St. Cecilia's School in Ames, Iowa; All Saints School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa; and St. Benedict's School in Decorah, Iowa. She was a principal at St. Joseph's School in Marion, Iowa from 1965-1971, principal at St. Matthew's School in Kalispell, Montana from 1971-1973, principal at Immaculate Conception School, Cedar Rapids, Iowa from 1973-1977; teacher at St. Matthew School, Kalispell, Montana from 1977-1979 and was a principal at St. John's School in Waterloo, Iowa/St. Nicholas School in Evansdale, Iowa from 1979-1981. She returned to Kalispell, Montana as a principal from 1981-1988 and then became the principal at Sacred Heart School, Oelwein, Iowa from 1988-1990. Her last teaching ministry was at Sacred Heart School in Maquoketa, Iowa from 1990-1996. In 1996-1998 Sister Elizabeth was a part-time cook at Prairiewoods Franciscan Spirituality Center and assistant administrator of the motherhouse. She was a manager at the Catholic Worker House from 1998-1999. Upon her retirement in 1999, Sister Elizabeth became a volunteer at Sacred Heart Convent as a librarian and receptionist at the switchboard. Sister Elizabeth was known for her love of cooking and card playing. Sister Elizabeth was a vowed member of the Sisters of Mercy for 70 years. In addition to the Sisters of Mercy, Sister Elizabeth is survived by sibling, Florence Renner, Cedar Rapids, Iowa; and numerous nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews. She was preceded in death by her parents, Henry and Elizabeth; siblings, Sister Mary Leonice Derga, RSM, Edna Derga, Francis (Malinda) Derga, Herbert (Valda) Derga, Don Derga, brother-in-law, William Renner, and niece, Nancy Derga Hutcheson. Memorials may be sent to the Sisters of Mercy at 1125 Prairie Drive NE, Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52402.