Sister Martha Mary Conrad

Sister Martha Mary Conrad, CHM, 76 died on May 8, 2016 at Bishop Drumm Retirement Center, Johnston, IA. Services at Bishop Drumm Our Lady of Peace Chapel are Sunday, May 15: Visitation 12 to 1 p.m.; Prayer Service at 1 p.m. In Sigourney, IA: Sunday, May 15 at Holm Funeral Home: Visitation: 5 to 7 p.m,. with famiy present; Prayer Service at 5 p.m. Monday, May 16: St. Mary Catholic Church, Sigourney, Mass of Christian Burial 10:30 a.m. Interment follows in Holy Trinity, SS Peter and Paul Cemetery Clear Creek.

Martha Ann Conrad was born January 17, 1940 to Anthony Leonard and Agatha Marie Hammes Conrad in Sigourney. She entered the Congregation of the Humility of Mary in 1958, professing vows in 1961 with the name Sr. Martha Mary.

Sister received her AA from Ottumwa Heights College, her BA from Marycrest College; she continued study at St. Pius Religious Education Center, Detroit, MI. For more than a decade S. Martha Mary taught elementary students at St. Alphonsus, Davenport, Lourdes Memorial in Bettendorf, St. Pius X in Des Moines, Sacred Heart in West Des Moines and St. Louis the King, Glendale, AZ.

In 1975, she began ministry at St. Mildred Church in Somerset, KY as Outreach Director, starting a Center for the poor and needy, a food pantry and a jail ministry. She retired to Des Moines in 2009, volunteering at Holy Family School, and in the River Bend area, especially with the Catholic Worker community, and with food distribution for Mary's For Meals.

She is survived by sisters, Cecilia (Ron) Neis, Mary (Doug) DeWeerdt, Carol (Larry) Robison; brother, Mike (Janice) Conrad; many nieces, nephews and cousins, as well as the Sisters and Associates of her religious community. She was preceded in death by her parents and brother-in-law, Tom Sanders.

Memorials may be made to the Congregation of the Humility of Mary.