Sister M. Philip Neri

Dacada native Sister M. Philip Neri, a member of the Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi, died Wednesday, March 14, at the order’s motherhouse in Saint Francis. She was 91.

Sister Philip spent much of her time as a nun at St. Coletta’s School for Exceptional Children in Jefferson.

Her family said she often looked back at her time there and said, “I really did have a good time at St. Coletta’s, working with the residents and staff.”

“She liked working with the handicapped children there,” her sister Mary Schmitz said. “She worked with the children, but she had household duties too.”

Sister Philip spent 41 years at St. Coletta’s, handling responsibilities such as cooking, child care, being a houseparent, laundry manager, clerical assistant, tutor and mailroom clerk.

Sister Neri was born Blanche Margaret Bichler on Dec. 12, 1926, the daughter of Nicholas and Susan Mayer Bichler.

She was the fourth oldest of five girls and nine boys who grew up on the family dairy farm near Dacada.

After completing the eighth grade at St. Nicholas School in Dacada, she stayed home and helped her mother.

Later, she worked at Cedar Grove’s shoe factory, at the Wisconsin Chair Co. and St. Alphonsus Hospital, both in Port Washington.

When she was 19 or 20, she decided to enter religious life, following the footsteps of four great-aunts, her sister said. “All the sudden she decided to go to the convent,” she said. “I guess that was her calling.”

She entered the Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi on Aug. 28, 1946.

Upon entering novitiate on Aug. 11, 1947, she received the name Sister M. Philip Neri.

She served as housekeeper at St. Sebastian Convent in Milwaukee for one year, followed by another year as a cook at the order’s motherhouse.

From 1951 to 1954, she was a cook at the nearby at St. Francis de Sales Major Seminary.

Then, she returned to the motherhouse as a cook.

In August 1957, she began her service at St. Coletta’s. Sister Philip retired in 1999 and moved to Clare Hall in Saint Francis.

There, she found more time for prayer and reflection and discovered new ways to volunteer. When people came to visit her, they found her overflowing with enthusiasm and energy and found her laughter contagious.

Sister Philip is survived by her sister Mary (John) Schmitz of Belgium; brothers Robert (Mary Jo) of Racine, Nicholas (Mary Ann) of Dacada and Thomas (Bonnie) of Random Lake; brother-in-law Elden Mondloch of Random Lake; and sister-in-law Barbara Bichler of Dacada.

She was preceded in death by her sisters Coletta Schmitt, Rita Mondloch and Dorothy Bichler; brothers Cletus, Vernon, Clemens, Gregory, Claude and Francis Bichler; brother-in-law Clarence Schmitt; and sisters-in-law Georgia, Mildred, Geraldine and Terry Bichler and Marcia Fenner.

A welcoming of the body and morning prayer will be held at 9 a.m. Thursday, March 22, at St. Francis Convent Chapel, 3221 S. Lake Dr., Saint Francis, followed by visitation from 9:30 a.m. until a time of remembering at 10:10 a.m.

A Mass of Christian burial will be held at 10:30 a.m. Burial will follow in Holy Sepulcher Cemetery, Cudahy. Contributions to the Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi Memorial Fund, 3221 S. Lake Dr., Saint Francis 53235 are suggested.

Arrangements are being handled through the Heritage Funeral Homes, Milwaukee.