RAPID CITY | Sister Juanita Tellez, OSB, 98, died July 25, 2018, at St. Martin Monastery. She was born Genevieve Tellez on Dec. 11, 1919, in Salem, NM, the second oldest of 10 children of Lorenzo and Juanita Tellez.

Her family moved later to Greeley, CO, where she received her elementary education and participated with family members as laborers on the local farms. With the outbreak of WWII, she moved to California and worked as a riveter in a shipyard. Later she was employed by United Airlines in Cheyenne, WY, and later in San Francisco. After her mother's death in 1949, she returned to Wyoming to care for several younger siblings.

Sister Juanita entered St. Martin's Convent in Sturgis in 1954, made temporary profession in 1956, and perpetual profession in 1959. Her first ministry was work in the monastery kitchen, including years when she supervised the school lunch program for the students of St. Martin's Academy.

In 1978, Sister Juanita spent a year in the monastery's South American mission in the seaport city of Cartagena, Columbia, where she ministered to the needs of sailors from many countries at a center sponsored by the Catholic Church.

For the next 10 years she worked in the business offices of St. Martin's Academy and St. Martin Monastery. She also worked for several years in the business office of the newly-established St. Thomas More High School. In her retirement she participated fully in the monastery's daily life of prayer and work until her ability was compromised by ill health.

Sister Juanita was preceded in death by her parents; her brothers Max, Henry, Philip and Paul; and her sister, Sally. She is survived by her brothers, Albert and George; her sisters, Jennie and Lydia; and the members of St. Martin Monastery.

Visitation begins at 5:30 p.m., with 6:30 p.m. Vigil services on Sunday, July 29, at the St. Martin Monastery Chapel.

Mass of Christian Burial will be offered at 2 p.m. on Monday, July 30, at the Monastery Chapel. Burial will be at St. Martin Cemetery.