YANKTON DAILY

Press & Dakotan

FRIDAY, June 4, 2004

 Yankton Loses A Nursing ‘Icon' In Kribell

Longtime Nurse, Caregiver Dies At 84

By Nathan Johnson
nathan.johnson@yankton.net

After a long career assisting newborns on their journey into the world of the living, Sister Blanche Kribell has made a final journey of her own.

The Yankton Benedictine nun and long-time nurse died Wednesday evening at Avera Sacred Heart Hospital. She was 84.

"The thing that's been going through my mind is that she is an icon," said Pam Rezac, CEO of Avera Sacred Heart Hospital in Yankton. "That's what comes to mind as I think of Sister Blanche and the contributions she made to Avera Sacred Heart and the women and babies she cared for."

After joining the Benedictine Sisters at Sacred Heart Monastery in 1939, Kribell spent more than 50 years in the healthcare field and, working in obstetrics, helped deliver approximately 30,000 babies.

"She was very competent in her nursing abilities," said Sister Virgil Koch, who knew Kribell for more than 60 years. "She thought an awful lot of the babies she helped deliver and their mothers."

That care led to many lifelong relationships with the families she assisted.

Rezac recalled a wedding she attended where the bride had Sister Blanche seated at the front of the church with the family.

"She attributed the fact that she was alive and able to get married to Sister Blanche," Rezac said. "She actually made it possible for a countless number of babies to live. If they had been in another situation -- not under the care of Sister Blanche -- they very probably would not have survived."

Just last September, Kribell was inducted into the South Dakota Hall of Fame for her work in infant and maternal care at Avera Sacred Heart Hospital.

"How proud we were of her accomplishments and her being held in high esteem by others when she was accepted into the South Dakota Hall of Fame," said Sister Jacquelyn Ernster, prioress of Sacred Heart Monastery.

During the 1980s, Rezac said, Sister Blanche was directly responsible for Avera Sacred Heart winning two national honors after she oversaw programs to improve care for Native American women and their newborns. The mortality rate was lowered significantly on the reservations, said Rezac.

Before Sister Blanche passed away, she worked to make sure that the contributions of the many nursing students she helped train wouldn't be forgotten.

"About a month ago, she knew she would have to have some significant medical procedures done," Rezac said. "She made an appointment with me, but she didn't say what about."

During this meeting, Sister Blanche spoke on behalf of the Sacred Heart Nursing School Alumni and asked that a room be dedicated specifically to the Sacred Heart Nursing School. Rezac said Sister Blanche wanted the contributions and history of the nursing students to be remembered. It would also give alumni an opportunity to come back to the hospital and view the historic displays.

She said, "Honor the students and student nurses, Pam. They gave so much to the hospital and the community.' She was thinking about the nursing profession and recognition for the good things they had done. It was completely selfless," said Rezac.

Wednesday night before she passed away, Rezac said she assured Kribell that the historic room would become a reality.

"I told her last night that there is going to be a room," Rezac said with a pause. "I wanted her to know that, and she does."

Kribell's talents extended beyond health care.

"She was a very good cook, too," said Sister Virgil. "All the members of her community would attest to that."

In 1993, after her retirement, she also spent a lot of time as a nursing home volunteer. She was a Eucharistic minister and often transported seniors to mass.

"She served with the greatest amount of excellence," said Sister Jacquelyn. "She always kept in mind her commitment as a religious woman to her community. She modeled for all of us how this life is best lived."

In a Press & Dakotan story last year before her induction into the South Dakota Hall of Fame, Sister Blanche made the following attribution to her success: "I couldn't have accomplished what I did if I wasn't a Benedictine Sister.

"Our Benedictine Motto is ‘Prayer and Work' and I truly believe I have served God by serving His people."

For the thousands of people now leading their lives thanks to her care, those words certainly ring true today.