Sister Audrey Goebel

Loving, cheerful, generous

On March 18, 1934, Gilbert and Clarene (Westbrook) Goebel of Indianapolis, Indiana, welcomed daughter Phyllis Ann. Three siblings preceded her and two followed. Phyllis delighted in her ancestry: a Scots-Irish, English, Cherokee Indian mother and a German father. Recalling her schooling and teachers, she shared, I got a creme de la creme education from the Sisters of St. Joseph at Sacred Heart High School. Sister Francis Regis Feise was remembered for sharing a quotation that Phyllis loved:

"We only have the present moment ... it can be negative or positive ... try to keep every present moment positive. Find something positive." Phyllis entered the Sisters of St. Joseph on September 15, 1952, and received the habit and the name Sister Mary Audrey on March 19, 1953.

Sister Audrey began her ministry teaching at the primary level at St. Cecilia in Peoria, Illinois (1955). She then taught at the intermediate and/or junior high levels at St. Roch, Indianapolis (1957, 1960); St. Leo, St. Louis (1958); St. Catherine of Siena, Denver (1961); Visitation, Kansas City, Missouri (1963); and Sts. John and James, Ferguson, Missouri (1964). In 1968, she became principal at St. Gregory in St. Ann, Missouri (1968). She returned to teach junior high at St. Mary on the Hill in Augusta, Georgia (1971) and at Little Flower in Mobile, Alabama (1973).

In 1974, S. Audrey became the media specialist/librarian at St. Bede the Venerable in Chicago. After a year volunteering at Rock Haven in House Springs, Missouri, she drove for the Frontenac Community in St. Louis (1976). Later that year, she went to St. Joseph Academy in Green Bay, Wisconsin, to be the resource center coordinator. Next, S. Audrey taught intermediate/junior high at St. Francis de Sales in Denver.

During the next few years, S. Audrey wore many different hats in the St. Louis area. She was the religious education director at All Saints Grade School (1978). In 1979, she was the assistant producer/secretary at the Archdiocese of Saint Louis' Radio and TV Office as well as a staff worker for Horizons Unlimited. She was an assistant producer/editor/writer for Continental Cablevision and president/ producer of Vital Productions in 1980. She was a media specialist/librarian at St. John the Baptist High (1981) and an education consultant for Macmillan Publishing Company (1986). In 1988, she was a technical librarian for Union Electric and served as an education consultant, advocate for the poor and in special projects at the St. Joseph Provincial House.

After a sabbatical at the Villa St. John Vianney in Downington, Pennsylvania (1995), she wrote children’s books, volunteered to drive for the Provincial House and worked at Fontbonne University in the Media Specialist Office (1996). S. Audrey's remaining active years in ministry were spent writing children's books and driving for the St. Louis province's Senior Ministry Office. She retired in 2017 and moved to Nazareth Living Center in 2018.

Sister Mary Catherine O’Gorman shares:

If she even just thought you needed something, she was there to help with a smile on her face. Audrey loved to laugh ... I imagine her greeting God and asking if there is anything she can do to help.

Sister Nancy Corcoran remembers:

Audrey was brilliant. She taught me ... the fundamentals of ... audio visual use which has helped me all my life. She was a generous cook and often gave me cookies and brownies to take to my LGBTQIA meetings.

Associate Oceilee Mitchell-Ajagunna and Carolee Mitchell reminisce:

She always worked with the parish outreach center helping the poor in need. ... She was much loved and revered by the people at IC-St. Henry. ... She loved people.

Reflecting on her life S. Audrey said:

So I think in all of my religious life, the one thing I want to share with future generations is, it is a great grace to let go and let God. ... I have found pure happiness in letting God take control and being willing to go with the flow.

By Sister Helen Oates