Sister Marjorie M. (Herberdette) Heidkamp, BVM
Sister Marjorie M. Heidkamp, BVM, (Herberdette), 90, of Mount Carmel Bluffs, 1160 Carmel Drive, Dubuque, Iowa, died Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024, at MercyOne Dubuque Medical Center.
Visitation and Rite of Committal for natural burial was Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. Burial was in the Mount Carmel cemetery. Sharing of Memories and a Memorial Mass were on Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2024.
Sister Marjorie was born March 6, 1934, in Chicago to Herbert and Mary Cecilia (Toner) Heidkamp. She entered the BVM congregation on Sept. 8, 1952, from Queen of Angels Parish, Chicago. She professed first vows on March 19, 1955, and final vows on July 16, 1960.
Sister Marjorie was an elementary teacher at St. Joseph in Sioux City, Iowa; St. Jerome in Chicago; and St. Peter in Antioch, Ill. She ministered as director of religious education at St. Peter in Antioch, Ill., and St. Beatrice in Schiller Park, Ill., and as a religious educator at St. James in Chicago. She served as chaplain for Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, Ill., and at Vitas Innovative Hospice in Lombard, Ill., and as a staff member at the Women’s Center of the Chicago Public Library. She served the congregation as admissions director and regional health coordinator.
“In 1981, Marjorie traveled to Honduras on a Third World Grant. She was shocked by the poverty and anti-American sentiment. Seeing the way the poor were treated, struggling with her ability to communicate, and even having garbage thrown at her made her more compassionate toward immigrant people at home. ‘My greatest gift has been to be a listener, a storyteller, a compassionate presence. . . I hope that my listening and caring and being present to others has brought them some warmth and beauty and peace.’” (Eulogy.)
She was preceded in death by her parents; brothers Herbert J. (Mary Ann), Robert (Barbara), Francis (Rosemary) and Philip (Jean) Heidkamp, and sisters Rosemary (Jack) Cramer and Mary Louise (Joseph) McCall. She is survived by a brother Jerome (Donna) Heidkamp, Naperville, Ill., nieces, nephews, and the Sisters of Charity, BVM, with whom she shared life for 72 years.
Memorials may be given to Sisters of Charity, BVM, 1100 Carmel Drive, Dubuque, IA 52003 or online at https://www.bvmsisters.org/support_donate.cfm
Watch Memorial Mass and Sharing of Memories Download Eulogy Download Sharing of Memories
Her Love connected each of us to The Source of Love. Always grateful to be her cousin, friend and cohort at Lutheran General Hospital. Love continues in all she touched
When I was a little girl, I used to hear the name Margie Heidkamp around my house quite a bit. My 13 year older sister, Carol, was a classmate of Margie’s at Immaculata. After graduation in 1952, Margie went to the BVMs and Carol went to the Sisters of Providence.
I didn’t hear much about Margie after that, but through our wonderful friend, Liz Wirtz, my husband, Bill, and I got to know Marjorie Heidkamp. For the past years, we have formed, what we call, our BVM posse.
Marjorie became a part of our “Younger Posse” after we lost Sr. Marguerite Yezek. I cannot find the words to express how much I appreciated her humor, candor and love. Her creative and artistic talents will always be a part of our memories as we look at the numerous creations she gave to us. At our last in person visit, she took delivery of a box of odd and ends that were destined to become parts of her art and the looks that came across her face as she sorted through the pile really said so much about her. As she picked and pulled you could see her discerning what would and what wouldn’t fit her vision, delight at the treasures and a small frown at those too odd bits–but the wheels constantly turning, the plans for projects already forming. She was always a woman in motion who never failed to slow to a stop to share her love.