Sister Phyllis Echterling dies Feb. 9 at age 91

COLORADO SPRINGS. Benedictine Sister Mary Phyllis Echterling died Feb. 9 at Benet Hill Monastery. Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated Feb. 26, followed by inurnment at St. Benedict Cemetery. 

Sister Phyllis was born in Conception Junction, Missouri, on May 31, 1932, and grew up on a farm in Marysville, Missouri. She attended Mount St. Scholastica Academy in Atchinson, Kansas, and entered St. Scholastica Convent in 1950. She made her final monastic profession on Jan. 1, 1955. 

Sister Phyllis taught in elementary schools in Kansas, Iowa, Missouri, and Colorado. 

She later became a charter member of Benet Hill Monastery in Colorado Springs and worked as food manager and cook for Benet Hill Academy. She then attended nursing school and worked as a nursing assistant in Missouri, Wyoming and Colorado. 

In her later years, she began a ministry of collecting stuffed animals to distribute to visitors to the monastery. 
Sister Phyllis is survived by her sister, Helen Welch.