Sister Gertrude Zepp
October 24, 1936 - May 17, 2026
Gertrude Barbara Zepp RNDM passed away peacefully on May 17, 2026, at St. Boniface Hospital, after a two-week illness. Gertrude knew she was dying, was grateful for her 89 years of life, and said she just wanted to “get on with it”. So she did.
Early Life and Education
Gertrude spent her early years on a farm near Kenaston, Saskatchewan. After completing grade school, she moved to Regina to attend Sacred Heart Academy. After one week in school, Gertrude contracted Scarlatina, and was hospitalized for three weeks. Her time in hospital was exacerbated by not having been able to really connect to the new school in Regina, nor with any of the other pupils in her new school, in the new city. Returning to school after that three-week hiatus, at such a critical time, Gertrude felt disconnected from her fellow-students, and far behind them scholastically.
However, one of her new teachers, Sr. Mary Martin RNDM, helped Gertrude catch up on her missed assignments, a kindness that made a big impression on Gertrude, and inspired her to pass on such kindness to others in return. That moment may have been the remote inspiration for Gertrude the teacher!
Joining the RNDMs
Following High School, Gertrude entered the novitiate of the Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions in 1956. She made first vows in 1959, and perpetual vows in 1965.
Mission Path: Teaching
Teaching was the “mission path” that opened for Gertrude. First in Regina (1960-66), following Teacher’s College; then in Sioux Lookout, ON (1966-69); followed by St. Edward’s in Winnipeg, MB (1969-72). Because the first years of her teaching were so eclectic, Gertrude qualified for teaching certificates in three different Canadian provinces. Gertrude cites her love for teaching, and the fact that she could teach in three provinces, as a significant gift in her life.
After several years of discerning, Gertrude’s “mission path” lead her to Oxford House MB (now known as Bunibonibee First Nation) from 1972-1995. It was in Oxford House that her mission path, and the deep desires of her heart became one path. Gertrude loved living among the people of Oxford House/Bunibonibee First Nation, and it was among the Cree that she discovered further parts of her soul.
Tragedy at Oxford House
However, Gertrude’s years at Oxford House/Bunibonibee began in catastrophe. The RNDMs arrived in August 1972, but on June 24th a plane carrying eight students home to Bunibonibee for the summer, crashed on take-off from Winnipeg. There were no survivors. This tragedy caused the Indigenous leaders to declare that they would never again send their children south to go to school. A High School was built in the community and staffed with locally-trained teachers. As teachers, Gertrude, and her RNDM companion, June Lenzen, became part of this hopeful beginning.
Over time, the sisters also involved themselves with parish ministry – catechism, sacramental and liturgical preparations.
Love of Reading and Care for Students
Besides teaching, Gertrude loved reading, and in a reflection she wrote about 15 years ago, she named reading as one of the great joys of her life. Gertrude read for leisure, for pleasure, and for further learning. She was particularly engaged with the reading/research she did after retiring from classroom teaching in 1997, through which she compiled a history of Oxford House, using the Hudson’s Bay Company Archives. This was a labour of love, which Gertrude eventually published as a gift, for future students of Oxford House.
Gertude cared for her students, and that care enabled her to see life through her students’ eyes – both the wonder and the tragedy. It also inspired her students to put forward the “extra effort”, that was recognized by principals who knew, that if a child was going to learn to read after being in school for several years without having acquired that skill, s/he needed a chance in Sister Zepp’s classroom.
A Woman of Prayer
Gertrude was a practical and pragmatic person. She was also a prayerful woman. After a time of renewal when Gertrude learned of the work of Thomas Keating, she became an earnest practitioner of Centering prayer. Gertude also had a quick sense of humour, which enabled her to laugh often and whole-heartedly at the unexpected surprises of reality.
Funeral service for Gertrude was held on Saturday, June 20, 2026 in the Chapel at Villa Aulneau, Winnipeg. A long-time friend of Gertrude’s and the RNDM’s, Fr. Sam Argenziano officiated.
Gertrude’s cremated remains were interred on Wednesday June 24, alongside Sr. Germaine Guénette RNDM, who had died on December 17th, 2025. This was the first time we interred two Sisters at the same time, and it gave us a further sense of the bonds that unite us, in life and in death.
May Gertrude Barbara Zepp rest in peace, and rise in power.