In 1930, Bishop Peter Bartholme of the Diocese of St. Cloud asked Sister Laura Hesch, OSB, to set up a mission to serve the Ojibwe on the Mille Lacs Indian Reservation (Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe). Holy Cross Convent in Onamia served as her home base from which she set out 11 miles several times a week to be with the Ojibwe.
The first concern for Sister Laura Hesch when she began her mission on the Mille Lacs Indian Reservation (Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe) was to get acquainted with the Ojibwe. She made her way to families and visited them in their homes on the reservation. The Ojibwe developed a faithful friendship with and a trust in Sister Laura--so much so that they requested she be buried on the reservation when she died.
Ojibwe homes along the shores of Mille Lacs Lake at Mille Lacs Indian Reservation (Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe). Sister Laura Hesch made regular visits. Her outgoing personality soon won the trust of the people she came to be with as is evident by the fact that thirty two mothers came to the first Mothers' Party which she hosted.
Sister Laura Hesch befriended a 100-year-old Ojibwe woman who lived alone on the Mille Lacs Indian Reservation (Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe). It was through such relationships that she won the hearts of the Ojibwe.
Sister Laura made inroads into life of reservation by making friends with the Ojibwe children who loved the treats she brought when she visited Mille Lacs Indian Reservation (Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe).
The Board of lay advisors includes (left to right:) Mother Rosamond Pratschner, Mrs. Rose Reilly, Ed Callahan, Dr. Joseph B. Gaida, Sister Claire Lynch, Joseph Matt, Dr. R. N. Jones, Francis Gross and Mrs. Robert Burns. It advised that the college to develop a 100-year plan which initiated the concept of a CSB building program.
The patients' rooms at the St. Cloud Hospital were private. The linen sheets, pillowcases, dresser scarves and small table clothes were matched sets, hand-embroidered by the Sisters of the Order of Saint Benedict.
Early medical staff of St. Cloud Hospital included (back row, left to right) Drs. J. McDowell, Clark, C. Goehrs, Bendix, Veranth, Evans, Schatz, Beuning, (Seated) Donaldson, Wenner, Baumgartner, J. Gaida, Halenbeck, B. Richards.
As early as 1923, there are records showing that Sisters were involved with bee culture. Left to right are Sister Annina Zierden, Sister Juliana Venne, Sister Crescentia Eich and Sister Amalia Eich.