Sister Cornelia Bock, 96, died June 20, 2016, in the Dominican Sisters’ convent infirmary, Great Bend. Born March 25, 1920, in Anaheim, Calif., as Barbara Belle Bock, Sister Cornelia was the daughter of Paul and Barbara (Diefenback) Bock. She entered the Dominican Sisters Community in Great Bend Aug. 30, 1935, and pronounced her first vows Aug. 17, 1938. She celebrated 75 years of religious profession in 2013.
For a short time Sister Cornelia ministered as a teacher of elementary students in Catholic parochial schools in Kansas but soon began her studies in nursing where she served as nurse and supervisor in the community’s hospitals. Before long she expanded her nursing skills to midwifery and spent 20 years in Nigeria, West Africa, as a nurse and midwife among the clinics of the Dominican Sisters of Gusau, Nigeria. She not only served with the indigenous Sisters but was the superior of their community for about four years. Her later stateside ministries included Connect Care, a volunteer AIDS ministry, and then at the convent in Great Bend assisting the librarian and doing computer work for the local community.
Sister Cornelia is survived by her Dominican Sisters of Peace religious community. All her siblings preceded her in death, but she remained close to her nieces and nephews who were faithful in calling and visiting.
Sister Cornelia’s body will be brought to the hospitality area of the Dominican Chapel of the Plains, 3600 Broadway, Great Bend, at 4 p.m. Wednesday, June 22, where it will lie in state until the Mass of Christian Burial at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday with the Rev. Michael Peltzer presiding. A wake service will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday. Burial will be in the Sisters’ Resurrection Cemetery. Both the wake and the funeral will be held at the convent. Friends may call at the convent Wednesday from 6-7:30 p.m., and Thursday from 9 a.m. until the time of the funeral Mass. Memorials in honor of Sister Cornelia Bock may be sent to Dominican Sisters of Peace, 2320 Airport Dr., Columbus, OH 43219-2098, or sent securely on OPPeace.org.
Bryant Funeral Home*
1425 Patton Road
Great Bend, KS 67530
Great Bend (Kan.) Tribune, June 22, 2016
