Sister Esther Fangman, OSB

Sister Esther Fangman, OSB, 80, a Benedictine sister of Mount St. Scholastica, Atchison, Kansas, died on Monday, August 11, 2025, at the monastery after a brief illness. The vigil service will be Friday, August 22, at 7 p.m. in the monastery chapel, and the Mass of Resurrection will be celebrated there Saturday, August 23, at 10:30 a.m.

Sister Esther was born in Axtell, Kansas on April 23, 1945, to Paul and Florence Stallbaumer Fangman, who farmed in the rural Seneca, Kansas, area. In 1963, she entered the Benedictine community and served as an elementary teacher in Kansas City, Mo., Kansas City, Kan., and Beatrice, Neb. She earned her bachelor’s degree in English from Mount St. Scholastica College, and then her M.S. in education (School Psychologist Program) from the University of Dayton and her Ed.D. in counseling from Idaho State University. 

She was director of the counseling program at St. Charles Borromeo parish in Kansas City, Mo., 1982-93, as well as a consultant and counselor for the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph. Sister Esther also had a private counseling practice in Kansas City. In 1998, she was elected president of the Monastic Congregation of St. Scholastica, a mutual support organization of women’s monasteries throughout the U.S. and Mexico. During the twelve years of her three successive terms, she was of assistance to Benedictine women not only in her congregation, but also around the world. In 2017, she was elected prioress of the Mount St. Scholastica community and served a six-year term, leaving office in 2023. She was a mentor, role model and counselor to many, particularly in her challenging work with victims of addiction, sexual abuse and trauma. 

She was preceded in death by her parents, brothers Charles, Gilbert and Leonard Fangman and her sister Ruth Haug. She is survived by brothers Lester (Janet), Elmer, and John (Fran), sister Janie Werner, sister-in-law Edna Fangman, numerous nieces and nephews, and her monastic community. 

Arensberg Pruett Funeral Home (www.arensbergpruett.com) is in charge of arrangements. Memorials may be sent to Mount St. Scholastica or made online at the Mount’s web site (www.mountosb.org).

Reflection for the Vigil of Esther Fangman, OSB

August 22, 2025

On behalf of the Mount community, I want to express our deepest sympathy to all who have gathered here tonight to celebrate the life of Sister Esther. Our heart goes out to her family: her twin brother Lester and his wife, Janet; her brother Elmer; her brother John and his wife, Fran; her sister Janie and sister-in-law, Edna; and all her nieces and nephews and their spouses and children. We share in the sorrow of our Benedictine sisters and brother monks and of all Esther’s friends, many of whom have traveled far and wide to be with us and to celebrate Esther’s life. 

In her one-of-a-kind manner, Esther touched the lives of a great many people. The Gospel passage we just heard was the creed by which Esther lived her life: “Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.” With great passion and deep love flowing from her big Benedictine heart, she constantly challenged us to do just that. “Be kind to each other,” she would say. “Don’t judge others. See Christ in each person you meet. Find forgiveness for those who have hurt you. Give generously. Compassion and gentleness need to flow from every part of our being. See the face of Christ in each person you meet.” 

Esther embodied the very first words in the Rule of St. Benedict: “Listen with the ear of your heart.” Listening is what she did everywhere she went. She listened to the many clients who came to her in her role as a licensed clinical professional counselor. She listened to horrendous stories of victims of sexual abuse, addiction, trauma, and torture, and in her quiet and gentle manner, she gave them hope, comfort, and compassion. She listened to those she taught in the Souljourners program, her training program for paraprofessionals and the many workshops she gave. She also had a soft spot in her heart for the poor and immigrants and made sure our sisters not only supplied them with food, clothing, and transportation but listened to them with a loving heart.

Sister Esther was a prominent, wise, and significant leader among Benedictines throughout the world when she served as president of the Federation of St. Scholastica for 12 years, overseeing the life of  22 communities of women in the United States. During this time, she also served on the board of the International Alliance of Benedictines, a position that took her to Africa, Italy, Germany, Mexico, and other places all over the world where she listened, formed powerful relationships, and made connections. She had the courage of a lion when she addressed the International Conference of Benedictine Abbots about the abuse that was happening to the nuns in Africa and in third world countries because these women were voiceless.  As prioress, she prayerfully agonized and made difficult decisions to keep our community safe during the pandemic.  

Esther always had a twinkle in her eye when she teased you. With a perfectly serious demeanor she expressed great wit, and she was outlandish at times in her creative approach to having fun. A woman who lived out of deep gratitude, she loved and lived life to the fullest. She also had a deep commitment to prayer and contemplation — preferably with a fishing rod in her hand. 

Esther had a rare gift of loving everyone she met uniquely and personally, crying with them in their pain and struggle and rejoicing with them in times of joy and achievements. She could connect with people at a heart level and innately knew how to respond to what they needed. You always felt special when you were with Esther, and you had the sense that she understood you at the core of her being. In that way, she gave each of us a gift that helps us appreciate the God who lives within us. She treated no two people in the same manner. Each person got teased differently. Because of her deep faith and trust in God, she knew how to love us out of her own insecurities and vulnerabilities. Trusting in the Spirit working in her life, she saw the face of Christ in each of us. 

The true reflection or homily you need to hear tonight is the one written on your own heart. The way Esther touched your life — the impression she left upon you — is her gift to you. It is the message that is uniquely yours from Esther. What a gift it is! Let us each take a moment of silence to allow God to make that gift present to us. Hold it gently and thank God for it. 

I believe Esther would want us to share that treasure she left us and to live fully in our world to make it a better place. Imagine all those qualities and virtues she helped us develop, being expressed by every person she touched and whose hand she shook, not only here but in every land and country she visited. Like a pebble thrown into a lake and rippling across the water, her wisdom and influence, expressed through us, could help to change the world. We can live out her desire that we all be Eucharistically oriented, calling all people into a vibrant community of love, gratitude, and hope for our world. 

For a celebration to conclude Esther’s term as Prioress, Sister Diana Seago wrote a song in her honor. It expresses well what we as a community and each of you might like to say to Esther. So I invite the sisters to please stand and move together. 

Song for Esther (words and music: Diana Seago)

For the trust you have placed in us, the wisdom you have shared with us,
the challenges you offered us; we sing in gratitude.
For the kindness you’ve shown to us, the graces you have seen in us, 
the hope you instilled in us; we sing in gratitude.
May God bless you with peace and fill you with joy,
as together we hasten to our home.
For the Christ you have been to us, your tender way of love for us,
your simple way of guiding us; we sing in gratitude.

May God bless you with peace and fill you with joy, as together we hasten to our home.  May God bless you with peace and fill you with joy, as together we hasten to our home.

We love you Esther, we are grateful for your life, and we look forward to your welcome and embrace as we reach our heavenly home.

–Mary Elizabeth Schweiger, OSB