Ardella (Erik) Kvamme

OSB Saint Benedict's

Monastery St. Joseph, Minn.

August 17, 1936 – February 15, 2025

The Eucharist of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, February 28, 2025, at the Sacred Heart Chapel, Saint Benedict's Monastery, St. Joseph, Minn., for Sister Ardella (Erik) Kvamme, who died on February 15, 2025, at Saint Scholastica Convent, St. Cloud, Minn. Burial of cremated remains will be in the monastery cemetery. Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to Benson Funeral Home. Friends may call at Saint Scholastica Convent on Thursday, February 27, at 3 p.m. for a Prayer Service followed by visitation until 4:15 p.m., or for a Vigil Prayer Service at 7 p.m. at Saint Benedict's Monastery. Visitation continues at 9 a.m. until the time of the funeral on Friday, February 28.

S. Ardella was born August 17, 1936, to John and Alice (Anderson) Kvamme in Pelican Rapids, Minn. She had one younger sister and lived on a farm near Pelican Rapids where she graduated from high School. Following this, S. Ardella attended Augsburg College in Minneapolis, Minn., earning a bachelor’s degree in music with a minor in religion. She entered Saint Benedict's Monastery on September 7, 1961, was received in the novitiate as Sister Erik on June 12, 1962, made first monastic profession on July 11, 1963, and perpetual monastic profession on July 11, 1967.

In 1965, S. Ardella earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education at the College of Saint Benedict (CSB), St. Joseph, and taught in elementary education at St. Peter and Paul in Elrosa, Minn., and at St. Peter and Paul in Richmond, Minn. After five years of teaching, she moved back to the monastery and worked in the business office. She took courses at Saint John’s School of Theology in the early 1970s, and in 1977, she worked as a resident director in student development for CSB while continuing to work part-time in the monastery business office.

In 1982, S. Ardella was asked to go to our dependent priory in Manchester, N.H. In addition to working with liturgy and other duties in the priory, she worked part-time in the registrar’s office at St. Anselm's College in Manchester. She returned for a time to Saint Benedict's Monastery, where she worked in the business office and in student development at CSB. Two years later, she returned to Manchester Priory in New Hampshire to work with liturgy, finance and formation. 

S.Ardella returned in 1989 to Saint Benedict's Monastery where she was director of lay personnel, worked in the business office processing payroll, and served as organist for community liturgies. In 2011, she moved to Saint Scholastica Convent but continued working in the business office at Saint Benedict's Monastery, and in 2014, she became the monastery’s treasurer. After leaving that position, she continued to work in the business office until December 2024.

S.Ardella is survived by the sisters in her Benedictine community, her brother-in-law, Gene Walters, and her niece, Tracy Krause, and her family. She was preceded in death by her parents and her sister, Dagney Walters.

Please direct memorial gifts to the Sisters of the Order of Saint Benedict Outreach Ministries.