Sister M. Kenneth Wildt of the Hospital Sisters of St. Francis, died on Oct. 11 at St. Francis Convent in Springfield. She was 86 years old.

Sister Kenneth, the former Laverne Wildt, was born in Washington, Mo., on March 22, 1930, the daughter of Herman and Catherine Zwicke Wildt.  She entered the congregation on Feb. 1, 1947 and professed her religious vows on Oct. 4, 1949.

Sister Kenneth graduated from St. John’s School of Nursing in 1953 and received a BSN from Marillac College in St. Louis in 1971.  She served the community as an RN in HSHS hospitals in Illinois and Wisconsin and spent 11 years on the Navajo reservations in Chinle and Page, Ariz. In 1993, Sister Kenneth joined the community in Highland, where she served as a home health aide and volunteer at HSHS St. Joseph’s Hospital.  In 2014, she returned to St. Francis Convent, due to declining health.

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by a brother, Kenneth Wildt; a sister, Mildred Skouby; and a cousin, Sister Marie Neier, OSF.

She is survived by two brothers, Donald Wildt and Paul Wildt, both of Washington, Mo.; three sisters, Doris Skornia of Washington, Mo., and Helen Hanneken and Carol Straatmann both of Villa Ridge, Mo.; many nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews; as well as her Franciscan Sisters with whom she shared her life for 69 years.

The Eucharistic Celebration and Rite of Christian Burial was held Oct. 15 in St. Clare of Assisi Adoration Chapel at St. Francis Convent, with Father Steven Janoski as celebrant.  Burial was in Crucifixion Hill Cemetery.

The Franciscan Sisters and the family of Sister Kenneth were served by Kirlin-Egan & Butler Funeral Home in Springfield.