Sister Antonia Leber, O.P. Sister Antonia Leber, O.P., died at the Dominican Sisters Motherhouse in Mission San Jose, California, on March 13, 2024.   She was 94 years old and in the 74th year of her religious profession.

Josef Leber and Notburga Hofstatter, natives of Austria, welcomed their only child, Ida, on April 7, 1929, in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. Six months after Ida’s birth, her parents moved to Anaheim, California.  For eight years she attended St. Boniface Elementary School, Anaheim, where the Dominican Sisters of Mission San Jose were her teachers.  She completed her secondary education at Marywood High School, Anaheim.

In 1947, Ida entered the Dominican Sisters of Mission San Jose. One year later she entered the novitiate and received the name Sister Antonia.  On June 24, 1949, she made her first profession of vows as a Dominican Sister.

For forty-four years, Sister Antonia devoted her life to the ministry of Catholic education.  In northern California she taught at St. James Boys School, San Francisco, and St. Vincent School for Boys, San Rafael.  In southern California, her assignments included Santa Teresita School and Sacred Heart School, Los Angeles; San Gabriel Mission Elementary School, San Gabriel; and St. Boniface School and St. Catherine Military School in Anaheim.  

A thoughtful and sensitive person, Sister Antonia had a great interest in people and was very faithful to friends and family.  Her students loved her and often asked if she could teach them again.  As an only child, she inspired many by selflessly caring for her mother who lived close to St. Catherine’s Priory in Anaheim.  When physical challenges affected her own health, she bravely accepted them and retained her great interest in community life.  At the time of her death, she was anticipating the jubilee celebration of her 75th anniversary of religious profession.

The Funeral Mass for Sister Antonia will be celebrated on Friday, March 22, at 11:00 a.m. at the Dominican Sisters Motherhouse Chapel, 43326 Mission Circle, Fremont, CA. Interment will follow at God’s Acre, the sisters’ cemetery at the Motherhouse. Those who attend must wear masks.