sselaer, Indiana in 1970. She completed various continuing education programs during summers, some specializing in band music and instrument repair. After she graduated from Mount Mercy, Sister Mary Lenore began her ministry as an instructor at St. Wenceslaus School in 1938-1939. She taught music in the classroom and was a band instructor from 1940 to 1986 in the following Eastern Iowa parochial schools: St. Joseph's School, Dewitt, Iowa; Sacred Heart School, Waterloo, Iowa; St. Wenceslaus School, Cedar Rapids, Iowa; St. John's School, Waterloo, Iowa; and Immaculate Conception School, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. She was missioned the summers of 1959-1964 to teach and work with the poverty stricken of Port Gibson, Mississippi and Fayette, Mississippi and found the work to be especially rewarding. Sister Mary Lenore was a Parish Visitor for St. Joseph's Parish in Earlville, Iowa from 1986-2003. Upon her retirement in 2003, she was commissioned to a ministry of prayer. She was known for her love of her Community, her family, music and sewing. She served as a liturgical musician at Sacred Heart Convent and was a volunteer seamstress for Mount Mercy University, Mercy Medical Center and the Sisters of Mercy. She sewed Sister's habits, altered clothes, made costumes, jackets for band members, draperies and vestments. She was a vowed member of the Sisters of Mercy for 80 years. In addition to the Sisters of Mercy, Sister Mary Lenore is survived by numerous nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews. She was preceded in death by her parents, William and Mamie Gardner; brothers, Linus, Frank, Joseph, John, George and Fred Gardner; and sister, Marie Gardner. Memorials may be sent to the Sisters of Mercy at 1125 Prairie Drive NE, Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52402. To read the full obituary, please click here: http://www.stewartbaxter.com/obituaries/Sr-Mary-Lenore-Gardner-RSM?obId=3091956#/celebrationWall