Sister Thomas Welder,
Welder returned to Bismarck to enter the community of
Welder had polycystic kidney disease; she received two transplants, in 2001 and in 2011.[16][17] She died in Bismarck, North Dakota, on June 22, 2020,[18] after having been diagnosed with kidney cancer.[13] The state governor, Doug Burgum, and the senator John Hoeven expressed their condolences.[19] Hoeven and Senator Kevin Cramer memorialized her in floor speeches to the United States Senate on June 24.[20] Monsignor James P. Shea, President of the University of Mary, celebrated Welder's funeral Mass on June 29, and her body was buried in the monastery cemetery.[21]