Diane Joyce Drufenbrock (7 October 1929 – 4 November 2013), also known as Sister Madeleine Sophie, was an American

religious sister A religious sister (abbreviated ''Sr.'' or Sist.) in the Catholic Church is a woman who has taken public vows in a religious institute dedicated to apostolic works, as distinguished from a nun who lives a cloistered monastic life dedicated to pra ...

as a member of the

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

School Sisters of St. Francis. She was a

Christian socialist Christian socialism is a religious and political philosophy that blends Christianity and socialism, endorsing left-wing politics and socialist economics on the basis of the Bible and the teachings of Jesus. Many Christian socialists believe cap ...

who was the vice-presidential candidate for the

Socialist Party USA The Socialist Party USA, officially the Socialist Party of the United States of America,"The article of this organization shall be the Socialist Party of the United States of America, hereinafter called 'the Party'". Art. I of th"Constitution o ...

in the 1980 United States presidential election. Drufenbrock was born in

Evansville Evansville is a city in, and the county seat of, Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States. The population was 118,414 at the 2020 census, making it the state's third-most populous city after Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, the largest city in ...

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

. In 1948, after graduating

Reitz Memorial High School Reitz Memorial High School or simply Memorial High School (MHS) is an inter-parochial Catholic high school on the east side of Evansville, Indiana. It sits on land bought with money donated by Francis Joseph Reitz in 1922 in memory of his parents ...

, she moved to

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, to enter the Franciscan Sisters. A mathematics graduate of

Alverno College Alverno College is a private Roman Catholic women's college in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. History Chartered in 1887 as St. Joseph's Normal School, Alverno became Alverno Teachers College in 1936. It adopted its current name in 1946. Academics Alve ...

in 1953 and of

Marquette University Marquette University () is a private Jesuit research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Established by the Society of Jesus as Marquette College on August 28, 1881, it was founded by John Martin Henni, the first Bishop of the diocese of M ...

, she taught mathematics at

, at the

University of Wisconsin–Parkside The University of Wisconsin–Parkside (UWP) is a public university in Somers, Wisconsin. It is part of the University of Wisconsin System and has 4,644 students, 161 full-time faculty, and 89 lecturers and part-time faculty. The university o ...

, and elsewhere around Milwaukee, including at the then-new St. Joseph High School (Kenosha) when it opened in September 1957. Drufenbrock gained a doctorate in mathematics from the University of Illinois at Urbana in 1963. After teaching for 13 years at Alverno College, she taught at

Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College (SMWC) is a private Roman Catholic liberal arts college in Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana. Originally a college exclusively for women, it is now coeducational. It is the oldest Catholic college in Indiana a ...

in her native Indiana for 18 years. Her interest in social issues led her to join the

in 1976. She ran as their vice-presidential candidate in the 1980 United States presidential election, and served as that party's National

Treasurer A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The significant core functions of a corporate treasurer include cash and liquidity management, risk management, and corporate finance. Government The treasury ...

. That campaign resulted in the Party's recognition by the

Federal Elections Commission The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is an independent regulatory agency of the United States whose purpose is to enforce campaign finance law in United States federal elections. Created in 1974 through amendments to the Federal Election Cam ...

as a national political party.

References

1929 births 2013 deaths People from Evansville, Indiana Politicians from Milwaukee Alverno College alumni 20th-century American Roman Catholic nuns Third Order Regular Franciscans Marquette University alumni Schoolteachers from Wisconsin American women educators University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumni Nonviolence advocates American Christian socialists Socialist Party USA vice presidential nominees 1980 United States vice-presidential candidates 20th-century American politicians University of Wisconsin–Parkside faculty Female candidates for Vice President of the United States Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College faculty Socialist Party USA politicians from Wisconsin Catholic socialists Catholics from Wisconsin Catholics from Indiana Female Christian socialists 21st-century American Roman Catholic nuns {{Wisconsin-politician-stub