Good Shepherd ube jam creator Sr. Fidelis Atienza dies at 102

Sister Fidelis Atienza, the creator of the famous Good Shepherd ube jam of Baguio City, has died. She was 102.

The announcement was made by her congregation, according to a report by CBCP News on Saturday.

The report said Sr. Atienza passed away at the Religious of the Good Shepherd (RGS) Community in Quezon City after 66 years of religious life.

In the 1960s, Sr. Atienza started the Marian Bakery, where she used host cuttings to make “crispies,” the forerunner of what are now known as “angel cookies.”

More than a decade later, in 1976, she would create the convent’s sought-after ube jam or purple yam.

According to RGS, Sr. Atienza “was the original mastermind behind the ube jam,” which “[enabled] the congregation to send thousands of youths to school.”

Sr. Atienza entered the Noviciate of the Good Shepherd in Los Angeles, California, in 1951, made her first profession in 1954, and her final profession in 1957.

Apart from Baguio, her ministries included community apostolates in Cebu, Quezon City, Hong Kong, France, Rome, and Tagaytay, where she spent most of her life.

Shortly after her 100th birthday in 2020, she moved to the Good Shepherd Community in Quezon City.

“She dedicated each moment of her day praying for the needs of the Church and the Congregation,” said the RGS. 

“The children in the compound were very fond of their oldest playmate; she was a delight and a source of joy to everyone whom she met.”

Her cremains will be laid to rest at Good Shepherd Convent in Quezon City. The wake and services will be in private.

Inurnment will be at Good Shepherd Columbary, Quezon City, to be announced later. – RC, GMA News