In Remembrance of Swami Ma Gita Bharati
Beloved Spiritual Guide and Teacher
October 26, 1933 – January 30, 2025
Join us in person at TMC in the Hall of the Tradition and via Zoom
to remember and honor Swami Ma Gita.
Wednesday, February 12, 2025
6:30 p.m. – 8:45 p.m.
Read Swami Ma Gita’s obituary here.
6:30-7:30 p.m: Havan Officiated by Emilio Bettaglio
7:30-8:00 p.m.: Community Meal with Swami Gita’s Favorite Foods
8:00-8:45 p.m. Sharing Stories and Remembrances of Swami Gita
9:00 p.m.: Global Full Moon Meditation with Swami Ritavan
If you are able, recite the Gayatri mantra as many times as you are able
for Swami Gita’s transition through February 12, 2025
Obituary of Gloria Weber (Swami Ma Gita Bharati)
age 91, passed away peacefully on January 30, in Minneapolis.
Gloria was the last surviving child of the John J. and Mary (Mayme) (Thomas) Zweber family. She was predeceased by her parents, sisters, Lenora Christensen, Josephine and Cecelia Zweber (infants) and brothers, Wilfred, Charles, Vincent, Roy, Emmery, Clinton, Roman and Harold Zweber. She is survived by many nieces and nephews. Mass of Christian Burial on Friday, April 25th at 11 a.m. at St. Nicholas Catholic Church, 51 Church St., Elko New Market, MN. A gathering of family and friends will begin one hour before the service.
Gloria was born on October 26, 1933, in New Prague, MN and grew up on her parents’ farm near New Market. She attended St. Nicholas Grade School in New Market and graduated from Good Counsel Academy in Mankato in 1951. She joined the School Sisters of Notre Dame (SSND) community and earned a Bachelor of Education degree. She taught as a nun at several elementary schools in MN, including her last assignment as principal of St. Stanislaus School in St. Paul.
Gloria left the SSND community in 1970 and lived in St. Paul where she transitioned to a career in social work and completed her MSW degree. Her lifelong passion for social justice issues was central to who she was as a person and guided her professional career.
As she approached her retirement, Gloria became involved in the Himalayan Yoga Tradition, spent time in India and had a long association with the Meditation Center in NE Minneapolis. Through mentoring and special training she became a Swami with the given name of Swami Gita Bharati during a ceremony in India in 1999. Later in life she resided at the Meditation Center as a Resident Swami until 2018, when she moved to Minnehaha Senior Living in Minneapolis.
Memorials can be sent to The Meditation Center, 631 University Ave NE, Minneapolis, MN 55413 or School Sisters of Notre Dame, 11 Civic Center Plaza, Suite 310; Mankato, MN 56001. Or the donor’s choice.
