Our Lady
of the Prairie Retreat
By Iowa Natives Staff
Contributions by Todd Seifert
Kurt Kreiter, a retired high school science teacher, coach, and athletic director, extends his burly arm and points out the window: “You see that hornet nest in the trees over there?” A grey, papery structure the size of a football hangs from the high branches of a hardwood tree and sways in the spring wind.
We are talking with Kurt and Matt Rissler, the maintenance and grounds staff at Our Lady of the Prairie Retreat (OLPR)—a one hundred acre stretch of woodlands, wetlands, and prairie near the Wapsipinicon River in Clinton County, Iowa.
Kurt Kreiter and Matt Rissler
“After retiring from teaching, I wasn’t looking for a job,” Kurt says. He explains he had a conversation with a school colleague who worked at OLPR in the summers and encouraged him to look into it.
Before joining OLPR, Kurt spent 33 years in education, a career filled with memorable moments. One story from his first year of teaching stands out—a biology lesson that took an unexpected turn. Hoping to spark curiosity in his students, Kurt preserved a hornet nest for his classroom, confident that freezing it had eliminated any danger. But during a lecture, his assumption unraveled. As he spoke, dozens of hornets emerged from the nest, transforming the classroom into chaos and leaving Kurt with a vivid reminder of nature’s resilience.
He laughs at the memory and shares his admiration for the complexity of the hornet nest hanging in the woodlands nearby. Made of chewed wood and saliva, the oval-shaped nest once housed a queen and hundreds of workers. Despite being considered pests by some, hornets are pollinators and help control the population of other insects.
Respect for the natural environment and the role each being plays in the ecosystem is a guiding principle of OLPR. The Catholic sisters who sponsor the retreat center stress “care of creation,” Kurt says. They are conscious of connections and strive to live in right relationship with all living things.
Owned by the Congregation of the Humility of Mary, a religious community of women, OLPR welcomes people of all faiths for directed and non-directed retreats. Their core mission is to provide an environmentally sustainable space for spiritual renewal while maintaining an ethical responsibility to care for the land and its inhabitants.
Under the direction of Todd Seifert, property and operations manager, Kurt Kreiter and Matt Rissler care for the property, ensuring these principles are maintained.
Todd joins us and suggests we take pictures before our grounds tour begins. As we situate ourselves for photos, Kurt looks out over the prairie and says, “Lewis and Clark thought this area would be covered in forest, but when they got here, it was prairie and oak savannah as far as the eye could see. Imagine the bison that once roamed here.”
Todd says he thinks of OLPR as a time machine, returning visitors to an age when tall grass prairie covered 70-80% of Iowa. Now, less than 0.1 percent of the natural prairie remains. As the spring wind plays with our hair, we pause and imagine the window of time between receding glaciers and Westward Expansion.
Though the land was historically part of that vast prairie, it had been farmed for many years before Father Vincent Fabula, a monk from New Melleray Abbey, and Sister Joann Kuebrich began native restoration in 1993. Many state and federal conservation programs aided their efforts.
The Congregation of the Humility of Mary purchased the land in 1999, determined to keep restoration alive. Today, OLPR tends fifty acres of prairie. Big blue stem, yellow Indian grass, switch grass, and Canadian rye mingle with native flowers, reminiscent of those bygone days.
Prairie care involves a controlled burning cycle to encourage native plant growth, return nutrients to the soil, and tackle invasive and otherwise problematic species like the Russian olive. The wetlands and woodlands also require frequent maintenance to handle invasives like reed canary grass, phragmites, and honeysuckle.
Invasive species, introduced from Europe or Asia, can outcompete the native plants Iowa’s fauna rely on for food and habitat. Whether managing the prairie, wetlands, or the twenty-five acres of woodlands, the staff eliminates many invasives by hand, avoiding herbicides that would harm the ecosystem. Removal methods differ for each plant. Burning, digging, cutting, or stump treating is necessary every year.
Matt and Kurt frequently break out in poison ivy while tackling invasive honeysuckle in the woodlands. Though poison ivy is native, honeysuckle most definitely is not. It’s one of the most invasive species in Iowa and is difficult to eradicate.
Kurt mentions the job wouldn’t be as challenging if bison or elk were present. Their natural feeding habits would lend a valuable assist. He imagines adding a few bison to the land but says he’s unsure if the idea will fly with the owners. Matt says he’s thought about hiring some goats to do the job.
Matt Rissler studied to be a naturalist and shares Kurt’s passion for wild things. We ask them about the native fauna present at OLPR. Matt says they heard seven different calls behind the retreat center just this morning: robin, cardinal, red-bellied woodpecker, eastern meadowlark, bluejay, northern flicker, and red-winged blackbird.
Many other native birds have been sighted on the property. There is plentiful natural habitat at OLPR, but they maintain forty birdhouses to encourage further species variety.
Kurt, an avid birder, has a long list of OLPR bird sightings: rough-legged hawk, barred and great horned owls, bluebirds, indigo bunting, meadowlarks, grosbeaks, and flickers. He says he saw a pileated woodpecker on the property and sandhill cranes in the middle of a spring mating dance two years ago, and he lights up when he remembers seeing a dickcissel nearby. “A classic prairie species,” he says.
Deer, raccoon, rabbits, and squirrels are familiar sights at OLPR, but less common natives have been sighted, too. Bobcat tracks were once seen near the pond, and Kurt is sure he caught sight of an ermine in its white winter coat.
After our picture, Kurt walks us down to the pond as Matt retrieves the utility vehicle for a mobile tour. Kurt points out the statue of Mary that seems to bless the area with her presence and explains that the pond is part of a rare watershed. Rather than running through cropland, one hundred percent of the water comes through deep-rooted native grasses or woodlands. Nestled in a bowl at the bottom of sloping hills, it’s as clean as they come in Iowa.
Matt returns with the vehicle, and he and Kurt begin our mobile tour. The guys point out their favorite species of flora and the locations of past animal sightings. We ask about the oldest tree on the property, and Matt knows just where it is. He drives us over to a massive cottonwood tree. We can only guess its age but surmise it must be nearly one hundred years old.
One of the youngest trees on the property is a burr oak—the centerpiece of a memorial honoring many friends of OLPR—sisters, board members, volunteers, and more. The burr oak is a fitting choice since this keystone species supports a wide variety of wildlife, including deer, turkeys, birds, moths, and butterflies.
Kurt tells us he isn’t the first person in his family to work here. When he started his new job, he was surprised to see his uncle’s name, Louis Randolph, on a stone underneath the burr oak tree. It turns out his uncle had the same job many years ago.
We meet back up with Todd at the Sunrise Shop. This maintenance and storage shed is, for all practical purposes, command central at OLPR. Todd’s office includes a desk, a swivel chair, and a computer. He continually updates the to-do lists for Kurt and Matt on a large whiteboard. The list of spring chores reaches from top to bottom and includes things like “burn hill, trim trees, and expand berm.”
Todd Seifert
Matt points out a treasure trove of items they have collected on the property—feathers, fallen nests, and deer antlers neatly displayed in boxes and on table tops.
Todd and Matt tease Kurt about how often he brings his teaching self to work by sharing stories and biology. Kurt admits to dabbing pond water on a slide and placing it under a microscope for a quick lesson. Todd and Matt don’t seem to mind one bit.
As our visit nears its end, the three men point out some other highlights of the property. We chat about OLPR’s low electric bills due to the use of solar panels and the weather station that tracks climate change data for the National Weather Service. One might wonder at the presence of these modern devices at a retreat center sponsored by a Roman Catholic group of women, but according to the congregation’s “Land Ethic and Principles of Sustainability” document, “Scientific and theological insights encourage us to deepen our evolutionary consciousness with a cosmic worldview that continues to be revealed by the power of the Holy Spirit.” OLPR is a thoughtful balance between science and spirituality, a living dialogue between data and divinity.
OLPR with the weather station in the foreground.
Todd says, “You know, none of us were looking for a job. This place found us.” We recall what Kurt said earlier about coming to OLPR after retirement.
We learn that Matt was a stay-at-home dad with a small landscaping business. On a whim, he responded to an ad OLPR had placed in a community flyer looking for a maintenance and grounds person. He assumed they would not be interested in him since his available hours were limited. He was wrong. According to Todd, Matt is a perfect fit.
Todd’s story began thanks to a friendship with Sister Kathleen Storms, the previous Director of Our Lady of the Prairie Retreat. At the time, he was in a job he intended to keep until retirement. Sister Kathleen told Todd she was leaving to accept a position in Rome and asked if he might know someone interested in taking on the maintenance and grounds responsibilities. He said he’d ask around but didn’t find anyone.
When he let her know, she replied, “Actually, I was thinking about you.” Though he wasn’t immediately convinced it was the right fit for him, he came around eventually. He’s glad he did.
A place is, in part, the people who care for it. Our Lady of the Prairie Retreat continues to find the right people for the job. Through careful stewardship, the land has become a thriving ecosystem teeming with life and promise. This place is loved.
Works Cited
Congregation of the Humility of Mary. "Land Ethic and Principles of Sustainability." 15 Mar. 2017.
Kreiter, Kurt. Personal Interview. 18 Mar. 2025.
Rissler, Matt. Personal Interview. 18 Mar. 2025.
Seifert, Todd. Personal Interview. 18 Mar. 2025.
"Welcome To Our Lady of the Prairie Retreat." Congregation of the Humility of Mary, 2025, www.chmiowa.org/retreat.