Sister M. Barbara Jeanne Fehr, CSC

Friday, Dec. 25, 2020

October 15, 1924 ~ December 16, 2020 

Sister M. Barbara Jeanne Fehr, CSC, died on December 16, 2020, in Saint Mary’s Convent, Notre Dame, Indiana. 

Barbara Jeanne Fehr was born in Washington, D.C., on October 15, 1924. Her primary education began in the public schools in Washington. Her first acquaintance with the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Cross was as a third-grade boarder at Saint Mary of the Wasatch, Salt Lake City. Barbara graduated in 1942 from a Holy Cross-sponsored high school, The Academy of the Holy Cross, in Washington, D.C. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics from Dunbarton College, Washington, D.C., in 1946.

Barbara entered the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Cross, Notre Dame, Indiana, in August 1949 and received the holy habit on August 15, 1950. On August 15, 1952, she made her initial profession of vows, followed by her first ministry assignment, teaching junior high students at St. Cecilia’s Academy in Washington, D.C. 

After her perpetual profession on August 15, 1955, she spent a year of study at Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Indiana, to complete her master’s in theology. She then accepted an assignment to teach at Holy Cross College, East Pakistan. Sister left Bangladesh in 1971 and spent the next 23 years stateside in religious education, advocacy for the care of the elderly and the poor, and pastoral care, whether in a parish or hospital in Washington, D.C., Virginia, Maryland, Colorado or Utah. She was an assistant archivist for the Congregational Archives and Records Department from 2007 to 2014, after which she considered herself “retired.” 

A funeral Mass for Sr. Barbara Jeanne was celebrated December 18 at the Church of Our Lady of Loretto, Saint Mary’s, Notre Dame, Indiana. A memorial Mass will be scheduled when possible.