Sister M. Ruth Barbara

Friday, Dec. 09, 2022

Sister M. Ruth Barbara

(Barbara Ann Holtshouser)

December 5, 1944 ~ November 28, 2022

Sister M. Ruth Barbara (Holtshouser), CSC, died on November 28, 2022, in Saint Mary’s Convent, Notre Dame, Indiana. Sister Ruth Barbara entered the Congregation from Salt Lake City on September 10, 1963. Her initial profession of vows took place on August 15, 1966. 

Barbara Ann Holtshouser was born on December 5, 1944 to Herbert Holtshouser, a Roman Catholic, and Florence (Christensen) Holtshouser, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Along with her five younger siblings, she was taught to recognize and respect both religions, but was raised Roman Catholic. Barbara entered the Sisters of the Holy Cross, Notre Dame, Indiana, on September 10, 1963, the year of her graduation from high school. Upon reception of the holy habit, she became Sister Mary Ruth Barbara. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English literature from Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, in 1968.

Sister Ruth Barbara taught third through sixth grades at St. Anne School, Las Vegas, Nevada; St. Paul the Apostle School, Los Angeles, California; St. Philip Neri School, Lynwood, California; and Holy Rosary School, Idaho Falls, Idaho. She was also the principal of Bishop Glass School, Salt Lake City, from 1972 to 1973.

Sister Ruth Barbara traveled to Dhaka, Bangladesh, to teach grades seven through nine at Holy Cross College in 1979 and later began working with co-ops that involved men and women weaving jute products through Corpus Christi Parish in Jalchatra, Bangladesh. After spending five years in Bangladesh, she returned to the United States in 1984.

Between 1984 and 1989, Sister Ruth Barbara’s parish ministry led her to Saint Paul Parish, Seattle, Washington, and other worshipping communities in the Diocese of Salt Lake City. Following her three-year appointment as the director of the alliance of pastors in the Diocese of Steubenville, Ohio, she earned her master’s degree in applied theology from the School of Applied Theology, Berkeley, California, in 1993. Sister Ruth Barbara then traveled to San Carlos, Arizona, where she served on the San Carlos Apache Reservation for 28 years. 

In 2021, Sister Ruth Barbara transitioned to a ministry of prayer and presence at the motherhouse, after a diagnosis of a grave illness. She died under hospice care at Saint Mary’s Convent. The sisters and her caregivers mourn the loss of Sister Ruth Barbara, recalling her lively and kind personality.