Longtime St. Frances Cabrini assistant principal, guidance counselor, dies at 91

Sister of St. Joseph Patricia Brandner (formerly Sister Joseph Louise), who served for 26 years as an assistant principal and guidance counselor at St. Frances Xavier Cabrini School in New Orleans, died Nov. 24 at Mount St. Mary Convent in Wichita, Kansas. She was 91 and had served for 74 years in religious life.

The New Orleans native graduated from St. Joseph Academy in New Orleans in 1944 and entered the novitiate of the Sisters of St. Joseph in New Orleans. She professed first vows in 1946 and made her final profession in 1949. 

Sister Patricia earned a B.S. in education from Loyola University New Orleans and an M.A. in education from Xavier University of Louisiana as well as certification in guidance and administration from Xavier and the University of New Orleans.

She began teaching at Our Lady of the Rosary in New Orleans in 1946 and taught from 1952-61 at Sacred Heart in Baton Rouge, St. Rose of Lima in New Orleans, St. Joseph’s Academy in Baton Rouge and St. Ann in New Orleans, where she served as principal.

She then taught at St. Frances Cabrini, returned to St. Rose as principal and later was appointed principal at Our Lady of the Gulf in Bay St. Louis and Our Lady of the Rosary. From 1976-2002, she was assistant principal and guidance counselor at St. Frances Cabrini and served one year as administrator and guidance counselor at the Sisters of St. Joseph School in New Orleans.

From 2002 until Hurricane Katrina, she lived and served her community at St. Joseph Convent on Mirabeau Avenue. She moved to Mount St. Mary Convent in Wichita in 2009.

A Memorial Mass was celebrated Dec. 6 at Our Lady of the Rosary Church in New Orleans. Memorial contributions in Sister Patricia’s name may be made to the Sisters of St. Joseph at 3134 Hundred Oaks Avenue, Baton Rouge, LA 70808.