Memorial Mass Aug. 16 for Sr. Kathleen Bahlinger

     A Memorial Mass for Sister of St. Joseph Kathleen Bahlinger (formerly Sister Julius) will be celebrated at St. Raymond-St. Leo the Great Church, 2917 Paris Ave., New Orleans, Aug. 16 at 7 p.m., with visitation at 6 p.m.      Sister Kathleen, a native of Baton Rouge who taught at St. Joseph’s Academy in New Orleans and Baton Rouge and devoted much of her life to adult education, died July 6 in New Orleans. She was 75 and had served as a Sister of St. Joseph for 57 years.
     Sister Kathleen was the youngest daughter of the late Julius Andrew and Mathilda Fabacher Bahlinger. She is survived by her sister, Barbara Bahlinger, and five brothers, Julius, Marion, Reginald, Harold and Jesuit Father Donald Bahlinger. She was predeceased by two brothers, Vernon and Charles Bahlinger.
    Sister Kathleen entered the Sisters of St. Joseph in New Orleans in 1956 and professed perpetual vows in 1964. She received a B.A. in 1962 from St. Mary’s Dominican College in New Orleans and did further study in liturgy at Loyola University New Orleans and earned an M.A.T. at Tulane University.
     Sister Kathleen’s teaching career began in Catholic secondary education in 1961. She taught at St. Joseph’s Academy in New Orleans and Baton Rouge and at Catholic High School Pointe Coupee, where she was principal from 1971-74.
    Sister Kathleen later devoted herself to adult education, first at Hope House in New Orleans in 1980 and then at St. Paul’s Learning Center in Baton Rouge from 1983 to 2006. She returned to New Orleans and taught for two years at Frederick Douglass High School and for five years at the St. Vincent de Paul Adult Learning Center.
    Sister Kathleen’s commitment to social justice led her to collaborate with the late Sister of St. Joseph Lory Schaff in founding St. Paul’s Adult Learning Center in Baton Rouge, which was modeled on Hope House. In 2003, she was presented the YWCA Racial Justice Award in Baton Rouge in honor of her significant community work.  
    Sister Kathleen was a 1956 graduate of St. Joseph’s Academy in Baton Rouge, where in 1877 her great-aunt, Josephine Bahlinger, was the first graduate.
    Her Funeral Mass was celebrated July 11 at St. Paul the Apostle Church in Baton Rouge. Father Bahlinger was the principal celebrant, and the eulogy was given by Sister of St. Joseph  Helen Prejean.
    Memorial donations may be made to Sister Kathleen’s Ministry Fund with checks payable to Sisters of St. Joseph, c/o Sister Carolyn Brady, CSJ, 3134 Hundred Oaks Ave., Baton Rouge, LA 70808.