Sister Mary Louise Happich, D.C., 91

Daughter of Charity Sister Mary Louise Happich, a native of New Orleans and longtime elementary school teacher and principal, died Dec. 11 at Seton Residence in Evansville, Indiana. She was 91 and had served for 70 years in religious life.

Her Funeral Mass was celebrated Dec. 14 at the Seton Residence Chapel in Evansville. Burial followed at St. Joseph Cemetery.

Sister Mary Louise (baptized Mary Louise) was born June 16, 1928, in New Orleans, and was one of four children of Edward W. and Catherine (Klarr) Happich. She graduated from St. Stephen High School in New Orleans in 1945 and entered the Daughters of Charity in St. Louis in July 1949.

She taught at Cathedral School in Natchez, Mississippi, from 1951-57 and earned a bachelor of science degree from Fontbonne College in St. Louis, Missouri, and a master of arts degree in education from Loyola University Los Angeles. She taught and served as a principal at elementary schools in California and then served as principal in St. Louis.

From 1972-74, she taught at St. Louise de Marillac School in Arabi and from 1974-79 at St. Stephen School in New Orleans. From 1979-82, she taught and was assistant principal at Holy Trinity School in Dallas.

After a year as a docent at the Seton Shrine in Emmitsburg, Maryland, and five years in parish ministry in Oklahoma, she returned to St. Louis in 1988, where she served for the next 21 years in various ministries in the local community. In 2009, she entered the Ministry of Prayer at Seton Residence in Evansville.

Sister Mary Louise was preceded in death by her parents and her brothers Eddie and Joseph Happich and her sister Rita Dodd. She is survived by several nieces and nephews.