A funeral Mass for Sister Ann Clare Hendel, CPPS was celebrated Nov. 7 at St. Joseph Chapel in O’Fallon. Sister Ann Clare died Oct. 28 at Mount Carmel Senior Living in O’Fallon. She was 93.
Born in Florissant, Sister Ann Clare was the eighth of 11 children of Nicholas and Bertha (Albers) Hendel. She attended St. Elizabeth Academy, making a daily trek 90 minutes each way via bus and streetcar. After graduation in 1942, she entered the Sisters of the Most Precious Blood of O’Fallon.
She earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Latin from St. Louis University. In 1968, through a Fulbright Scholarship, she studied the Classics in Rome and in Naples.
Sister Ann Clare taught every grade level from first through 12th. She served in elementary schools at Assumption in Mattese, Our Lady Help of Christians in Weingarten, Assumption in Morrison, Mo., St. George in St. Louis and St. Joseph in Martinsburg, Mo. She taught Latin at Bishop DuBourg High School and Latin and German at her alma mater, St. Elizabeth Academy.
When interest in the study of Latin declined, Sister Ann Clare asked to prepare for another ministry, obtaining a license in religious studies from Seattle University. She then served in various aspects of pastoral ministry at Holy Innocents Parish in St. Louis and other parishes in Missouri. After retiring from parish ministry, Sister Ann Clare volunteered in numerous capacities at the motherhouse in O’Fallon, Linda Vista Catholic School in Chesterfield, St. Elizabeth Convent and at St. Sabina Parish in Florissant.
After suffering a heart attack and stroke in 2016, Sister Ann Clare became a member of St. Joseph Community with residence at Mount Carmel. She is survived by a brother, Lawrence; and sisters, Rosemary Vierheller and Mary Ebbesmeyer.
