Sister Barbara Rowan was born December 3, 1933, in Racine, Wisconsin, to Alice and Leslie Rowan. She was the only girl in the family with two brothers, and was the youngest child, so she was probably spoiled a bit! 

She was received into the School Sisters of St. Francis in 1951 and given the name Sister Leanna. She returned to her baptismal name after the Second Vatican Council.

Sister was one of those women who made a difference wherever she served and lived. When she was teaching science to seventh and eighth graders, she worked with them in ways to prepare them for the transition into high school. She did this not only by teaching science, but by working with the faculty to move the school into departmental teaching, something the students would experience in high school. She also developed a six-week summer science camp for young people, again to develop their science skills and also to prepare them for high school.

After 24 years of teaching and being principal in a variety of schools, Sister Barbara moved into parish ministry. There, she strove to help the people of the parish see that they were the church, not the building or the organization as Church, but the people. She was part of the beginning of a new parish, literally from the ground up, where there had been no parish in Homer Glen, Illinois. There is a street near that church named Rowan Circle, after Sister Barbara. 

During her years in parish ministry at St. Luke Parish in Carol Stream, Illinois, Sister Barbara worked to establish a strong relationship between St. Luke’s and Santa Ana Mission in La Libertad, Honduras. St. Luke parishioners sent supplies, medications, and money to Santa Ana Mission for specific needs, including the need for clean clear water. 

After parish ministry, Sister Barbara volunteered at a high school where she tutored students, including some from China and South Korea, who knew very little English. She became adept at communicating with them despite the language differences.

In her final years, she lived at Sacred Heart, where her ministry was one of prayer and presence: praying for her loved ones, the School Sisters of St. Francis, and the needs of the world, while bringing a smile to the sisters and staff at Sacred Heart.

Some of the descriptions of Sister Barbara include that she was fun loving and she loved to laugh. She also had a streak of mischief in her that would bring laughter to others. She was looking forward and she loved her religious community.

We will miss Sister Barbara, but we know that she is enjoying the fullness of the joy of her Lord, and she is continuing to pray for us.