On Sunday, May 12, 2024, Sister Francella Bahr, ASC, celebrated 80 years as a vowed member of the Adorers of the Blood of Christ at the Wichita Center in Wichita, KS. She marked her anniversary with the Eucharist and a meal with the ASC community. Sister Francella made her first profession on July 1, 1944, and her final vows on July 1, 1949.
Sister Francella was born in Great Bend, KS, one of 11 children born to Henry and Frances Bahr. Her family attended St. Ann Parish in Olmitz, KS. Three of her sisters and three of her cousins were also Adorers of the Blood of Christ.
She received her BS in Education from Sacred Heart College in Wichita, now Newman University. Sister Francella was a life-long learner; she continued taking courses, especially in the summer, at Newman University in Wichita, and Wichita State University; the University of Saint Mary in Leavenworth, KS; Fort Hays State University in Hays, KS; and Hutchinson Junior College in Hutchinson, KS. She also studied at the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth, MN; Fontbonne University in St. Louis, MO; and Nazareth College in Louisville, KY.
Sister Francella’s teaching career included service in several schools in Kansas, including St. Mary in Kinsley, St. Aloysius in Greenbush, St. John in Spearville, and St. Margaret Mary in Wichita. At St. Joseph in Ellinwood she taught music for 25 years. She then served as a paraprofessional volunteer in the field of music and as a librarian, while also ministering to the elderly in St. Joseph parish for another nine years.
In addition to her teaching ministry, Sr. Francella also served as Local Coordinator at the Wichita Center.
When she retired from teaching and parish ministry, Sr. Francella moved to the Wichita Center. She volunteered at WIN (Women’s Initiative Network) and at the Lord’s Diner for several years. Discontinuing this volunteer work only recently, and she continues to pursue her hobbies of sewing and embroidery, providing items for the Mission Case.