Sister Sharon Van Horn, ASC, celebrated 65 years as a vowed member of the Adorers of the Blood of Christ on July 1, 2025, in the chapel of Benedictine Living Community at the Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows, Belleville, IL. She made her first profession on July 1, 1960, and her final vows on July 1, 1965. She marked her anniversary with the Eucharist and a reception with the ASC community.
Sister Sharon was born in Evanston, IL, to Patrick and Elizabeth (Franey) Van Horn. She earned her bachelor’s degree in theology in 1970 and her master’s in religious education in 1972, both from St. Louis University in St. Louis, MO.
Sister Sharon’s ministry was spent as Educator, Administrator, and Missionary. She taught at Guardian Angel in Oran and at St. Jerome in St. Louis, both in MO, and at the Illinois schools of St. Mary in Chester and Immaculate Conception in Centreville.
In Memphis, TN, she was both Director of Religious Education and teacher. She served as the Pastoral Associate at the Illinois parishes of St. Boniface in Evansville and St. Pius in Walsh. Before beginning her missionary work, she served in Ruma, IL, as the Director of ASC Volunteers and of women in Formation.
Her life as a missionary began after several months of study in Cochabamba, Bolivia, after which she became the Postulant Director in El Alto, LaPaz, Bolivia. For several years she served as a Councilor for the Bolivian Foundation. She also spent more than ten years doing Pastoral Work at Capilla Sangre de Cristo in El Alto.
Sister Sharon was a full-time volunteer at Sister Thea Bowman School in East St. Louis, IL, for ten years. She currently resides at Benedictine Living Community at the Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows, where she is Living Mission in Later Life.