Sister Catherine Therese Barber, 93, an Ursuline Sister of Mount Saint Joseph, died March 25, 2026 – the feast of the Annunciation – at Mount Saint Joseph, in her 73rd year of religious life. She was a native of Springfield, Ky.

Sister Catherine was a welcoming and hospitable presence to all she met. She loved to learn and stay on top of current events, especially those related to justice for others.

She graduated from Fredericktown High School, then earned a bachelor’s degree in English with a minor in elementary education from Brescia College (now University), Owensboro, Ky., in 1966. This was followed by a master’s degree in elementary guidance with a minor in elementary education at Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, Ky., in 1972.

All of her ministries were in Kentucky. She taught in Louisville at St. Columba School (1955-59), St. Leonard School (1964-65), and St. Denis School (1975-77). She taught at St. Francis School, St. Francis (1959-64), where one of her students was the future Bishop of the Diocese of Owensboro, William Medley. She taught at Immaculate School, Owensboro (1965-67) and St. Thomas More School, Paducah (1970-75). She was principal of St. Christopher School, Radcliff (1968-70). She served in health care and pastoral care at the Ursuline Motherhouse (1977-86), as a patient representative at Mercy Hospital and Owensboro Mercy Health System (1987-97), and as a receptionist at Brescia University (1999-2002). Her Motherhouse ministries included serving on the archives staff (1997-98), in hospitality at the Conference and Retreat Center (1998-99), information receptionist (2002-04), chapel sacristan (2004-08), and assistant in Mission Advancement (2008-14).

Survivors include the members of her religious community and nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents, Philetus and Maude Barber; her siblings Mary Ann Bowling, Delena Barber Brooks, Sister of Charity Frances Barber, Sister of Charity Maude Michelle Barber, Margaret Kelly, Philetus Barber Jr., Angela Wimsatt, Brother Joseph Julian Barber, Thomas Aaron Barber, James Robert Barber and Catherine Yancey Edelen.

The funeral Mass will be at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, March 31, at Mount Saint Joseph, where visitation begins Monday at 4 p.m., with a wake service following at 6:30 p.m.

Glenn Funeral Home and Crematory, Owensboro, is handling arrangements.

Donations in memory of Sister Catherine Therese may be made to the Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph, 8001 Cummings Road, Maple Mount, KY 42356.

Wake Reflection

March 30, 2026

By Sister Sharon Sullivan, congregational leader

 

As we begin this reflection in honor of Sister Catherine Barber, I will share with you her request; she wrote, “It is my personal request that. . . the invitation to share memories after the ‘speaking in memory of reflection’ be omitted. Thank you.” Therefore, after this reflection we will not, as we often do, be inviting you to come forward to share your memories, but ask, as you hold Sister Catherine in your hearts and perhaps recall cherished times with her, that you will prayerfully and lovingly share those memories with others as the opportunity may arise.

 

Pause now and recall that we celebrated the Feast of the Annunciation on Wednesday, March 25^th, and in Saint Luke’s Gospel (Luke 1:38) we heard: “And Mary said, ‘Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.’ Then the angel departed from her.” And perhaps in God’s good time, the angel came on that same Wednesday to Sister Catherine as she gave her own fiat, joining at last with her loving God.

 

Almost 94 years ago, in the early autumn, in Springfield, Kentucky, on Monday, October 3, 1932, Maude Michelle Barber, the thirteenth of fourteen children, was born to Maude Estelle and Philetus Swift Barber (the third). In just two more years, Maude gained a younger sister, Catherine, and the two of them joined their remaining ten siblings; for two – Yancey and Little Mary – had died some years earlier in infancy.

 

That loving family – and Sister Catherine would later write, “The outstanding memory of my early childhood was the bondedness we shared as family. . .. All members shared each one’s joys and sufferings.” – Yes, that loving Kentucky farm family was comprised of Mom and Dad, and eight sisters and four brothers: Delena, Frances (who became Sister Frances, a Charity of Nazareth), Margaret, Piety (who become Sister Maude Michelle, also a Charity of Nazareth), Bubby (Philetus Swift the Fourth), Angela, Joe (who became Brother Joseph Julian, a Resurrection brother), Aaron, Bob, Mary Ann, Maude Michelle, and Catherine.

 

Sister Catherine has joined them all again; and to Sister Catherine’s nieces and nephews, we Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph offer our condolences, our love, and our thanks for sharing Sister Catherine with us.

 

Just ten days after joining her family for the first time, Maude Michelle made her initial step in faith, and – on Thursday, October 13, 1932 – was baptized at Holy Trinity Church, in Fredericktown, Kentucky. Sister Catherine would write of her childhood:

 

“In the eyes of our parents, we were the best to be had!”

“We lived on a farm and enjoyed many an excursion over it. Mom never allowed the girls to do chores other than house chores. . . (but) there were plenty of those chores to be done.”

“Most of our social activities centered around church and school activities. Our living room was something of a chapel. . . (and) morning and evening prayer was as regular as meals. . . (together with) the family Rosary and its trimmings, like the litanies Mom had all memorized and had us pray. . ..”

 

Sister Catherine also remembered:

 

“We had support systems. . . each of the ‘three little girls’ – Mary Ann, me, and Catherine – each had a ‘big sister’ who helped mom in our rearing and in our spoiling. Margaret was mine – a life-long angel – and how I admired and loved her.”

“Never will I forget when Margaret paid for electrifying our home. Seeing the home all lit for the first time was an amazing sight.”

 

Of course, her days were not all excursions on the farm; for school began for Maude Michelle in 1939 in the Fredericktown Public Schools – public schools run by the Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph. She would recall, “in August when the Ursuline Sisters returned, we were all eyes, wondering which would be our teacher.” Maude Michelle began school fearlessly, remembering her brother and sister, “Joe and Angela, were guardian angels for me as I entered the first grade. Angela was a senior in high school and hand-in-hand she and I walked to the bus, one half mile every day.”

 

When she was not yet ten, Maude Michelle was confirmed at Holy Trinity Church, and as she entered her teen-age years, was especially mentored by Ursuline Sister, Sister Mary Ivo Thompson, who helped nurture her deep love for music and the arts. Sister Catherine would say of Sister Mary Ivo that she radiated “warmth, dignity, (and) concern and was always a perfect lady,” and that she modelled deep prayer not out of what she said, but by who she was.

 

Soon, in 1951, Maude Michelle graduated from Fredericktown High School. After twelve years of experiencing the love and faith of the Ursuline Sisters, she would choose not to follow her older sisters to the Charities, but – in 1952 – to seek a home among the Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph. Perhaps it was then that Maude Michelle adopted what Sister Catherine would call “My Special Prayer,” adapted from Saint Paul’s prayer in his letter to the Ephesians (3:16-19). She wrote:

“Out of God’s infinite glory, may I be given the power through the Spirit for my hidden self to grow strong, so that Christ may live in my heart through faith. Then planted in love and built on love, I will with all the saints have the strength to grasp the breadth and the length, the height and the depth; until knowing the love of Christ, which is beyond all knowledge, I am filled with the utter fullness of God.”

 

And so she was.

 

On Friday, August 14, 1953, Maude Michelle entered the novitiate at Mount Saint Joseph, as she said, “to do the will of God;” she became Sister Catherine Therese Barber and joined a class of sixteen others. Of those classmates, three are still with us today – Ursuline Sisters, Sister Margaret Ann Aull and Sister Mary Gerald Payne, and Charity Sister, Sister Serra Goethals. And to you, her classmates, we offer our love and sympathy as you remember and celebrate the life of Sister Catherine.

 

Of her years in formation, Sister Catherine would observe wryly, “The novitiate was quite novel,” with new ways of praying and dressing, new disciplines like kissing the floor, and the privilege of arising at 3:00 a.m. But she was eager for the next step and for discovering what else was in store. In fact, she penned and shared this prayer that accompanied her throughout her many ministries:

“God of the impossible, God of mystery, open us for all that is possible, to the fullness of your mystery. Bring to completeness the life you have entrusted to me. All praise and honor be yours forever.”

 

And so began her years of such fruitful ministry.

 

For the next twenty-two (22) years she taught and she learned, graduating from Brescia College in 1966 with a BA degree in English and education, and from Western Kentucky University in 1973 with a Masters in Guidance and Counselling, and a minor in Elementary Education. In schools throughout the Diocese of Owensboro and the Archdiocese of Louisville, Sister Catherine nurtured students from the second through the seventh grades, while admitting that the sixth graders were possibly her favorite age.

 

She taught in Saint Columba, Saint Leonard, and Saint Denis Catholic Schools in Louisville; at Saint Christopher in Radcliffe; Saint Thomas More in Paducah; Immaculate in Owensboro; and at Saint Francis in Saint Francis. It was there that she encountered her most famous student – William Medley, now Bishop of the Diocese of Owensboro, Kentucky. He remembered Sister Catherine with great fondness and – to her everlasting delight – asked her to deliver one of the readings at the Mass for his ordination as Owensboro’s Bishop in 2010.

 

Sister Catherine would say of her education ministry, “The most rewarding (of my ministries) were the teaching years. . .. Some of my favorite teaching experiences centered around the plays, the music, the art productions by the students. (And) I believe that still today (education) is the most effective way to impact society and bring about positive growth. . ..” Her former students speak of her smile, her caring attitude, and the many ways she supported them through both pleasant and difficult passages.

 

In 1977, Sister Catherine accepted the call to leave education and begin to work in health care and pastoral care at Mount Saint Joseph. She would say of the pastoral care ministry that such ministry provides “both presence and care.” And I can speak of my own experience of Sister Catherine’s commitment to presence as she brought both her guitar and her prayerful loving presence to ease Sister Edwardine’s last days. She allowed me to join for a time as she sang and played gentle comforting music for Sister Edwardine in the last agonies of her Parkinsons.

 

Sister Catherine would say of these years: “Guess I am a person not fond of being constantly uprooted. . . my ten-year period at Mount Saint Joseph serving in health care were very positive years again feeling that the Mount was truly home and enjoying the camaraderie of a larger community of sisters. Being at the Motherhouse is indeed blessing.”

 

But after those ten years, Sister Catherine was not finished with learning and with serving in new and unexpected ways. In 1986 and 87, she studied and participated in Chaplain Internships and Pastoral Care through the Clinical Pastoral Education program at Good Samaritan Hospital in Cincinnati. She noted in a letter describing the rigors of the program and time with her colleagues, “There has been little time for frolicking.”

 

Over the next decade, Sister Catherine became a patient representative for the Mercy and the Owensboro Health Systems, serving as the personal contact between patients and their families and the complexities of the health system. From the beginning she garnered high praise for the “prayerful care she gave to each individual she encountered.”

 

Not being satisfied with just two radically different ways of living her Ursuline mission, Sister Catherine explored new ways of serving, sharing hospitality at the Mount Saint Joseph Archives and the Conference and Retreat Center, serving as Receptionist and Sacristan, and assisting in Mission Advancement. She even served a few years as the Campus Center Receptionist at Brescia University where, as she commented, she enjoyed the personal touch of meeting the students. In 1999, the Brescia Broadcast, the student newspaper, published the article, “Sister Catherine Answers the Call,” which noted that the “warm Ursuline smile at Brescia’s Campus Center desk is that of Sister Catherine Barber.”

 

When Sister Catherine returned to the Motherhouse in 2002, her studying, learning, and reaching out were still a key part of her life. Among other new experiences, Sister Catherine:

• in 2002, took a ballroom dancing class at Brescia University;
• in 2003, participated at Brescia in the Cardinal John Henry Newman study group;
• in 2006 and 2007, helped initiate a request that Senator David Boswell introduce a bill in the General Assembly making Human Trafficking a felony, and went to Frankfort to witness Governor Fletcher sign the bill;
• when Hwy 56 was resurfaced ten or so years ago, sent regular and forceful letters and made calls to help us gain the white safety stripes along the road’s edges; and
• in 2017, learned to quilt and continued to crochet through at least 2020.

My goodness!

 

Always a lady, Sister Catherine remained engaged in prayer and in the life of her Ursuline Community throughout her retirement years; she regarded her service in the Powerhouse of Prayer as a privilege and a challenge. And for all in the Villa who helped Sister Catherine continue to live her mission and call, we give thanks for your service and offer prayers as you remember and celebrate Sister Catherine’s time among you.

 

We, too, celebrate Sister Catherine’s last meeting with her guardian angels and her final “let it be.” And now, let Sister Catherine’s final written directives bring this reflection to a close. She wrote:

 

 

“I would like for my remembrance to end in a ‘Thank you,’

with Psalm 138, Hymn of a Grateful Heart.”

 

I thank you, Lord, with all my heart

In the presence of the angels to you I sing.

I bow low toward your holy temple;

I praise your name for your mercy and faithfulness.

For you have exalted over all

your name and your promise.

The LORD is with me to the end.

LORD, your mercy endures forever.

 

All the kings of the earth will praise you, LORD,

when they hear the words of your mouth.

They will sing of the ways of the LORD:

“How great is the glory of the LORD!”

The LORD is on high, but cares for the lowly

and knows the proud from afar.

Though I walk in the midst of dangers,

you guard my life when my enemies rage.

You stretch out your hand; your right hand saves me.

LORD, your mercy endures forever.

Never forsake the work of your hands!