A funeral Mass for Sister Patricia Haarmann was celebrated May 15 in the chapel at The Sarah Community in Bridgeton. Sister Patricia died May 5 at The Sarah Community. She was 82 and had been a Franciscan Sister of Mary for 64 years.
Patricia Kathleen Haarmann was born April 23, 1941, in Effingham, Illinois, one of seven children born to Joseph and Marie (Dasenbrock) Haarmann.
She entered the Sisters of St. Mary on Aug. 9, 1959. She received the name Sister Mary Christella, and she professed final vows on Feb. 11, 1967. Her sister, Sister Frances Marie Haarmann, is also a Franciscan Sister of Mary.
She earned a bachelor’s in psychology (1966) and a master’s degree in dietetics (1971), both through Saint Louis University. She was a certified diabetes educator.
Sister Patricia completed her dietetic internship at Cardinal Glennon Children’s Medical Center in 1967. She then worked in administrative dietetics at St. Mary’s Health Center in St. Louis (1967–71). She supervised dietary at St. Eugene Hospital in Dillon, South Carolina, from 1971-92, serving also as assistant executive director (1982–86) and dietary director (1992–96) there.
She returned to St. Louis in 1999, serving as a certified nurse assistant for CSJ Care (a ministry sponsored by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet that enables elderly people to continue to live at home) and at Anna House, the skilled nursing facility of The Sarah Community. She moved to The Sarah Community in January 2011.
Sister Patricia enjoyed sharing memories and keeping in touch with her friends and FSM family. She loved birds and enjoyed Happy, her yellow cockatiel, for many years. She loved growing flowers and arranging them for special occasions. She treasured knowing that her service as a Franciscan Sister of Mary has made life better and happier for others and hoped she helped bring them the knowledge that God loves them always.
Sister Patricia was preceded in death by her father, her mother and her brother Jerome Haarmann.
Burial was in Resurrection Cemetery.
