Sister Evelyn Marie Houlihan SL
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Sister Evelyn Marie Houlihan SL died July 16, 2022, at Loretto Motherhouse in Nerinx, KY. She was 90 and in the 72nd year of her Loretto commitment. Born June 2, 1932, in Sterling, IL, to Elizabeth (Schmidt) and Harold Houlihan. Received into the Sisters of Loretto at the Foot of the Cross on April 25, 1951. Sr. Evelyn earned a B.A. in elementary education, with a minor in English, in 1960 from Webster College (now University) in St. Louis, an M.A. in guidance and counseling in 1969 from Notre Dame University and an M.A. in religious education in 1976 from Boston College. Early in her ministry, Sr. Evelyn taught primary grades in Kentucky, Illinois and Colorado. In Denver, she served at Holy Family School and 3 years at Blessed Sacrament School, where she taught junior high and girls sports. Sr. Evelyn was proud that her girls' basketball team won the All City Parochial Tournament. While she was teaching, she also worked a few years with youth as a Denver Court System volunteer. Among Sr. Evelyn's ministries in the 1970s, she worked as a counselor with Native Americans from Rosebud Reservation as part of the Univ. of S. Dakota's Upward Bound program and with Head Start in South Bend, Ind., and served in Denver for 4 years as an adult education coordinator at St. James Parish and for 2 years as a pastoral assistant at St. Anthony Hospital. Also in Denver, she received her real estate license in 1978. Sr. Evelyn became a real estate associate for Stone & Buckles Real Estate Co. and Simon & Co. From 1987 to 2001, she managed the Bonnie Brae Ice Cream Store, Denver. As manager, Sr. Evelyn said she "needed every skill I ever used in the classroom." During her tenure, the store was famous for its homemade ice cream, good service and well-trained employees. Sr. Evelyn scaled down her other workload when diagnosed with MS in 1998. She served the Loretto Denver Staff Office as bookkeeper from 2001 to 2010. In 2014, she moved to Loretto Motherhouse, where she resided until her death. Sr. Evelyn said she "refused to live an 'unlived life.'" She traveled extensively, including to Europe, Canada, Jamaica, Thailand, Laos, Mexico and Cambodia, and also skied, hiked and rode bikes. Nature, Sr. Evelyn said, had "always been my cathedral and house of prayer." Preceding her in death were her parents, her brother, Robert Ray Houlihan, and her sister, Virginia Ann Wolfe. Among survivors is her nephew Daryl Wolfe of Des Moines, Iowa. Sr. Evelyn's funeral took place July 22 at Loretto Motherhouse. Burial in Our Lady of Sorrows Cemetery on Motherhouse grounds. Memorials may be made to the Sisters of Loretto for our mission, c/o Loretto Motherhouse, 515 Nerinx Road, Nerinx, KY 40049 or as an online gift at www.lorettocommunity.org.