Record Staff Report
Four Ursuline Sisters of Louisville are celebrating jubilees this year, marking 60 to 70 years of religious life.
70 years
Sister Janet Marie Peterworth, a native of Louisville, is celebrating 70 years as an Ursuline Sister. Sister Peterworth graduated from the old Ursuline Academy in Louisville and earned degrees from the old Ursuline College and Creighton University.
In the Archdiocese of Louisville, she taught at Our Lady of Lourdes School, St. Joseph School in Butchertown and Central High School. She also served as principal of St. Joseph.
Sister Peterworth also served as a member and director of the Ursuline Leadership Council and as president of the Ursulines from 2014-2020.
She also taught and ministered in Maryland, Indiana and West Virginia — including serving as a disaster counselor after the 1977 Tug Valley Flood, as the founding executive director of ABLE Families and a volunteer with Christian Help of Mingo County for 20 years.
She currently writes homilies for St. William Church and serves on nonprofit boards.
60 years
Sister Ruth Ann Haunz, a native of Oldham County, is celebrating her 60th anniversary as an Ursuline Sister. She is a graduate of Sacred Heart Academy, Spalding University, University of Dayton and Bellarmine University, and has earned a certificate in spiritual direction.
In the Archdiocese of Louisville, Sister Haunz taught at Sacred Heart Academy and the old Angela Merici High School. She also served as retreat director, vocation director and pastoral associate at St. Gabriel and St. Martha churches, and as director of adult and lay ministry formation for the archdiocese.
She also served on the Ursuline Leadership Council.
She currently manages Dare to Care programs at St. John Paul II Church. She also serves as a spiritual director, volunteers with refugees, works with Southeast Associated Ministries and incarcerated women and maintains connections within the Buechel/Hikes Point neighborhood.
Sister Paula Kleine-Kracht, a native of Louisville, is celebrating her 60th jubilee. She is a graduate of the old St. Therese School, Sacred Heart Academy, Bellarmine University (then Bellarmine-Ursuline College), the University of Notre Dame and the University of Chicago.
In the Archdiocese of Louisville, Sister Kleine-Kracht taught and served as principal of Sacred Heart Academy — where she established the International Baccalaureate Programme and King Scholars Program and served as principal of the old Angela Merici High School. She also co-founded Nativity Academy at St. Boniface in 2003 and served as administrator until 2013.
She also taught in South Carolina and Delaware and served on the Ursuline Leadership Council.
Sister Rita Ann Wigginton, a native of Louisville, is celebrating 60 years of religious life. She is a graduate of the old Angela Merici High School, Gallaudet University and St. Meinrad Seminary and earned a certificate of advanced education from Boston College.
In the Archdiocese of Louisville, Sister Wigginton taught at Holy Trinity School and Sacred Heart Model School and with the archdiocese’s Catholic Deaf Office.
She also ministered in the Diocese of Toledo, the Diocese of Brooklyn and the Diocese of Covington.
She co-authored a book, helped establish offices for deaf services, participated in national religious education workshops and directed the Ministry Formation Program for Deaf Adults.
She currently serves on the Ursuline Leadership Council, teaches an online class and volunteers as an interpreter.
