Ursuline Sister Louise Marie Willenbrink, 82, dies

Ursuline Sister Louise Marie Willenbrink
Ursuline Sister Louise Marie Willenbrink

Record Staff Report

Ursuline Sister of Louisville Louise Marie Willenbrink, 82, died June 21 at Baptist Health Hospital. She was in her 63rd year of religious life.

Sister Willenbrink graduated from St. Francis of Assisi School, Sacred Heart Academy and Ursuline College. She earned a master of arts degree from Duquesne University and also studied at Spalding University and Trinity Washington University.

She served as an educator in South Carolina, Mississippi and West Virginia. In the Archdiocese of Louisville, she began her teaching career at St. Francis of Assisi School in 1957.

She was appointed assistant principal and dean of studies at Sacred Heart Academy in 1970. She went on to serve as principal of Angela Merici High School from 1971 to 1978 and as principal of Sacred Heart Academy from 1978 to 1988. She then served as a student counselor and faculty mentor at Sacred Heart until her retirement in 2012.

Sacred Heart Academy named her “Distinguished Alumna of the Year” in 1984, and in 2003 she was the first recipient of the Sacred Heart Schools’ “Francesconi Award for Integrity.”

Sister Willenbrink is survived by her brother, Dick, and her sister, Ruth Gonzalez, both of Louisville; her sister Jean Perrone of Charlotte, N.C.; 33 nieces and nephews; 35 great nieces and nephews; and members of the Ursuline community.

Visitation will be at the Ursuline Motherhouse, 3115 Lexington Road, on June 26 from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. and from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m., followed by a vigil service at 7 p.m. The Funeral Mass will be celebrated June 27 at 11 a.m. in the Motherhouse Chapel with burial in St. Michael Cemetery.

Expressions of sympathy may be made to the Ursuline Sisters of Louisville and mailed to the Mission Advancement Office, 3105 Lexington Road, Louisville, Ky., 40206.

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