Sister Karen Ackerman, ASC, Parish Life Coordinator of St. Lawrence, Jetmore, and St. Anthony, Hanston, died at Via Christi St. Francis in Wichita Feb. 9, 2005 after a sudden illness. She was 67 and a professed Adorer of the Blood of Christ for 46 years.

Bishop Ronald M. Gilmore celebrated the funeral liturgy in the Chapel of Our Lady of the New Covenant at the Wichita Center on Feb. 11. Burial followed in the Sisters Adorers community cemetery.

Marlene Louis Ackerman was born July 23, 1937, the daughter of Anthony and Magdalen (Schawe) Ackerman. She attended elementary and secondary schools at Windthorst. After a year at Sacred Heart College in Wichita, she entered the convent of the Sisters Adorers. She was a religious vocation of Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish, Windthorst.

She received the habit of the Adorers and the name Sister Karen on July 1, 1957, made her first vows on July 1, 1958, and her final vows on July 1, 1963.

Religious vocations in the family include three aunts who became Adorers: Sisters Osmunda, Denis and Perpetua; an aunt who became a Dominican: Sister Ancilla Schawe; and two cousins who were ordained to the priesthood: Msgr. Norbert Temaat and Father Wesley Schawe.

Sister Karen received her BA in Education from Sacred Heart College, and her MA in Education from Northwestern State University in Alva, Okla. Summer sessions found her studying at Wichita State University, Emporia State, and the College of St. Mary’s, Omaha, from which she received her degree in Medical Records Administration. She recently received a Diocesan Diploma in Pastoral Ministry after completing 30 college credits of theology in fulfillment of the course of study for the Pastoral Ministry Formation Program.

She served in a variety of ministries: 10 years as a teacher in elementary schools, 15 years in hospitals in records management, and four years as administrator at the Provincial House in Wichita. In between positions she willingly worked at Anthony House, Acuto Center and Archbishop Ignatius J. Strecker’s residence.

Sister Karen was a member of the chancery staff from 1994 to 1997. She provided secretarial support for the Finance Office, Office of Stewardship and Development, the Southwest Kansas Register and the Diocesan Archives. She also served as Director of the Propagation of the Faith from 1996 until the time of her death.

In 1997, Sister Karen began serving in parish ministry at St. Lawrence, Jetmore and St. Anthony, Hanston. She was installed as Parish Life Coordinator of those parishes by Bishop Gilmore on Jan. 23.

Preceding her in death were her father, Anthony, and niece and nephew, Michele Dick and Timothy Dick.

Survivors include: her mother, Magdalen; her brothers and spouses: Denis and Judy, Victor and Linda, Robert, Steve and Kerry; her sisters and their spouses: Elvira and Bob Dick, and Doris and David Waldron. Other survivors are her aunts: Sister Ancilla Schawe, OP, Pauline Durler, and Elizabeth Ackerman, and many nieces and nephews.