Sister Barbara Bluntzer loves to travel but keeps God uppermost in her mind

Sister Barbara Bluntzer, SP

Sister Barbara Bluntzer, SP, who this year celebrates 65 years of living a consecrated life, finds God not only in the church, but also “on the shores of Oregon and in the Rocky Mountains of Canada.” She loves to travel but she keeps God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit uppermost in her mind throughout every day.

Sister Barbara belongs to the Sisters of Providence of St. Mary-Mother-of-the-Woods, a congregation of nearly 350 women religious based in Indiana. She is on the Associate Program Advisory Committee for the Sisters of Providence and goes to the Motherhouse in Indiana about seven times a year.

The congregation is mostly involved in education, but also work in parishes, diocesan administration, social justice services, counseling and health care. Their mission is to further God’s plan by serving others through works of love, mercy and justice. They minister throughout the United States and Taiwan.

Described by friend DeAnna Havel as the energizer bunny, Sister Barbara just keeps on going. Havel met Sister Barbara at a women’s retreat at St. Pius X Parish at a time when she felt alone after losing her husband and both her parents. She said Sister Barbara encouraged her to come out of her shell. She inspired Havel to become more active in the parish. Havel also became a Providence Associate.

“Sister Barbara is an amazing woman. I was searching for something and providence provided. I feel like more of a yearning to give my yes,” Havel said.

When she’s not traveling the world and going to her Motherhouse in Indiana, Sister Barbara can be found at St. Pius X Parish answering phones, writing articles in the parish bulletin, teaching classes on Earth Day, and facilitating retreats for Catholic school children on Lent and Advent. She helps with Mission of Mercy, collects items for Coastal Bend Troop Support, visits the sick and serves on the Vocation Committee and the Committee for Institutes of Consecrated Life. In her spare time she enjoys watching the televison show Jeopardy or going to the gym.

Sister Barbara was born in Corpus Christi to Frank and Mildred Bluntzer. When she was four-years-old her family moved to the “Bluntzer Ranch,” as she calls it. It was mostly a farm where geese, goats, horses and cattle were plentiful. Although she was not much of a farmer–she picked one row of cotton and decided it wasn’t for her–she loved the animals.

Sister Barbara Bluntzer, SP teaches Catholic school children about Lent at a retreat held in St. Pius X Church. Mary Cottingham, South Texas Catholic

Her father and mother worked hard. Sister Barbara helped take care of the animals and went to school in a one-room rural schoolhouse that served 12 students in grades one through six. While living with her grandmother, she attended Incarnate Word Academy for a year. She then moved to Robstown with her parents and younger brother John Lloyd to finish school at Robstown High.

In those days the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods served at St. John Nepomucene Parish and School in Robstown. What she remembers most about the sisters was going to their convent on Saturdays and being there at the auspicious moment when cookies were coming out of the oven. Smiling she said, “I made it my business to show up at just the right time.” She would sit out on the back porch, eat cookies and visit with the sisters.

Sister Barbara’s sense of adventure can be attributed to her fond memories of going to summer camp with the Girl Scouts. “I was not a member of the scouts, but my mother was able to pull some strings. I have many happy memories of singing, dancing, arts and crafts, archery, horse riding, learning the Pledge of Allegiance and sleeping outside under the stars,” she said.

After high school she went to Seton School of Nursing for six months, only to realize nursing was not for her. At this point in her life she had never considered entering the convent. It was not until she went to visit a friend who was to receive her habit at the Motherhouse in Indiana that she discovered she loved their way of life.

“I experienced a change when I went to visit the Sisters of Providence,” she said.

After two and a half years of being a novice she began teaching. “Teaching is the congregation’s predominate mission. I prepared to be a grade school teacher,” she said. “In those days you learned as you taught. The education came later.”

Sister Barbara earned her bachelor’s at St. Mary-of-the-Woods and her master’s degree in education from Indiana University in Bloomington. In 1952 she began teaching in elementary schools, eventually teaching seventh and eighth graders. She taught in Indianapolis and Terre Haute, Indiana, St. Louis, Missouri, Oklahoma City and Robstown.

She was a Director of Religious Education for a number of years in parishes in Portland, Texas, La Feria and Mission, Texas, Somerset, Kentucky, Benton, Illinois and taught in the schools in the Diocese of Corpus Christi from 1993-2004, including St. John Nepomucene in Robstown, Archbishop Oscar Romero Middle School (then at St. Joseph Parish in Corpus Christi) and St. Pius X. For 20 years Sister Barbara was on the Literacy Council in south Texas and held workshops helping migrants learn how to read.

Sister Barbara loves to travel and she also works with a travel agency to organize trips. She spent a month in China, has been to Rome several times, including when their congregation’s foundress was beatified. She has taken people on trips to Austria, Canada, Costa Rica, the Netherlands, Alaska and places in between. Presently, she is getting a group together to go to Ireland in June.

Although she is now retired, Sister Barbara continues to dedicate her life to the ministry of being God’s Providence in the world. She shows no sign of slowing down and continues to stay busy from 9 a.m.–5 p.m. and then some. She begins the day with a short form of the Liturgy of the Hours and does a spiritual reading at night just before she goes to bed.

Sister Barbara’s advice to discerning women interested in joining a congregation is to, “ask themselves, what are my values? Do I want to be a member of this congregation, are the sisters happy and are they being fulfilled?”