Sister Shirley Owens, O.P. enters eternal life

Sister Shirley L. Owens, O.P., Montessori Directress at Sacred Heart School in Rockport, entered eternal life on June 26. Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Monday, July 2, at 10 a.m. at the Dominican Sisters Meeting Room of St. Dominic Villa with Msgr. Louis Kihneman presiding. Rite of Committal will follow at Forest Park Lawndale Cemetery in Houston.

Sister Shirley was born in Houston to the late Lenore Hebert Owens and William Dee Owens on Jan. 4, 1934. Her two sisters, Mary Jane Viebag and Eleanor Murray, preceded her in death. Her sister, Helen Kasper, her brothers-in-law and many nieces and nephews and great nieces and nephews, survive her.

After graduation from St. Agnes Academy, Sister Shirley entered the Dominican Sisters of Houston on Feb. 11, 1955. She professed her final vows on Aug. 15, 1961. Her 57 years of religious life included ministry in Houston, Port Arthur, Galveston, Austin and Rockport.

Sister Shirley was the co-foundress of St. Catherine Montessori Catholic School in Houston. She loved little children and spent all of her teaching career in the primary grades.

Sister’s body will be welcomed at St. Dominic Villa on Sunday, July 1, at 4 p.m. Wake service is at 7 p.m. on Sunday at the Dominican Sisters Meeting Room.

In lieu of the usual remembrance, donations may be made to one of the following: Dominican Sisters, 6501 Almeda Road, Houston, TX 77021; St. Catherine Montessori School, 9821 Timberside Dr., Houston, TX 77025; or Sacred Heart School, 111 N. Church, Rockport, TX 78382.