Jane Kehoe Hassett, CSJ
January 3, 1928 - December 29, 2024
Competent, strong, caring
Harry and Jeanette (Kehoe) Hassett of St. Louis welcomed their second daughter, Jane Kehoe, on January 3, 1928. Jane said in her oral history that most would see her childhood as privileged because her family had a live-in housekeeper as well as a lady that came in to do laundry. They traveled most summers, because her parents believed it was educational. The family lived in St. Margaret of Scotland Parish, but both Jane and her sister, Mary Ruth, were sent to Loretto Academy. Later, Jane followed her sister to Maryville College
(now University) in St. Louis, where she received a bachelor’s degree in history (1949). Then, Jane “went to business school to avoid going to work” but eventually took a secretarial position in downtown St. Louis.
She entered the Sisters of St. Joseph in 1951, receiving the habit and the name Sister Mary Barat in 1952. Later, she earned both a master’s (1960) and a doctorate (1967) in history from St. Louis University.
Sister Jane began her ministry in education as a teacher at Rosati-Kain High School in St. Louis from March to June in 1954. She went on to teach at St. Teresa's Academy in Kansas City, Missouri (1954); and Reicher High School in Waco, Texas (1955). S. Jane then taught elementary students at St. Gregory in St. Ann, Missouri (1956); and St. Agnes in St. Louis (1958). In January of 1960, S. Jane “was plucked out of my classroom to go to Fontbonne [College, now University] and fill in for a semester teaching Western Civilization.” She taught the next school year at Bishop Baraga High in Marquette, Michigan.
In 1962, when Sister Mary Shryock received a Fulbright scholarship to study organ in Paris, S. Jane was her travel companion. This was an opportunity to spend the year there doing research for her doctoral dissertation. When she returned home, she taught at Fontbonne (1963-1971), while also studying at St. Louis University earning her doctorate. In 1972, after spending the next year at the Office of Education in Washington D.C., S. Jane was appointed president of Fontbonne College (now University) and served in the position for 13 years. During that time, she received a Woman of Achievement Award from
the St. Louis Globe-Democrat (1981,1983) and was named Woman of the Year by the Mayor of Clayton, Missouri (1982). After leaving Fontbonne and a year-long sabbatical, S. Jane became the executive director for the Sisters Energy Conservation (1986). After a period of transition in 1990, she then served as administrator of Our Lady of Life Apartments (1991-1996).
S. Jane returned to Fontbonne in 1997, serving in the Advancement Office as records researcher, writer and archivist. She wrote two books on the school's history: As Strong as the Granite (2000) and A Decade of Growth (2010).
After retiring in 2012, S. Jane volunteered as an archival aide for Nazareth Living Center from 2014 until she moved there in 2019, joining in the mission of prayer and presence.
MEMORIES
Sister Paulette Gladis, chair of the Business and Economics Dept. at Fontbonne from 1970-1973: [S. Jane] was very straight forward … [she] managed to find humor in most situations. She was prayerful, humorous and supportive of the college faculty.
Nancy H. Blattner, Ph.D., CSJA, Fontbonne University President: S. Jane liked to refer to herself as ‘11’ when she and I spoke since she was the 11th president of Fontbonne College. She always called me ‘15’ since that was my number. It was our special way of addressing each other, and it meant so much to me.”