Jubilarian 2021 - Sister Ann Albrecht

Sister Ann Albrecht was born in St. Louis, Missouri. She entered the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet in 1945 and was received into the novitiate in 1946 as Sister Thomas Borgia. She earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Fontbonne College in 1963 and a master’s degree in library science from Rosary College (now Dominic University) in River Forest, Illinois, in 1969.

Sister Ann’s 75 years of service as a Sister of St. Joseph was dedicated to education and deaf ministry. Her first 26 years were served in Catholic schools. From 1948 to 1960, Sister Ann taught at Holy Cross Grade School in Champaign, Illinois. In the 1960s, she taught in St. Louis and in Kansas City, Missouri. She was principal and teacher at St. John the Evangelist Grade School in Valdosta, Georgia, then librarian at St. Teresa’s Academy in Kansas City, 1969-1974.

Born of deaf parents, Sister Ann long desired to serve that community. Her extensive service in deaf ministry began in 1974 when she became the first full-time deaf minister in the Kansas City area, a ministry which stretched nearly 40 years and extended far beyond diocesan/Catholic boundaries. She headed the Kansas City, Kansas Archdiocesan Office of Ministry to the Deaf from 1974 to 2001. For the next 14 years, she continued serving that community as a volunteer.

In 2005, Sister Ann was awarded the “Person of the Year Award” by the National Catholic Office of the Deaf in recognition for the ways she encouraged those too often forgotten to use their many gifts in service of the church.

Sister Ann retired in 2015 and lives at Nazareth Living Center in St. Louis where she continues to carry out her ministry of prayer and presence.