Sister Karen Langhi

(S. Stephen Marie)
July 21, 1939 - April 24, 2020

"... friendly, warm, a good conversationalist" —Sister Barbara Volk

Bruno and Rose Mary (Happ) Langhi of Evanston, Illinois, welcomed their first child, Karen Rose on July 21, 1939. Eventually, four sisters and one brother followed. Karen’s parents moved to St. Louis during her childhood where Karen attended Presentation School. Her parents decided they needed a larger home for their family so Karen finished her elementary education at Our Lady of the Pillar. She really liked the Sisters of St. Joseph better than the Franciscans at Pillar. She made up her mind that she wanted to go to St. Joseph’s Academy for high school, but her parents told her it was too expensive. After some hard studying, Karen won a scholarship to St. Joseph’s Academy. Following graduation, she entered the Sisters of St. Joseph. “I felt an attraction to them, and I admired them as great educators,” Karen said.

She received the habit of the Sisters of St. Joseph and the name Sister Stephen Marie on March 13, 1958. Earning a bachelor’s degree in Latin/history/theology from Fontbonne College (1962), she began her ministry teaching junior high students at St. Elizabeth School in Kansas City, Missouri. Then, after three years teaching at St. Francis de Sales High in Denver, Colorado, she returned to Missouri where she spent 18 years at St. Thomas Aquinas High in Florissant (1966-1984). During that time, Sister Karen received
her master’s degree in Latin/classical studies from Loyola University-Chicago (1972).

The year 1984 brought changes to her life. She left education and became involved in parish ministry, directing liturgy and RCIA at Our Lady of Lourdes in Colusa, California. After a short time in transition, S. Karen moved to Our Lady of Mercy Parish in Redding, California, continuing in her parish work (1986-1990). During this time, she received a master’s degree in pastoral liturgy from Santa Clara University in Santa Clara, California (1990). That same year, she accepted a position at St. Isidore Church inDanville, California (1990-1997). From 1998 through 2002, she was a pastoral associate at St. Thomas of Canterbury Parish in San Jose, California. After a year of tutoring Latin in Campbell, California, she returned to St. Louis in 2003.

Back home, S. Karen continued as a Latin tutor for a few months before agreeing to teach a semester of Latin at Cor Jesu Academy. Ursuline Academy was next in need of a Latin teacher, a position S. Karen filled from 2004 until she retired in 2009.

Sisters Winifred Adelsberger and Helen Ryan shared,

Sister Karen was a good friend, a dear friend. She was an excellent innovative teacher. She had a thirst for knowledge in her field and about the world. She was an enthusiastic traveler. She and her friend, Sister Pauline Komrska, were good people—folks you could count on to laugh or cry with you.

In her retirement, S. Karen spent time volunteering, teaching part-time and continuing with what she loved, tutoring Latin. In 2017, she moved to Nazareth Living Center.

Associate Gerry Rauch, a massage therapist, mentioned that S. Karen enjoyed massages and “liked talking about her time in California, the ocean and her friendship with Sister Pauline. She was brave and sensitive of others’ feelings.”

It is not surprising, then, that while Associate Patrick McDowell was visiting S. Karen at Nazareth, he noticed a picture of the Golden Gate Bridge on the wall. “She told me, ‘I used to live there,’” says Patrick. “Although her voice was weak and soft, a sense of happiness and joy radiated from her face.” Realizing that it was such a special place for her, he imagined that many people there must have been touched by her ministry.

By Sister Helen Oates