Mary Lillian Baumann, CSJ
January 28, 1938 - May 28, 2024
Kind, generous, a hard worker
Lillian and William Baumann of Indianapolis, Indiana, welcomed their second child, a daughter, whom they named Anna Lois, on January 28, 1938. She and her older brother eventually welcomed two more brothers. Sadly, when Anna was about 11 years old, their mother died after giving birth to her fourth son who also died. For the next couple of years, the boys lived with their dad and Anna lived with her aunt. When her dad remarried, she returned home.
Anna attended Sacred Heart grade and high school, both of which were staffed by the Sisters of St. Joseph. After high school graduation, she got a job at Indiana Bell Telephone for a year. Then, in 1957, she entered the Sisters of St. Joseph community where she received the habit and the name Sister Mary Lillian in 1958. In 1962, after completing her education at Fontbonne University, she was sent to teach primary students at St. Joseph School in Marietta, Georgia. It was at that time when the bishop integrated the school. Sister Lillian had the school’s first African American child in her classroom.
Her next assignment was at St. Joseph Industrial School in Keshena, Wisconsin (1967). From
1974 to 1979, she taught primary students at Holy Angels in Indianapolis. The Metropolitan Citizens Organization of Indianapolis offered her the opportunity of becoming involved as a neighborhood betterment worker. She became the associate director of the group from 1981 until 1985. She then moved to St. Louis where she became involved with the Father Tolton Catholic Outreach Center. She continued there until 1993 when she took some transition time to consider her next endeavor.
In 1994, S. Lillian became part of CSJ Sister Care and ministered at Nazareth Living Center. (NLC) Then, in 1997, she became a member of the Community Life Staff at NLC until 2004. After she took a sabbatical, S. Lillian came to live at the Carondelet Motherhouse and worked in the St. Louis Province Development Office, beginning as a receptionist in 2005. While continuing in the Development Office, she transitioned to a part-time donor relations assistant, a position she held until 2019, when she moved to Nazareth Living Center.
S. Lillian “was my associate leader in the Medaille II Community. She was so kind to help when she was needed. ... I will miss her. May she rest in peace,” says Associate Carolyn "Sue" Allender.
Associate Patrick McDowell visited S. Lillian at Nazareth and recalls, “She was always cheerful and in a happy mood with a smile on her face. ... Sister was more interested in the welfare and health of others rather than in herself.”
Associate Patty Cassens met S. Lillian in the Mission Advancement Office (formerly Development) in 2009. She shares, “S. Lillian was such a delight. ... She was truly a devoted sister to her community and a good friend.”
By Sister Helen Oates