Sister Barbara Jean Fry, CDP
November 3, 1945 – November 20, 2024
Sister Barbara Jean Fry, CDP, entered eternal life November 20, 2024 at the age of 79. Parents Kenneth and Geraldine (Anholt) Fry and brother Jim lived in Norman, Oklahoma. They welcomed her into their family on November 3, 1945, in a hospital located in nearby Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Answering God’s call, she joined the Congregation of Divine Providence (CDP) and professed first vows August 2, 1966.
Within the following 58 years, Sister Barbara made significant contributions to her Congregation and its mission. Her service to Church and society was multi-faceted as she assumed various roles: teacher, diocesan associate vocation director, campus minister, spiritual director, mental health worker, and medical social worker in Texas, Louisiana, Ohio, Illinois, and Ontario, Canada. In San Antonio, she served as a medical/clinical social worker, health educator and advocate, retreat and spiritual director, and photographer.
Sister Barbara earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Our Lady of the Lake College in San Antonio, Texas; pursued a Master of Christian Spirituality from Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska; and received a Master’s of Social Work from Jane Addams’ College of Social Work, University of Illinois, Chicago, Illinois.
To her CDP communities, to those she served in ministry, and to her other friends, Sister Barbara offered encouragement, challenge, ingenuity and devoted service. She especially cared about the well-being of the infirm and elderly. She was often seen carrying a camera. Her vast inventory of pictures was used for congregational publications, videos, and creating cards to lift people’s spirits.
As a victim of different cancers herself, she helped initiate the “Survivors Teaching Students: Saving Women’s Lives” Program of the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance (2006) at the University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio. She reported, “Every six weeks survivors of ovarian cancer share stories with third-year medical students so that symptoms can be found for early detection….” Within its first 10 years, 1500 medical students participated in this ongoing program.
Her most recent project focused on a Venezuelan migrant family. She helped them secure basic needs, legal help, employment, housing, education, and childcare. As the father observed, “She was a mother to my son.”
Sister Barbara is survived and cherished by her Sisters of Divine Providence, her other friends, and many she helped through ministry. She was preceded in death by her parents Kenneth and Geraldine (Anholt) Fry, and brother Jim.
The Rosary will be held on Monday, December 2, 2024, at 4:00 p.m., and the Wake will take place later that day at 6:30 p.m. A Mass of Resurrection will be celebrated on Tuesday, December 3, 2024, at 11:00 a.m. All services will take place in Annunciation Chapel, at Our Lady of the Lake Convent, 603 SW 24th Street, 78207.
In lieu of flowers, you may wish to make a memorial contribution to the Sisters of Divine Providence, 603 S.W. 24th Street, San Antonio, Texas 78207-4619.