SISTER JOHANILLA KIELHAFNER

NEW HAMBURG -- Sister Johanilla Kielhafner, 101, who had been an Adorer of the Blood of Christ for 83 years, died Saturday, Sept. 3, 1994, at Clementine Hall, the residence for sisters who are ill in Ruma, Ill.

A funeral Mass will be held Wednesday for Sister Johanilla, who was the oldest member of the Adorers of the Blood of Christ, Ruma Province. The Rev. Jack Joyce, chaplain for the Provincial House, will officiate. Burial will be in the convent cemetery.

A wake service was held Tuesday.

A native of New Hamburg, the former Clara Kielhafner was born Aug. 7, 1893, daughter of John and Helen Diebold Kielhafner. She was one of seven children. As a youngster, Clara and her father and older sister attended the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis.

In 1909, she entered the Adorers of the Blood of Christ at Ruma and professed her first vows on July 13, 1911, taking the religious name Sister Johanilla.

Beginning in 1912, Sister Johanilla taught elementary school for 60 years at Catholic schools including St. Augustine School at Kelso.

She retired to the Ruma Provincial House, where she engaged in prayer and handiwork, including making bookmarks for students in Catholic grade schools both in the United States and in mission countries.

She is survived by one sister, Rose Lanham of St. Louis; nieces and nephews.