Sr. Elizabeth Farrer CSJ

Elizabeth Ann (Betty) Farrer was born in Sioux City, Iowa, on February 19, 1938, the daughter of Vincent and Dorothy (Wehde) Farrer. She was a member of St. Dismas in Waukegon, Illinois, at the time of her entrance into the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary on February 3, 1958. On July 26, 1976 she entered the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Nazareth and made her vows on June 7, 1980.

Sister Betty earned her BA Degree in 1967 from Clarke in Dubuque, Iowa with a major in history and a minor in education and art. In 1971 she graduated from Western Michigan University with a Master’s Degree as a teacher of reading. Sister Betty began her mission in the Reading Center at Nazareth College. In 1981 she moved to St. Clair, Michigan where she was a social worker at the Blue Water Home for the Elderly. She then worked in the Office of Aging and Vietnamese Refugee Program in the Diocese of Gaylord, Michigan. At St Michael’s in Port Austin, Michigan, Sister Betty was the Principal/Director of Education and at St. David in Lexington, Michigan, she was the Director of Religious Education/Pastoral Minister. In 1987 Sister Betty spent a year in Pipestone, Minnesota as a Pastoral Associate. Sister Betty then moved to Sioux City, Iowa and was both the principal and teacher at Sacred Heart in Spencer, Iowa. For the next six years, Sister Betty was the Pastoral Minister at St. Mary Parish Center in Schuyler, Nebraska, St. Jude in Havre, Montana, and St. Benedict Church in Terre Haute, Indiana. In 2001, Sister Betty volunteered at the Shepherd’s Center in Kalamazoo, Michigan which was a non-profit agency that offered programs that promote vital aging.

At the time of her death Sr. Betty was a resident at Ascension Living Borgess Place, Kalamazoo MI. Sr. Betty was recognized for her beautiful voice and love for classical music. Often, she sat and listened to or “directed” the familiar music score. From the first moment of her life until her moment of final rest, Sr. Betty knew her heart to be on a journey. She identified that journey with the CSJ charism of the “more” and found the “more” in her love for God as Trinity and the Blessed Mother. May Sister Betty now find peace, joy, and rest in the God of great love who has called her home to eternal life.

May She Rest in Peace!