Sr. Kathleen Houlihan, IHM, died April 26 in the Health Care Center of the IHM Motherhouse in Monroe. She was 91 and had been under Mercy Memorial Hospice Care of Monroe.

Sr. Houlihan was one of eight children — three boys and five girls — of Simon and Marie (Beck) Houlihan. She was born July 3, 1920, in Detroit and given the name Kathleen. She graduated from St. Mary of Redford High School in Detroit and became a member of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, in Monroe in 1939, taking the religious name of Sr. Ansbert.

Sr. Houlihan earned a bachelor’s degree from Marygrove College and a master’s from Wayne State University. She taught and ministered in administration in formal education for 50 years at Hall of the Divine Child, Monroe; Blessed Sacrament, St. Gregory, Epiphany and Gesu, Detroit; Sacred Heart, Roseville; St. Frederick, Pontiac; SS. Peter and Paul, Ionia; St. Felicitas, Chicago; St. Monica, Mobile, Ala.; St. Joseph, Trenton, St. John, Fenton; Our Lady of Lourdes, River Rouge; and St. Norbert, Inkster. Sr. Houlihan also taught at Daniel O’Sullivan School in Flint, the Human Resource Center in Monroe and the Reading Clinic at Marygrove College.

In 1991, Sr. Houlihan returned to Monroe to become the assistant director of the Literary Arts Resource Center (LARC) in St. Mary’s Center and also ministered for two years on the hospitality staff at St. Mary Center. She retired to the IHM Motherhouse and volunteered in the IHM gift shop until she entered the health care center, where she remained until her death.

Sr. Houlihan is survived by her sisters, Ruth; Sr. Eileen (Mary Gael), IHM; Mother Mary Simon, FMM; her brothers, Simon and Michael, and nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her brother, Thomas, and her twin sister, Mrs. Edward Petras.

Burial was in St. Mary Cemetery on the Motherhouse Campus. Memorials may be made to the IHM Retirement Fund, 610 W. Elm Ave., Monroe, MI 48162-7909.