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June 19, 2019, Miami, Florida – Sister Jeanne O’Laughlin, OP, is being remembered in South Florida for her dedicated service as President of Barry College – later University – from 1981 to 2004. She was instrumental in increasing enrollment from 1,750 to more than 7,000 and for leading the growth of the school in terms of programs and buildings.
Sister Jeanne was also remembered for her extensive involvement in the Miami-Dade County community and in higher education. She was the first woman to serve on the Orange Bowl Committee, and was involved in Miami’s recovery from Hurricane Andrew; in the homeless crisis both in Florida and in Michigan; and as mediator in the 1999-2000 Elián González custody battle between his father in Cuba and his relatives in Miami. Sister Jeanne’s powerful life and her death at the age of 90 on June 18, 2019, brought extensive coverage on the Barry University website, in The Miami Herald, in The New York Times, Patch.com, and on television stations 4 and 10 in Miami. Sister Jeanne was recently featured on the "Life Well Lived" segment of TODAY.
Sister Jeanne’s Prayer Vigil will be held at 7:00 p.m. Monday, June 24, 2019, in St. Catherine Chapel at the Adrian Dominican Sisters Motherhouse in Adrian, Michigan, and her funeral will take place in St. Catherine Chapel at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, June 25, 2019. Both events will be live streamed. Barry University will also hold a memorial service at a later date. Click here to view Sister Jeanne's obituary.