Sister Barbara Hansen, OP
Deceased
October 19, 1938 – July 19, 2026
Entered eternal life on July 19, 2026 at the age of 87 after 69 years of religious life. We commend Sister Barbara to your prayers.
“It is hard to lift off. So many tethers hold me fast to earth, to duty, to safe and solid places. But what if I slit those ropes that bind? One, by one, by one. What would it feel like? What might I see? Might not it be Divinity?” ~ excerpt from poem written by Sr. Barbara, 2013
Born October 19, 1938, Barbara was the daughter of Eugene and Romana (Weber) Hansen. She was raised in Hannah, Michigan, along with two brothers, Roger and Don, and her sisters, Lynne and Jan. Later in life, Barbara was delighted to discover another sister, Mary Ann, who had been placed for adoption shortly after birth. The family owned and operated a grocery store and gas station, where Barbara learned the values of hard work and responsibility at an early age, helping in the business from the age of six.
Barbara often credited both her years of schooling with the Dominican Sisters and her family’s values for building the foundation that led to her successes in life. Her mother frequently reminded her, “If you see what needs to be done, do it.” Barbara lived those words throughout her life.
After graduating from high school, Barbara entered the congregation and began studies at Aquinas College in the field of science. Thus began a distinguished career in education, first teaching at Blessed Sacrament School in Grand Rapids and later at Holy Rosary Academy in Bay City. Following the tragic automobile accident in 1962 that claimed the lives of five Dominican Sisters, she was transferred to St. John’s High School in Essexville to fill the vacancy left by the science teacher who had died in the accident that devastated the school’s sister faculty.
Barbara’s intellectual gifts were soon recognized. In 1964 she was sent to the University of Mississippi, where she earned a Master of Combined Science degree. She continued her studies at the University of Oklahoma in Norman, receiving a doctorate in Analytical Chemistry. While in Norman, she experienced the renewal of the Second Vatican Council through the vibrant campus parish of St. Thomas More, where she formed friendships that endured throughout her life.
In 1970, Barbara joined the faculty of Aquinas College, teaching chemistry and science education. She was soon appointed Chair of the Division of Natural Sciences. Her gifts for leadership and administration quickly became evident, leading to her appointment as Academic Vice President, a position she held for the next eight years.
Seeking a period of renewal, Sister Barbara took a sabbatical at Washington Theological Union. That experience deepened her relationship with God and prepared her for four years of ministry as Pastoral Associate at St. Rose of Lima Parish in Gaithersburg, Maryland. In her own words, it was here that she learned to “pastor souls.”
In 1988, Sister Barbara was elected Vicaress and Councilor for Finance for the congregation. During this period, much of Marywood’s living space was renovated, Dominican Center at Marywood was established, portions of the West Wing were leased to nonprofit organizations, and the congregation made significant advances in corporate social responsibility. She also served on the Board of the Interfaith Center for Corporate Responsibility.
In 1994, she was elected Prioress. Attentive to the needs around her, Barbara envisioned and implemented several important initiatives. Among them were two efforts to foster a healthier community life. The SISTER program trained sisters in empathic listening, and alternative housing options were established in New Mexico and Grand Rapids. Deeply aware of the growing needs of unhoused women in Grand Rapids, she arranged for the former Aquin Hall to be leased to the Salvation Army for transitional housing.
After twelve years in congregational leadership, Sister Barbara devoted time to personal renewal. Through a study tour, she traveled to Greece and Turkey, spent an extended period in solitude at the Hermitage in Three Rivers, completed a month-long experience at Jonah House, and undertook an internship at the Community Media Center.
That internship led to an entirely new ministry born of her vision of preaching God’s Word in the “marketplace” through contemporary media. As Community Outreach Coordinator for the Community Media Center, she produced over sixty reflections for GRTV, initiated and produced programs for nonprofit organizations, and co-hosted City Connection with Grand Rapids Mayor George Heartwell. She also chaired the Grand Rapids Dominican community’s Preaching Through Media Committee.
Sister Barbara’s direct response to human need was evident in countless ways. One memorable example was the massive garage sale she organized with other sisters to raise funds for a mission trip to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Armed with mops and buckets, they traveled south to help clean schools and offer hope to those whose lives had been devastated by the storm.
She served on numerous professional and community boards. Two ministries held particular significance: her service on the board of St. John’s Home—later D.A. Blodgett–St. John’s—and her work with parents of adults with developmental disabilities in establishing Guardian Angel Homes. She was also a founding member of Women in Black, an advocacy group dedicated to peace. In 2003, the Greater Grand Rapids Women’s History Council honored her as one who “shines light both within and outside” the broader civic community.
Friends and colleagues remember Sister Barbara as a brilliant and balanced thinker, admired for her wisdom, sound judgment, honesty, and fairness. One colleague described her this way: “She is a woman of intelligence, integrity, and courage—a woman of compassion, never too weary to be concerned about someone else’s problem or pain.”
A lesser-known gift was Barbara’s poetry. Reflecting on the devastation of the seashore after Hurricane Sandy, she wrote:
“Miles of safe soul seashore washed away—to expose new possibilities, to lessen one’s grip on transitory things, to learn once more the lesson that that to which one clings—unless to God—lies within the realm of the Spirit’s wind to change, to transform, to teach the lesson of letting go.” Excerpt from Sandys of the Soul, Sr. Barbara Hansen, 2013.
And so now we must “let her go” to soar freely into the embrace of the loving God whom she sought, served, and trusted all her life.
Sr. Barbara is survived by sisters Mary Ann Wesley and Janet K. Hansen; brothers Roger (June) Hansen and Donald Hansen; nieces; nephews; cousins; friends; and members of her Dominican Community.
