Sister Barbara E. Ahrens Hanses, 93, a member of the Sisters of St. Francis of Savannah, Missouri, died on September 22, 2019, at La Verna Village Nursing Home in Savannah, Missouri.  Sister Barbara was born on May 7, 1926, in Chicago, IL, and was adopted into the family of Frederick and Catherine (Hessmer) Degenhardt.  Having a desire to enter religious life as a School Sister of Notre Dame, but never achieving this desire, she married and raised six children.  In the 1970's, her desire to become a Sister again came to the forefront, and discovering that she could, she entered the Sisters of St. Francis in Savannah, MO.  On February 2, 1980, she professed her vows.  Prior to entering religious life, she performed secretarial duties for the Corporation Counsel for the City of Chicago.  Her ministry with the sisters included secretarial and office work, bookkeeper for the La Verna Heights Nursing Home, and serving as a community councilor.  She also was in charge of the Sister' Unwed Mothers Program, acting as birthing coach for many young women.  She served on various boards: the Savannah Chamber of Commerce, the Christian Brothers Religious Medical Trust, EOC/CAP, and the Andrew County Ministries Board.  She was a court advocate for abused women, served on the St. Joseph's Mayor's AIDS Task Force, the AIDS Quilt Committee, and the AIDS Council of St. Joseph.  She also volunteered at the Good Samaritan HIV/AIDS Center in Kansas City.

She was preceded in death by her father, mother, her sons John and Raymond Ahrens, a grandson Tony Kramer, and a great-granddaughter Tanya Elizabeth Kramer.  She is survived by her daughters Virginia (Steve, deceased) Folio, Kathleen Kramer, Lynda Ahrens, and son Richard Ahrens; multiple grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great grandchildren, and her fellow sisters in religious community.

Mass of Christian Burial will be Thursday, October 3, at 10:00 AM in Our Lady of the Angels Chapel in the Sisters of St. Francis Provincial House.  Inurnment will be in the Sisters' Cemetery.

The Scriptural Wake Service will be held Wednesday, October 2, at 7:00 PM in the Mother Pia Ministry Center of the Provincial House.  Memorials may be left to the Sisters of St. Francis Ministry Fund or New Sisters' Fund.