October 23, 1937 – May 3, 2019

Sister Barbara Becnel, OSU, known for a time as Sister Marie Sarto, died peacefully May 3, 2019, at Our Lady of Wisdom Healthcare Center in New Orleans, Louisiana.

The daughter of Albin J. Becnel and Ione Anderson Becnel, she was born Oct. 23, 1937, in New Orleans. She graduated from Ursuline Academy in New Orleans and entered the Ursuline Sisters in July 1955, making her vows in January 1958.

She earned a bachelor’s degree in English from The College of New Rochelle in New Rochelle, New York.; a master’s degree in English from Saint Louis University; and a master’s degree in psychiatric social work from Tulane University in New Orleans.

Sister Barbara taught in Dallas, Texas; Kirkwood, Missouri; Springfield, Illinois; and New Orleans. She also was a counselor for religious women in the Archdiocese of St. Louis and had private counseling practices in St. Louis and in Ogden, New York. She spent her last years of active service in pastoral ministry in a rural community in Labrador, Canada.

A funeral Mass was celebrated Saturday, May 11, at the National Votive Shrine of Our Lady of Prompt Succor in New Orleans.