ACADEMICS - Ursuline Academy

In Memoriam
The Ursuline community lost two dear friends in the past
few months, Sister Gabriel Behler and Mary Jane
Schimanski A’Hearn ‘45. While a difficult adjustment to
Sr. Gabriel’s absence from the Development Department and
alumnae events was made some years ago, Mary Jane’s
absence is still fresh and painful. Both women loved Ursuline
with all their hearts and cherished their long associations
with the school and the friends they made.
They will be sorely missed.
Sister Gabriel Behler, OSU
Teacher, Directress and Guiding Light
The Ursuline community mourns the loss and celebrates the
life of our beloved Sister Gabriel who spent the better part of
her 95 years working at and for the school she loved so well.
The following is an article which appeared in the Cincinnati Enquirer.
Sister Gabriel (Margaret) Behler, a member of the Ursulines
of Brown County, died April 7 at Mount Notre Dame Health
Care Center in Reading at the age of 95.“Sister Gabriel never
met a stranger, never forgot a face or a name,” said Robin
Galvin, director of communications for Ursuline Academy in
Blue Ash. “Her memory was phenomenal ... Her spirit was so
large.” Sister Gabriel grew up in Northside, the eldest of two
sisters and three brothers. Throughout grade school she seemed
to always know she wanted to be a nun, said her sister, Adele
Dolan of Mariemont.
She attended School of the Brown County Ursulines in St.
Martin, Ohio. Following graduation, she returned home,
working as a secretary to help support the family. Later, she
went back to Brown County where she professed her vows
on Aug. 9, 1937.
For more than 50 years, Sister Gabriel was involved with
Ursuline Academy in Blue Ash. She was a history teacher,
principal, director of development and director of alumnae.
From 1958-1964, she was Superior General of the Ursulines
of Brown County and principal of the school of Brown
County Ursulines from 1964-67.
“She was all of these things,” said Shirley Speaks, who was
executive director of Ursuline for 30 years and worked
alongside Sister Gabriel, “and still she came back to help set up
the development office. She toiled every day, getting the
database set up, and to help with successful fundraising. She
set the ground work.”
“We lovingly teased her. She never lost her ‘Mother Superior’
approach. She could weigh in on a subject, and then we would
laugh. She was a wonderful ambassador for our school,” Speaks
said. “She was a master.”
“She was smart, had a big heart, a strong commitment to
excellence and she was straight out honest, but not blunt. She
was confident,” said her niece, Maureen Schwab of West Chester.
“For her religious order and for Ursuline Academy, she was more
than a blip on the screen. At various times, she was the whole
screen,” Galvin said. “She always had a very peaceful way about
her,” her niece said. “She was my teacher, too, and to all of my
sisters. She expected people to do their best.”
In addition to her sister and niece, Sister Gabriel is survived by
her brothers, the Rev. Donald Behler of Cincinnati, and William
Behler of Columbus, Ind.; and many nieces and nephews.
Visitation and Mass were held in the chapel at Brown County.
Memorials: Sister Gabriel Behler Scholarship Fund,
Ursuline Academy, 5535 Pfeiffer Road,
Cincinnati, OH 45242.
42 VOICES SUMMER 2009