Sr. Louise Sharum OSB

Sister Louise Sharum, age 94, passed away on October 26, 2025, at Heart Hospice in Fort Smith, Arkansas, after a brief illness.  She was born on August 31, 1931, to Simon and Isabell Yutterman Sharum in Massard, Arkansas. Elizabeth Louise was the youngest of ten children. The family attended St. Boniface Catholic Church, where Elizabeth Louise was both baptized and confirmed. “Betty Lou” attended St. Boniface for her elementary education and St. Scholastica Academy for her high school years. 

She entered St. Scholastica Convent in August 1945, during her sophomore year of high school.  She had to wait until 1948 to be old enough to become a novice.  She made Temporary Profession on June 24, 1950, and Perpetual Profession on June 24, 1953. She was given the name Sister De Sales, but returned to Louise, her baptismal name, in 1967. She received her B.A. from Mount St. Scholastica College, Atchison, Kansas, her M.A. from St. Louis University, St. Louis, Missouri, and her Ph.D. in history from Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas. She served as an educator for many years, teaching grades one through college; she taught in Arkansas, Missouri, and Texas. In 1979, she received a Spiritual Director Certification from Our Lady of Guadalupe Monastery in Pecos, New Mexico.

Sister Louise crafted two histories of the monastery: Write the Vision Down, which detailed the first one hundred years of the monastery and was published in 1979; and the second, Until the Morning Star Rises, which continued the story of the monastery for the next twenty-five years and was published in 2004. 

In 1980, she presented the community with the idea of opening a house of prayer. On July 27, 1980, Hesychia House of Prayer at Shoal Creek, the original site of St. Scholastica Convent, received chapter approval. Sister Louise was the director of Hesychia House of Prayer from 1981 until 1985. She served as prioress from 1985 to 1993. After her time as prioress, she then returned to Shoal Creek as the director of Hesychia House of Prayer. She filled this role until 2021, when she stepped away from her duties as acting director. As the founding director, she worked with Director Sister Lisa Atkins, RSM, and Assistant Director Sister Anita DeSalvo, RSM,  to continue the mission of the House of Prayer. 

Sister Louise found joy, beauty, and spiritual wisdom in gardening, which is reflected in her works of poetry. Her most recent publication, On that Day, a reflective work, was published in 2024. She loved reading, cooking, baking, jelly-making, and making useful items from discarded materials.

Sister Louise is preceded in death by her parents; her siblings, Julia Cordelia Seibold, Daniel Sharum, James Michael Sharum, Mary Ebbing Wilhelm, Rose Weindel, Simon Sharum, Richard Sharum, Sister Veronica Sharum, OSB, and Father Peter Sharum, OSB; and an aunt, Sister Bernice Seibold, OSB. She is survived by her co-directors, Sisters Lisa Atkins, RSM, and Anita DeSalvo, RSM, her many beloved nieces, nephews, cousins, friends, and the members of her religious community.

The Vespers Service was on November 2, 2025, at 7:30 p.m.  The Funeral Mass was on November 3, 2025, at 10:30 a.m., with Father Jerome Kodell, OSB and Father Joseph Chan presiding. Both services were in the St. Scholastica Monastery Chapel.  Internment in the columbarium in St. Scholastica’s cemetery followed.  Memorials may be made to St. Scholastica Monastery Continuing Care Fund, 1315 S. Albert Pike Ave., Fort Smith, AR 72903.