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Sister Bernita Hessling, O.P., who taught at Our Lady of Refuge School in the Bronx, died Feb. 22 at the Dominican Motherhouse in Sinsinawa, Wis. She was 77.
She taught at Our Lady of Refuge from 1964 to 1969. She also taught at schools in Chicago and Denver, and in Milwaukee and Madison, Wis.
She was associate director of religious education for the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, 1982-1985, and earlier served as director of religious education at parishes in Illinois and Michigan. More recently, she served at parishes in Texas and Nebraska.
Born in Peoria, Ill., she made final vows with the Sinsinawa Dominicans in 1956.
She is survived by two sisters, Dolores Hessling and Rita Turman, and two brothers, Charles and John.
A Funeral Mass was offered Feb. 28 at Queen of the Rosary Chapel in Sinsinawa. Burial was in the motherhouse cemetery.
