A funeral Mass for Sister Loretta Gegen, ASC, was to be celebrated Friday, Feb. 24 in Wichita, Kan. She died Feb. 20 at the Adorers of the Blood of the Christ's Wichita Center. She was 91 and an Adorer of the Blood of Christ for 72 years.

Born Oct. 27, 1925, in Wichita, Sister Loretta entered the congregation in Wichita in 1943, professed first vows in 1945 and made permanent vows five years later.

She earned a bachelor's degree in elementary education from Mount St. Scholastica College in Atchison, Kan., in 1954, a master's degree in education and a doctorate in administration from St. Louis University and a master's in religious studies from Gonzaga University in 1991. She taught at Catholic schools in Kansas and spent five months in Brazil for doctoral studies, observing living conditions in villages in the Amazon River jungle and researching the effect of the Adorers' then-12 year mission in the area. The resulting book, "Amazonia," won second prize for "Best Book of 1963" of Pageant Press in New York.

In the 1960s through 1998, Sister Loretta was a college professor or administrator in Kansas and Oklahoma, served in leadership roles for the Oklahoma City, Okla., and Dodge City, Kan., dioceses, and served in her community's leadership in Wichita and Rome. She retired from active ministry in 1998, but continued in volunteer roles.

She's survived by a sister, Phyllis, and a brother, Don.