Birth: October 31, 1916
Profession: August 5, 1942
Death: August 1, 2006

Sister Alicia M. Sarre, longtime professor of Spanish at the University of San Diego, died Tuesday  (August. 1, 2006) of heart failure at Oakwood Convent of the Sacred Heart, Atherton, California. She was 90 and had been a Religious of the Sacred Heart for 69 years.

Sister Sarre was born in Mexico City, Mexico. She came to the United States at age 16 to study at the Convent of the Sacred Heart, Lake Forest, Illinois. She followed her sibling, the late Sister Dolores Sarre, into the Society of the Sacred Heart, entering in 1934, professing her first vows in 1937, and her final vows in 1942. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Barat College, Lake Forest, Illinois, majoring in French. She earned a master’s degree in French from Marquette University in 1940 and a doctorate in Romance Languages from Stanford University in 1945.

During the late 1930s and early 1940s, Sister Sarre taught Spanish, French and Latin in schools operated by her religious order in Lake Forest and in Omaha, Nebraska. From 1946 to 1951, she taught Spanish at Barat College. She moved to San Diego the following year, in 1952, to teach at San Diego College for Women, predecessor to the University of San Diego.

Sister Sarre remained on the school’s faculty until 1982, seeing it through its transition to the University of San Diego in 1972 in a merger with San Diego University, a school for men.

Following her retirement from teaching in 1982, Sister Sarre worked for the Diocese of San Diego as director of the Office of Hispanic Evangelization and as assistant director of adult faith formation for the diocese. She moved to Oakwood, a retirement facility for members of her religious order.

A funeral Mass will be celebrated for Sister Sarre at 9 a.m. Saturday, August 5, at Oakwood, followed by burial in the convent cemetery. She is survived by a sister, Elena de Orvananos of Mexico City. A memorial Mass will be held at the University of San Diego, Founders Chapel, on September 15 at 12:15 pm.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Society of the Sacred Heart, 4100 Forest Park Avenue, Suite A, St. Louis, MO 63108.