Johanne (Anna Louise) Pedersen

"Sister Johanne Pedersen, a Sister of St. Joseph for 71 years, passed away at the Sisters of St. Joseph Convent in Baton Rouge on Saturday, September 20, 2020 at age 91. She was born in Jackson, Louisiana to the late Svend Karl and Ada Bouche Pedersen and baptized Anna Louise. Besides her parents she is pre-deceased by her sister, Elvira Pedersen Broome. Sister Johanne graduated from St. Joseph's Academy in Baton Rouge in 1946 and worked at the school as secretary and basketball coach for three years until entering the novitiate of the Sisters of St. Joseph in New Orleans in 1949. She professed first vows in 1952 and perpetual vows in 1955. Sister Johanne graduated from Loyola University New Orleans in 1960 with a B.S. in Elementary Education and a Master of Arts in Education in administration and supervision from the University of Notre Dame in 1969. She also earned certification as a master catechist for the Diocese of Baton Rouge. Her dedication to 50 years in the ministry of Catholic education began in 1949 with the singular distinction of teaching religion one year as a postulant to the fourth graders at St. Joseph Academy in New Orleans. In 1955 she became a fulltime teacher for six years at St. Rose de Lima School in New Orleans. She then taught at St. Joseph's Academy in Baton Rouge, St. Mary's Parochial School in New Roads, La. and Guardian Angels School in Cincinnati, Oh. In 1961 she returned to St. Joseph's Academy as teacher and principal of the elementary school. By 1967 she was a teacher and assistant principal at St. Thomas More School for 15 years. She served as principal from 1982 to 1995. Following a year's sabbatical Sister Johanne spent five years as assistant principal at St. Alphonsus School in Greenwell Springs, La. while serving simultaneously as secretary for the Federation of St. Joseph, a task she devotedly carried out for another five years until 2011. After that and until the pandemic put the Baton Rouge convent on lockdown, Sister Johanne offered her considerable bookkeeping and administrative skills to the Society of St. Vincent de Paul in Baton Rouge.Sister Johanne had many interests ranging from travel to sewing, baking, handwork, gardening, keeping in touch with friends, classmates, former colleagues and students, and family including the family of her dear friend, Sister Phyllis Manda. Special thanks to the staff at the convent in Baton Rouge and Home Instead and to Audubon Hospice for their care during Sister Johanne's final days. A mass of Christian burial, officiated by Rev. Jon Koehler, will be held at 10:30 am Wednesday, September 30, at St. Thomas More Church, 11441 Goodwood Blvd, Baton Rouge, La. Interment of cremains will follow at Roselawn Cemetery. Donations in Sister Johanne's memory may be made to the Sisters of St. Joseph, 3134 Hundred Oaks Avenue, Baton Rouge, La. 70808.