Sister Luke Hollerbach, OP, a member of the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia Congregation in Nashville for 63 years, died Sept. 22. She was 81.
Sister Luke, who was born in Michigan, was the daughter of the late Florian Joseph and La Verne Osberg Hollerbach. She attended Notre Dame High School in Chattanooga and entered the Dominican Sisters in 1960, making her profession of vows in 1962.
Sister Luke served as a teacher or principal in Catholic schools in Tennessee, Alabama, and Virginia from 1963 through 2006. In Nashville, she was a beloved kindergarten teacher at Overbrook School during the 1977-78 school year and from 1987-2005. Within the St. Cecilia Congregation, she served as subprioress of the motherhouse from 1993-2000, assisted in the novitiate from 1994-2004, and was elected vicaress general from 2006-12.
She is preceded in death by her brother, Steve Hollerbach, and is survived by her sister, Mrs. Kathy Carroll; her brother and sister-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph S. Hollerbach; nieces and nephews Matt and Littany Hollerbach and their children, Evelyn, Daphne, and Margaret; Ben and Hayley Hollerbach and their children, Elinor and Thacher; Angie and Rick Gattone; and Amy and Scott Ingell and their children, Sarah Faith, and Will.
Wakes for Sister Luke were held on Sept. 25 and Sept. 26 at the St. Cecilia motherhouse, with her funeral Mass following the Sept. 26 wake.
