Sister M. Christina Kraus, OSF, longtime teacher, died July 30, 2019, at Niagara Hospice, Lockport. She was 91.

The former Barbara Kraus was born May 25, 1928, in Columbus, Ohio, to Anthony and Florentia (Schwilk) Kraus.

Sister Christina entered the Sisters of St. Francis of Penance and Christian Charity on Aug. 17, 1950, at Stella Niagara, after graduating from St. Aloysius Academy in New Lexington, Ohio. She professed her first vows on Aug. 18, 1952, and perpetual vows exactly five years later.

She went on to earn a bachelor's degree from Rosary Hill (now Daemen) College in Amherst and a master's in Catechetics from the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

Sister Christina began her teaching career in 1952 at St. Benedict School in Eggertsville. She went on to teach at Buffalo Academy of the Sacred Heart in Amherst, Bishop McMahon High School in Buffalo and Stella Niagara Seminary at Stella Niagara. She later taught at Holy Rosary School in Columbus, Ohio, and St. Aloysius Academy, New Lexington, Ohio. She then served in the field of pastoral ministry and outreach.

Sister Christina established the St. Francis Center in McArthur, Ohio, as a pastoral evangelization and outreach center and ministered there from 1979 to 1995. After her retirement, she continued to volunteer in various ways for many years in Perry, Fairfield, Jackson and Vinton Counties in Ohio. In 1995, she was honored by the Catholic Extension Society with their "Lumen Christi Award" for "bringing the light of Christ to southeastern Ohio. She retired in southeastern Ohio and became a resident of the Stella Niagara Health Center in the fall of 2018.

Sister Christina is survived by her sister, Shirley Irish.

A funeral Mass will be held at the Sisters' Chapel, Stella Niagara on Aug. 3.