ADRIAN, MICH.—Sister Ursula Ording, formerly Sister James Peter Ording, died on April 15 at McCloud Medical Center in Florence, S.C. She was 78 and in the 60th year of her religious profession in the Adrian Dominican Congregation.
A Communion service was held at St. Catherine Chapel and interment was in the congregation cemetery on April 26.
Sister Ursula was born in Lansing to James and Neva Fuller Ording. She graduated from Resurrection High School in Lansing and received a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry from Siena Heights College in Adrian and a Master of Arts degree in earth science from Wesleyan University in Middletown, Conn.
She spent 24 years working in education in Adrian and Detroit; Maywood, Ill.; Melbourne, Fort Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach, Fla.; Grafton, W.Va.; and Los Angeles. She was a high school teacher at Rosarian Academy, an Adrian Dominican institution in West Palm Beach, for 10 years.
Sister Ursula was co-founder of the To Kalon Art Center in Los Gatos, Calif., where she worked for seven years. She was also an art teacher for three years at the To Kalon Art Center in Cohasset, Mass.
She became the director of Springbank Retreat Center in Kingstree, S.C., in 1986. In 2003, she retired but remained as a volunteer.
Sister Ursula is survived by a brother, Joseph Ording, of Santa Rosa, Calif., and members of her congregation.