ST. LOUIS — Sister Francis Marie Thrailkill, OSU, died peacefully Oct. 2 at Our Lady of Wisdom Healthcare Center in New Orleans. She was a former president of Springfield College in Illinois.

The daughter of Franklin and Mary Myrtle Huggins Thrailkill, she was born Barbara Ann Thrailkill on Sept. 21, 1937, in San Antonio, Texas. She graduated from Ursuline Academy in San Antonio and entered the Ursuline Sisters in 1955, making her vows in 1958.

She earned a bachelor’s degree in history from the College of New Rochelle in New Rochelle, N.Y.; a master’s degree in sociology from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wis.; and a doctorate in educational administration from Nova University in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

An outstanding educator, Sister Francis Marie taught at Ursuline academies in New Orleans and Dallas, Texas, where she also served as principal. She was president of Springfield College from 1978 to 1987. She also was president of Mount St. Joseph University in Mount St. Joseph, Ohio, from 1987 to 2007, and later served as interim president of Chatfield College in St. Martin, Ohio, and Wheeling Jesuit University in Wheeling, West Va.

She was preceded in death by two brothers, Franklin (Irene) and Robert Thrailkill, and a sister, Mary Francis Thrailkill Grohman (Fred). She is survived by many nieces and nephews.

A funeral Mass was celebrated Oct. 10 at the National Votive Shrine of Our Lady of Prompt Succor in New Orleans. Burial was at the Ursuline Sisters’ mausoleum on the Ursuline Academy campus.

Gifts in memory of Sister Francis Marie may be made to the Ursuline Sisters Retirement Fund, 353 S. Sappington Road, St. Louis, MO 63122.