The Creighton community lost a member who was known for her kindness and generosity.

Sr. Karlanne Hanna, RSM, passed away March 21 at the age of 69. She retired from her position in the Health Sciences Library in January and was living at Mercy Villa.

Hanna was born Jan. 30, 1940. After graduating from Omaha Mercy High School, she entered the Sisters of Mercy on Sept. 8, 1957.

She obtained a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Creighton and a master’s from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Sr. Norita Cooney, RSM, president of the Sisters of Mercy Midwest Community, went to high school with Hanna. They were both members of the debate team and they entered the Sisters of Mercy in the same year.

“She was brilliant; she was one of the smartest people I’ve — met in my life,” Cooney said.

Hanna held a variety of positions, including teaching math at College of Saint Mary and working in the finance office at Mercy High before coming to Creighton.

Patricia Meeves, head of access services for the Health Sciences Library, said Hanna started working at Creighton April 27, 2000.

She worked as a library specialist for the Health Sciences Library, where some of her duties included interlibrary loan and weekend supervisor.

“First and foremost, she was very particular about her work,” Meeves said.

In fact, she kept working until the last few months of her life.

Cooney said Hanna had a wide variety of interests, including bridge, singing, Star Trek and Husker football. She also loved animals, and she adopted a number of stray cats.

However, it was her generosity and kindness, Cooney said, for which she will be remembered most. Meeves said Hanna was always taking students under her wing.

She often took students out for pie and, on one occasion, helped a student by paying for something he needed “without batting an eye.”

“She was committed to serving,” Meeves said, “not only through her religious order but also in serving the faculty, staff and students of Creighton. She often went the extra mile to make sure that students received the ‘best possible article’ for their papers or the most up-to-date information for research.

“I’ll miss her friendship. She touched a lot of lives. We will miss her very much.”