Sister Bernadette Bezner
November 26, 1947 – Augus 7, 2026
Sister Bernadette Bezner, CDP, also known as Sister Margaret Lynn, unexpectedly and peacefully entered eternal life on August 7, 2026, at the age of 78 in Regan Hall, San Antonio, Texas. Her novitiate companion and dear friend, Sister Rose Kruppa, was at her side.
Born on November 26, 1947, in Detroit, Michigan, to William and Margaret (Muer) Bezner, Sister Bernadette grew up in Lindsay, Texas, with her six siblings. Throughout her life and ministry, she was guided by a deep desire to help others recognize God’s constant and unconditional love and to see God within themselves and in one another. Her profound trust in her provident God was the compass of her journey and the source of her healthy self-awareness. Nature was a blessed conduit through which she connected with, and was renewed by, her Divine Creator.
Sister Bernadette was a lifelong learner, a courageous risk-taker, and a woman attentive to Providence’s invitations. She responded generously through teaching, hospital chaplaincy, Mobile Ministry, prison ministry, and community life.
She earned a Master of Education from Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio, Texas, a sponsored institution of the Congregation of Divine Providence, and a Master of Theological Studies from Saint Louis University in St. Louis, Missouri. She served as a dedicated Catholic and public-school teacher, including special education in the Edgewood School District in San Antonio, and later as Pastoral Associate and Director of Religious Education at St. Anthony Parish in Harlingen, Texas. She also coordinated and presented her congregation’s Mobile Ministry. Yet the ministry in which she came to recognize her deepest calling was chaplaincy.
Sister Bernadette became certified by the National Association of Catholic Chaplains as a Supervisor in Clinical Pastoral Education. During her 23 years as a chaplain, she felt free to be fully herself, present in true form as directed by her provident God. She ministered to the sick, the dying, and their families in Dallas, Texas; Wichita, Kansas, where she developed and initiated an evening chaplain ministry; and St. Louis, Missouri. She also served for a brief time as a prison chaplain with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. She continued her hospital chaplaincy at East Texas Medical Center in Tyler, Texas, and later with the Methodist Healthcare System in San Antonio, Texas.
Sister Bernadette was a valiant woman of Providence who strove each day to live authentically—true to herself, to her provident God, and to all who knew and loved her. She courageously did “the work” of recognizing her gifts and God-given graces of boundless compassion, courage, and presence. May her lifelong practice of healing—by connecting life choices with lived experience—remain an example for her fellow Sisters, loved ones, and future generations.
Sister Bernadette is survived by her siblings and in-laws: Marlene (Jim) Bass of Fort Worth, Texas; Joe (Marliese) Bezner of Pasadena, Texas; Rosemary (Jim) Schindler of Pilot Point, Texas; and Will (Catherine) Bezner of Lindsay, Texas; as well as 14 nieces and nephews and their families, and her Sisters of Divine Providence.
She was preceded in death by her parents, William John and Margaret Mary (Muer) Bezner, and her brothers, David Paul Bezner and Michael Hugo Bezner.
Her family, the Sisters of Divine Providence, and friends will honor her with a Rosary and Wake on Sunday, August 16, 2026, at 6:00 p.m., and a Mass of Resurrection on Monday, August 17, 2026, at 11:00 a.m. All services will be held in Annunciation Chapel at Our Lady of the Lake Convent, San Antonio, Texas.