Devoted to the Frail Elderly
Alice Barlow was born in Providence, Rhode Island in 1857 to Irish immigrant parents. She entered the community in San Francisco, was given the name Sister Clare and became the ninth Sister of the Holy Family – what a cause for rejoicing! She died at age eight-six, having passed sixty-five of her years in the service of God, for the children and the poor.
The Sisters who remembered her in the “old days” recall her untiring zeal for the neglected poor. Long before the Little Sisters of the Poor opened their Home for the aged, our Sister Clare was doing their work in San 
Francisco, arranging for the housing and care of the old people who needed assistance.
She was also the superior of the San Jose Convent from 1919 to 1925. But the children of St. Francis’ Church in San Francisco, were among those she loved best, and they showed their loyalty by coming to her funeral in large numbers, though it was many, many years after she taught them.
For a modern connection with the frail elderly see OnLok at this site.