Barbara Brass Henkels

BBH Obituary Barbara Brass Henkels, who founded the Regina Academies in the Philadelphia area in her early 70s, passed away on May 5, 2025, at age 93. Barbara, along with her husband Paul M. Henkels, was also a founding member of the Papal Foundation based in Chester, PA. The Regina Academies are the culmination of a lifetime dedicated to education and the Catholic Faith, for which Pope Francis appointed Barbara to the Pontifical Equestrian Order of St. Sylvester. The first, Regina Coeli Academy, opened in 2003 and today four Regina schools provide a rigorous Catholic Classical Liberal Arts education to more than 600 area students. A handful of archdiocesan high schools now also provide a Classical curriculum through the support of the Regina Academies. Barbara remained deeply involved with the Academies into her late 80s, only stepping down from the board after the pandemic hit. As Stewards of St. Peter at the Papal Foundation, Barbara and Paul were committed to helping build an organization dedicated to supporting the Pope in Rome in his care of the universal Catholic Church and the needs of the world. While rooted in the Philadelphia area, it now brings together members from across the country to support more than 150 organizations annually in their faith-based missions. Born on September 26, 1931, to Howard and Jeanne Brass, Barbara grew up with five siblings on a cattle ranch in south central Kansas, where she rode her horse, Old Lou, to a one room schoolhouse in the middle of the prairie. In her teens she attended Mt. Carmel Academy, a Catholic girls' boarding school in Wichita, where the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary introduced her to the Catholic faith. She earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Texas in 1952 and converted to Catholicism two years later at the age of 23. After a whirlwind long-distance courtship, she married Paul M. Henkels of Germantown, PA, in 1958 and they settled in Elkhart, Indiana, where they welcomed their first three children. In the early 60s they moved to Plymouth Meeting, PA, near Henkels & McCoy headquarters where Paul later became CEO. Barbara, "by choice and conviction," considered herself first a wife, mother, and homemaker, "rich in kids" as their young son Chris once said. While raising ten children, Barbara and Paul always believed "the more the merrier," and friends and family knew they were always welcome for company and conversation or a place to stay. Over the decades, through the Center for International Visitors, they shared their home with businessman, social workers, government and Church officials, teachers, and families from six continents, as well as hosted foreign exchange students, and provided a second home to wayfaring nieces, nephews and grandchildren. And Barbara fed them all, shopping at restaurant supply stores long before it was trendy. She was particularly renowned for her cowboy coffee cake, her Henkels' baked beans (a recipe passed on to her from her mother-in-law), and her homemade sticky buns. Barbara was a champion of education from the start, presiding over the Early Learning Foundation of the Cardinals Commission, which focused on bringing local teachers trained in Montessori into Center City parish preschools. Over the years she served on numerous college and university boards, including Cabrini College in Radnor (as its first lay woman trustee), Ave Maria University in Florida, St. Thomas Aquinas College in California, Franciscan University of Steubenville, and American College of Louvain in Belgium. In the early 90s Barbara chaired the Rosary Congress which drew thousands to the city for a week of prayer at the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul on Logan Circle. Barbara was a member of International Legatus, a Dame of Malta, and recipient of the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice papal medal and the Philopatrian St. John Newman Medal. Barbara was preceded in death by her husband Paul and her siblings Bill, Mary, Bob, and Jim. She is survived by her sister Betty, her children Marin, Paul, Chris (Adrianna), Andrew, Rod (Kerry), Amy (Mike) Healey, Tim (Andrea), Angela (Markus) Dale, Carol (Mike) Lilley, Barb (Andy) Gorman, and 30 grandchildren. Her wake will be held on Monday, May 12, 4:30 to 8:00 PM at Boyd-Horrox-Givnish Funeral Home, 200 W. Germantown Pike, Norristown, PA. A Funeral Mass will be celebrated on Tuesday, May 13, at 10:30 at St. Alphonsus Parish, 33 Conwell Dr., Maple Glen, PA. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Regina Academies, www.reginaacademies.org. Care entrusted to Boyd-Horrox-Givnish Funeral Home www.LifeCelebration.com