Adrian Dominican Sister Nora (Marie Phelim) Brady, 93, died Jan. 5, in Adrian, Michigan.

Born in Ireland, she was in the 70th year of her religious life.

Sister Nora ministered in Michigan and Illinois.

In the Archdiocese of Chicago, she taught at St. Denis (1972-1981, 1982-1992) and served St. Denis Parish as hospitality minister (1992-2006).

Adrian Dominican Sister Cecilia Marie (Barbara Jane Mary) Brown, 95, died Jan. 5 in Adrian, Michigan. Born in Rockford, Illinois, she was in the 76th year of her religious life.

She ministered in Michigan, Wisconsin and Illinois.

In the Archdiocese of Chicago, she taught at St. Edmund, Oak Park (1955-1956); St. Denis (1963-1966); St. Albert the Great, Oak Lawn (1967-1969); St. Mary Star of the Sea (1970-1971); and St. Collette, Rolling Meadows (1971-1972). She also was plant manager at the Immaculata Congregational Home, Bartlett (1990-1991).

She is survived by a sister, Rosemary Naill.

Adorers of the Blood of Christ Sister Mary Matthew (Bridgit) Janciar, 93, died Jan. 6 in Pennsylvania.   

She entered the Adorers of the Blood of Christ in 1939 as a high school student. She professed first vows in 1942 and final vows five years later.

As a young sister, she taught primary grades at St. Jerome School and in schools in Missouri and Pennsylvania.

She later taught high school and college, directed scholastics in her community, and served as a local and provincial coordinator. She then served in Hispanic and parish ministry in Pennsylvania.

Sister Mary Matthew is survived by a stepbrother, Leonard Kuzbel.

Sinsinawa Dominican Sister Mary (Muritta) Hemeyer, 88, died Jan. 7 in Sinsinawa, Wisconsin.

Sister Mary made her first religious profession in 1950 and her perpetual profession in 1953.

Sister Mary served in Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin, South Dakota and Wyoming.

In the Archdiocese of Chicago, Sister Mary taught at Visitation (1950-1953) and served as secretary at Trinity High School, River Forest (1981-1982).

Jesuit Father John R. (Jack) Crocker, 88, died Jan. 8.

Born in Chicago, he was a Jesuit for 70 years.

After earning his doctorate, Father Jack taught in the Department of Clinical Psychology at the Child Guidance Center in Hines VA Hospital (1967-1969). He then spent eight years at Loyola University Chicago, where he was the director of the Speech Pathology Center at the medical center and was an assistant professor of physical medicine and associate professor of psychology.

While he was at Loyola University, he spent a year at the Rome Center (1973-1974).

After spending two years in Chicago as the provincial assistant for planning and higher education (1992-1994), he returned to Rome and was the socius to the Delegate for International Houses for one year before becoming the superior and director of the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Jerusalem (1995-1998).

After another two years in Chicago, Father Jack returned to Italy, where he was the assistant to the rector of the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome (2000-2001) and the minister of the Anthony Baldinucci Community in Florence.

In 2004, Father Jack returned to the United States for the last time and focused on spiritual and pastoral ministries: the Jesuit Center for Spiritual Growth, Wernersville, Pennsylvania (2004-2006); Jesuit Retreat Center at Milford, Ohio (2006-2008); in the Chicago area (2008-2012); and at Bellarmine Jesuit Retreat House, Barrington (2012-2013). He moved to Colombiere Center in Michigan in 2013.

Felician Sister Mary Suzanne (Sandra Mary) Bacia, 74, died Jan. 9 at Our Lady of the Angels Convent.

Born in Chicago, she attended Sts. Peter and Paul School and St. Joseph High School. She entered the Felician Sisters in 1962 and professed her final vows in 1970. She ministered in elementary schools as a teacher and librarian in Illinois and Wisconsin. 

In the Archdiocese of Chicago, she ministered at St. Bruno (1965-1966, 1982-1985); St. Hubert, Hoffman Estates (1967-1967); St. John of God (1967-1968, 1985-1986); Sacred Heart (1968-1971); St. Bronislava (1971-1972); St. Stanislaus, Posen (1973-1978); Good Shepherd (1978-1980); and St. Helen (1987-1989).

Sinsinawa Dominican Sister Marielle Schmitt, 100, died Jan. 15 in Sinsinawa, Wisconsin.

Born in Wisconsin, she made her first religious profession as a Sinsinawa Dominican in 1938 and her perpetual profession in 1941.

In the Archdiocese of Chicago, Sister Marielle taught at St. Luke, River Forest (1945-1951), and served as librarian at St. Giles, Oak Park (1973-1979).

Deacon Robert Brauch, 89, of Lake Barrington died Dec. 14. He was ordained in 1989 and served at St. Anne Parish in Barrington.

He is survived by his wife of 63 years, Mary Helen; children Mary Afflerbach, Claire Quinn, Jayne Haller, Kristin Plescia, Beth Gavin, Kay Carley and Marty, John and Rob Brauch; 29 grandchildren; 14 great-grandchildren; and his sister, Jean Scott.

Deacon Arthur Nylen, 87, died Dec. 19. He was ordained in 1984 and served at St. Jude the Apostle Parish in South Holland.

He served as the parish’s director of social ministry from 1995 to 2011 and was a member of the Holy Name Society, a minister of care, a fourth-degree Knight of Columbus Genoa Council and a third-degree Knight of Peter Claver. He served on the Catholic Charities Southside Advisory board and was the first co-recipient of Catholic Charities Compassion in Action Award in 2003.

Deacon Nylen also was a U.S. Army Korean War veteran.

He is survived by his wife of 64 years, Beverly; children Thomas, Michael, Robert and Terri Ann Nylen, and Mary Lou Gutrich; 11 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren; and his sister, Rose Pett.

Deacon Donald Daum, 94, died Dec. 26. He was ordained in 1986 and served at St. Germaine Parish in Oak Lawn.

He was a World War II veteran, retired from Illinois Bell and volunteered with the Society of St. Vincent de Paul.

He is survived by his wife, Joan, and his children Donald Jr., Richard, David, Thomas, James, Robert, Philip, John and Timothy Daum; Mary Knight and Juliana Hynes; 35 grandchildren; 35 great-grandchildren; and his brother James and sister Alice Majewski.

Deacon Stephen Norys, 82, died Dec. 31. He was ordained in 1989 and served at St. Theresa Parish, Palatine.

He is survived by his wife of 61 years, Gail Wesolek Norys; his children Steve, Jerry and Greg Norys; Lorrie Mammarella; and Mary Kaye Pollard; 20 grandchildren; and 9 great-grandchildren.

School Sister of St. Francis Anna Marie (Agnes) Dressler, 88, died Dec. 13 in Milwaukee.

Born in Wisconsin, she was received into the School Sisters of St. Francis in 1946 and made her final vows in 1954.

Sister Anna Marie ministered in education in the Archdiocese of Chicago for seven decades. She taught at St. Martin (1948-1956) and Our Lady of Charity, Cicero (1956-1964); served as principal at St. Maria Goretti, Schiller Park (1964-1968); and taught at St. Mary, Buffalo Grove (1968-1969), and St. Catherine Labouré, Glenview (1969-1970). In 1970, Sister Anna Marie began her ministry in Barrington at St. Anne parish and school, where she served as teacher (1970-1984), religion coordinator (1984-1992), RCIA director (1992-2015), and volunteer (2015-2018). 

Sister Anna Marie is survived by six sisters: Alma Moris, Claire Churchill, Rose Koppen, Catherine Oberfoell, Agnes Simpson and Bernadette Thole. She is survived by three brothers, James, Bernard and Clement Dressler.

Mercy Sister Emily Mary (Joan) Kemppi, 84, died Nov. 22.

Born in Waukegan, she grew up in North Chicago. She entered the Sisters of Mercy in 1952.

Sister Emily began her life of ministry in 1957 as a high school teacher, teaching Latin, English and logic for nearly 10 years at Mother McAuley High School in Chicago, as assistant principal at Mercy High School in Chicago and as co-principal of Unity High School when Mercy and Loretto high school merged. She also taught at Mercy High School in Milwaukee.

She then became mental health occupational therapist at Mercy Center in Aurora, Illinois, and Mercy Hospital in Chicago until 1992.

She later served as an aide to sisters living at McAuley Convent while working as support staff for Network for Mercy Education in Chicago.

In 2014, she moved to Mercy Circle.

School Sister of St. Francis Evelyn Trapp, 88, died Nov. 29 in Greenfield, Wisconsin.

Born in Wisconsin, she entered the School Sisters of St. Francis in 1947 and made her final vows in 1955.

Sister Evelyn ministered in education in Illinois, Kentucky and Wisconsin for more than seven decades. In the Archdiocese of Chicago, she taught at St. Peter School, Skokie (1950-1959). 

Sister Evelyn is survived by four brothers: Gilbert, Philip, Robert and John.

School Sister of St. Francis Doris Mary (Kathlyn) Zander, 86, died Dec. 9 in Milwaukee.

Born in Wisconsin, she entered the School Sisters of St. Francis in 1950 and made her final vows in 1958.

Sister Doris Mary ministered as a musician in Illinois and Wisconsin for more than six decades. In the Archdiocese of Chicago, she served at St. Clara (1952-1955), St. William (1955-1962); and St. Bernardine, Forest Park (1962-1963). 

Sister Doris Mary is survived by four sisters: Franciscan Sister Felissa, Lois Severson, Kathleen Statz and Marion Dommer.

Sinsinawa Sister Rita Rae (Raffaello) Burger, 85, died Dec. 24 in Sinsinawa, Wisconsin.

Born in Madison, Wisconsin, she made her first religious profession in 1956 and her perpetual profession in 1959. She ministered in Illinois, Montana, Wyoming, California, Minnesota, Washington and Wisconsin.

In the Archdiocese of Chicago, Sister Rita Rae taught at St. Sabina (1956-1959), Epiphany (1967-1970), and St. Thomas the Apostle (1987-1996), where she also served in the media center (1996-2000). Sister Rita Rae also served in the library at St. Basil School (1996-2000).

Sister of St. Casimir Mary Balkus, 93, died Dec. 26.

A Chicago native, Sister Mary entered the Sisters of St. Casimir in 1946 from All Saints Parish (Roseland) and made her final vows in 1953.

She taught in schools in Illinois and Maryland.

In the Archdiocese of Chicago, she taught at Sts. Peter and Paul (1948-1952), Our Lady of Vilna (1953-1954), St. George (1959-1960), and Maria High School for 35 years (1960-1967, 1976-2004). She moved to Franciscan Village, Lemont, in 2014, where she served in the ministry of prayer and presence. 

Sister of St. Joseph Mary Ricardo DiSanto, 93, died Dec. 27.

She had been a member of the Congregation of St. Joseph for 74 years.

She taught at St. Barbara, Brookfield; St. Francis Xavier, LaGrange and Our Lady of Bethlehem, LaGrange Park. She was a music teacher at Nazareth Academy, and taught the Suzuki method at the C.S.J. School of Music.

Divine Word Father Walter Bunofsky, 87, who served as a chaplain, pastor and seminary formator, died Dec. 29 in Techny.

Born in Ohio, he professed religious vows in 1952 and was ordained to the priesthood in 1960.

For the first nine years of his priesthood, he served as a vocation director. In 1969, he asked for an opportunity to work in African-American ministry and was assigned to St. Anselm Parish in Chicago. He later served in St. Louis.

In 1994, he began a 21-year tenure at Divine Word College at Epworth, Iowa.

In 2015, he moved to Techny in retirement but continued to write poetry.

He is survived by two sisters, Florence Garcher and Elaine Mureko.

Adrian Dominican Sister Catherine (James Anita) McKillop, 87, died Dec. 30 in Adrian, Michigan.

Born in Scotland, she was in the 69th year of her religious profession.

Sister Catherine ministered in Illinois, Florida, Alabama, Puerto Rico and Michigan. She became a resident of the Dominican Life Center in Adrian in 2017.

In the Archdiocese of Chicago, she taught at St. Columbanus (1951-1952) and was coordinator of volunteer services at St. Leonard’s House, which provides temporary housing for formerly incarcerated men (1998-2007).

Sister Catherine is survived by sisters Patricia Young and Marguerite DeJaeghere and a brother, Joseph McKillop.

Adrian Dominican Sister Charles Christine (Eunice) Uhnavy, 101, died Jan. 2 in Adrian, Michigan.

Born in Michigan, she was in the 80th year of her religious profession.

She ministered in Michigan, Ohio and Illinois. Sister Charles Christine became a resident of the Dominican Life Center in Adrian, Michigan in 2012.

In the Archdiocese of Chicago, she taught at St. Nicholas of Tolentine (1939-1940) and St. Philip Neri (1940-1943).

Father Willard F. Jabusch, 88, died Dec. 9.

Born in Chicago, he attended Quigley Preparatory Seminary and the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary before being ordained in 1956.

He also earned a master’s degree in English from Loyola University Chicago and a doctorate in speech from Northwestern University.

Father Jabusch served as assistant pastor at St. James Parish (Wabash Avenue), chaplain and director of Calvert House at the University of Chicago, and as a faculty member at Quigley Preparatory Seminary, at Niles College and at the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary, where he taught for more than 20 years.

Father John Kartje, rector/president of the University of Saint Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary, knew “Fr. Bill” during his entire time in college at the University of Chicago, where Father Jabusch was the campus chaplain.

“He was very influential in inviting me to think about the priesthood,” Kartje said. “In addition to being an avid composer and musician, he loved learning and conversing over just about any topic the students were interested in.”

Father Jabusch wrote many hymns and tunes, including “The King of Glory,” a well-known song based on an Israeli folk tune that he learned while studying in Israel.

Sister of St. Joseph of the Third Order of St. Francis Charlotte M. Wachadlo, 95, died Oct. 5.

She had been a teacher, sacristan, caregiver and member of her religious community for 75 years. She taught special-education students in Alaska, Puerto Rico and Illinois, and started a home for developmentally disabled women where she was “head of household” for 19 years.

She is survived by a sister, Evelin Bevis.

Mercy Sister Evelyn Marie (de Chantel) Paznek, 90, died Nov. 5.

Born in Minnesota, she traveled to Milwaukee to care for a relative who was ill. While there, she met Mercy Sister Rosaire Ward, and was so impressed with the work of the Sisters of Mercy she decided to become one.

She entered the novitiate of the Sisters of Mercy in Des Plaines in 1949. After making temporary vows in 1952, she began teaching and served in nine different Mercy elementary schools in Illinois while earning her bachelor’s degree from Saint Xavier College (now University) after school, on weekends and during the summers.

In 1980 she was assigned to Queen of Martyrs Parish, where she would teach and minister for over 20 years until her retirement. She told people the highlight of her life was starting the first kindergarten at Queen of Martyrs School.

Holy Family of Nazareth Sister M. Ignatius (Marie) Remian, 99, died Nov. 5 in Des Plaines.

Born in Chicago, she entered religious life in 1939. Between 1939 and 1986, she served as a medical technologist at St. Mary of Nazareth Hospital in Chicago, as well as in hospitals in Texas. In the 1940s, she was involved in doing research on the Rh factor. She was also instrumental in planning and designing an 18,000-square-foot clinical and anatomical pathology department at St. Mary of Nazareth Hospital and served as the department’s director.

From 1992 to 2002, she ministered at Holy Family Medical Center in Des Plaines as the liaison between doctors and patients’ family members in the surgical waiting room. She retired from active ministry in 2003 at the age of 83.

She is survived by her youngest brother, Arthur.

Hospital Sister of St. Francis M. Marciana (Mary Louise) Lynch, 96, died Nov. 12 in Springfield, Illinois.

Born in Chicago, she entered the congregation in 1939 and professed vows in 1941.

She served as a maternity staff nurse and supervisor at HSHS hospitals in Illinois and Wisconsin during the early part of her career, and was administrator of St. Mary’s Hospital in Streator, Illinois (1970-1974). She was the director of materials management for Hospital Sisters Health System in Springfield (1976-1999), then became staff assistant for materials management until 2006.

BVM Sister Marion (John Patrice) Murphy, 82, died Nov. 15 in Dubuque, Iowa.

She was born in Chicago and entered the BVM congregation in 1953 from Our Lady of the Angels Parish.

In the Archdiocese of Chicago, Sister Marion was an elementary teacher at Blessed Sacrament, Our Lady of Lourdes, St. Odilo; principal at Blessed Sacrament, Our Lady of the Angels, and Santa Maria del Popolo; pastoral coordinator and administrative assistant at Holy Family Parish, tutor at the Westside Employment Education Center and volunteer at the Holy Family Parish food pantry. She also taught in Portland, Oregon.

School Sister of St. Francis Sister Katherine Mary (Laverna) Kramer, 96, died Nov. 22 in Milwaukee.

Born in Chicago, she was received into the School Sisters of St. Francis in 1940 and made her final vows in 1948.

Sister Katherine Mary ministered in education and support services in Illinois and Wisconsin for over seven decades. In the Archdiocese of Chicago, she taught at St. Joseph, Wilmette (1951-1958); at St. Clara (1958-1962), where she also served as principal (1962-1967); at St. Joseph, Waukegan (1967-1969); and at St. Mary, Buffalo Grove (1969-1972), where she also served as principal (1972-1986).  

In retirement, she volunteered at St. Joseph Convent, Milwaukee (2008-2011), and served in the ministry of prayer and presence at Sacred Heart in Milwaukee from 2011 until she died.

School Sister of St. Francis Sister Rosemary (Mary Shawn) O’Brien, 87, died Nov. 28 in Milwaukee.

Born in Milwaukee, Sister Rosemary was received into the School Sisters of St. Francis in 1950 and made her final vows in 1958.

Sister Rosemary ministered in education in Illinois, Wisconsin, Colorado and California. In the Archdiocese of Chicago, she served as support staff for Friends of the Children, Schiller Park (1980-1981) and taught at St. Domitilla School, Hillside (1981-1986).

Sister Rosemary is survived by a twin sister, Florence Ann Timm.

Adrian Dominican Sister Andrea (Joseph Helen) Broutin, 86, died Nov. 30 in Adrian, Michigan.

Born in Detroit, she was in the 68th year of her religious profession.

Sister Andrea ministered in Illinois, Ohio and Michigan.

In the Archdiocese of Chicago, she taught at St. Rita Elementary School (1951-1954) and St. Joseph School, Homewood (1954-1960).