Sister of Christian Charity Mary Ann (Carol) Eultgen, 84, died Dec. 27 at Sacred Heart Convent, Wilmette.

Born in St. Louis, she entered the convent in 1947, and made first vows in 1951 and perpetual vows in 1957.

She taught at St. Mary, Riverdale (1951-1954); and St. Aloysius (1955-1956); as well as in other Illinois communities, in Iowa, Minnesota and Louisiana. She later worked as a pastoral minister in the St. Louis area.

After being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in September, she returned to Sacred Heart Convent in Wilmette, where she died three months later.

Sister Lorraine Lawrence, a Religious of the Sacred Heart, died Jan. 24 in California. She was 100 years old.

Sister Lorraine was born in Libertyville and attended St. Joseph School there and Holy Child High School in Waukegan.

She studied at Barat College and earned a degree in medical technology at St. Therese Hospital in Waukegan. After working for several months at an Iowa hospital, she discerned a vocation to religious life.

She entered the Society of the Sacred Heart in 1938 and earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in science and a doctorate in chemistry.
She returned to Barat College to teach for five years. While there, she was featured in a 1954 Chicago Tribune article about her work as a ham radio operator at the college.

She began teaching in California in 1955, and, after more than 20 years, retired from teaching to serve the society in a number of roles.

Sister Lorraine is survived by her sister, Mary Neal, and her brother, John Lawrence.

Felician Sister Emilie Marie Sierakowski, 99, died Jan. 24 in Our Lady of the Angels Convent.

Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, she entered the Felician Sisters in 1938 and pro-fessed her final vows in 1946. She ministered in elementary and high schools as a principal, music teacher and organist in Illinois, Nebraska and Wisconsin.

She served as a music teacher (1955-1972) and then as the principal (1972-1978) of St. Joseph High School. She later taught music at St. Turibius School (1978-2009).

Adrian Dominican Sister Mary (Rose Maureen) Hemmen, 81, died Jan. 24 in Adrian, Michigan.

orn in Detroit, she was in the 62nd year of her religious life.

Sister Mary ministered in Michigan and Illinois. In the Archdiocese of Chicago, she taught at St. Laurence (1965-1967) and was principal of St. Celestine, Elmwood Park (1970-1974).

Franciscan Sister of Mary Doris (Gwendolyn Sandra) Ashcraft, 82, died Jan. 26 in Missouri. 

Born in Omaha, Nebraska, she became Catholic at the age of 12. She entered the Sisters of St. Mary in 1955 and she professed final vows in 1962. 

In 1975, she moved to St. Francis Hospital in Blue Island, as sacristan and patient visitor. Sister Doris remained at St. Francis for 35 years as chaplain assistant, chaplain associate, pastoral mission advocate, patient advocate and spiritual mission advocate, until the hospital became a for-profit institution in 2008. 

Sister Doris is survived by a stepsister, Theresa J. Cippola.

Sister of St. Joseph Roseann Eck, 88, died Jan. 31.

She had been a member of the community for 71 years.

Sister Roseann taught at St. Margaret Mary; St. John Fisher; St. Mary, Riverside; Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Melrose Park; St. Francis Xavier, LaGrange; St. Joseph Military Academy and Alexine Learning Center, LaGrange Park; and St. Leonard, Berwyn.

Deacon Richard Baum, 78, of LaGrange Park, died Jan. 23.

Deacon Baum was originally ordained for the Diocese of Galveston-Houston, and was incardinated into the Archdiocese of Chicago in 1986. He served St. Anne Parish and at the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary as associate director and then director of the diaconate formation program (2002-2005).

Deacon Baum also was an optics engineer with Bell & Howell and Singer-Link (a flight simulation company) and a project manager with Northrup and Motorola. After retirement, he was a substitute high school teacher.

He is survived by his wife, Geraldine “Skip” Baum; his children Joseph Baum and Mary-Elizabeth Beavers; and granddaughter Amanda Baum-Wagner.

Deacon Thomas McGorey, 87, died Jan. 29. He was ordained in 1979 and served at St. John of the Cross Parish, Western Springs. He also served as associate director of the Office of the Diaconate for 13 years.

Deacon McGorey grew up in Chicago, raised his family with his late wife, Mary Kay, in Bellwood and retired to Burr Ridge. He worked for 29 years at Illinois Bell.

He is survived by his children, Katie Watson, Margie DiGangi, Pattie Bomher and Thom McGorey; 15 grandchildren; 10 great-grandchildren; and his sister, Margaret McGorey.

Holy Family of Nazareth Sister Bernadette (Irene) Medrzyk, 97, died Nov. 30 in Des Plaines in the 79th year of her religious life.

Born in Chicago’s West Pullman neighborhood, she entered the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth in 1938 and professed her first vows in 1941. 

In 1943, she began her first of many teaching assignments at St. Michael (South Shore).

She also taught in Indiana and Texas and was one of three pioneers from the U.S. who began the parish school in Brisbane, Australia.

BVM Sister Mary Paul Francis Bailey, 91, died Jan. 1 in Dubuque, Iowa.

Born in Springfield, Illinois, she entered the BVM congregation in 1947 from St. Vincent de Paul Parish. She professed final vows in 1955.

In the Archdiocese of Chicago, Sister Paul Francis taught at Holy Cross and St. Tarcissus, served as treasurer at Immaculata High School and was assistant professor of economics at Mundelein College and Loyola University, where she was also adjunct professor.

She also taught in Missouri, Wisconsin, Mississippi and Iowa.

Sister of St. Casimir Regina Sitkus, 92, died Jan. 6.

A native of Pennsylvania, Sister Regina entered the Sisters of St. Casimir in 1941 and made her final vows in 1949. 

Sister Regina taught and was principal in elementary schools in Illinois, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. In the Archdiocese of Chicago, she taught at Nativity BVM (1944-1947, 1962-1964); Providence of God (1947-1948); St. Bartholomew, Waukegan (1948-1950); All Saints (1957-1958); and St. Norbert, Northbrook (1958-1962). Most recently Sister Regina participated in the ministry of prayer (2009-2018) at the motherhouse of the Sisters of St. Casimir and then at Franciscan Village in Lemont.

BVM Sister Mary Johnellen Garrity, 90, died Jan. 8 in Dubuque, Iowa. 

Born in Chicago, she entered the BVM congregation in 1945, from St. Andrew Parish. She professed final vows in 1953.

In the Archdiocese of Chicago, Sister Mary Johnellen taught first grade at St. Charles, ninth grade at St. Mary High School, history at Immaculata High School, and in retirement, she taught part time at Madonna High School. She also taught in New York, Iowa and Kansas.

She is survived by her sister, Irene Schultz.

Holy Family of Nazareth Sister Mary Luke Liss, 70, died Jan. 11, in the 53rd year of her religious life. 

Born in the neighborhood of Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish on the Northwest Side, she attended Schurz High School before entering the community in 1965 and professed final vows in 1975. 

She taught at St. Hyacinth as well as at schools in Mount Prospect and in Indiana and Wisconsin, and she was principal at St. Emily School, Mount Prospect.

Sister of St. Joseph Lorraine (Clare Joseph) Ruh, 92, died Jan. 11.

Sister Lorraine had been in religious life for 77 years. She taught at St. Barbara, Brookfield; St. Mary, Riverside; Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Melrose Park; St. Francis Xavier, LaGrange; St. John Fisher; St. Leonard, Berwyn; St. Attracta, Cicero; and St. Joseph Military Academy. She also worked in the business office at Bethlehem Center, LaGrange Park and as a switchboard operator/supervisor at the CSJ Center.

She is survived by her siblings John Ruh and Dorothy Stepanik.

Sister of St. Joseph Margaret (John Patrick) Halligan, 90, died Jan. 14.

She had been a member of the congregation for 70 years.

Sister Margaret taught at St. John Fisher; Divine Infant, Westchester; Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Melrose Park; St. Joseph Academy and St. Francis Xavier, LaGrange; and St. Barbara, Brookfield, where she was also religious education coordinator, coordinator of pastoral care and pastoral associate.

She is survived by her sisters Irene Spahn, Jane Motycka and Catherine Stotts.

Father Eugene F. Durkin, 94, died at St. Patrick Residence in Naperville, Illinois, on Jan. 19. He was most recently the associate pastor of Holy Name Cathedral Parish. He retired in 1993.

Born in Chicago, Father Durkin attended Little Flower School, Quigley Preparatory Seminary and the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary before being ordained in 1949.

He served as the assistant pastor at Our Lady of Lourdes (1951-1963), St. Thomas the Apostle (1963-1967) and Holy Name Cathedral (1967-1976). He served as associate pastor of St. Paul of the Cross Parish, Park Ridge (1976-1982) and Holy Name Cathedral (1982-1993). After retiring in 1993, Father Durkin resided at Holy Name Cathedral until he moved to Presence Saint Benedict Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, and then to St. Patrick Residence to be closer to his family.

He is survived by his sisters, Dolores Durkin and Rosemarie Cargie.

Deacon Russell F. Anderberg, 79, died Jan. 12.

Deacon Anderberg was owner and president of Mercury Press, Inc., Forest Park.

He served the Archdiocese of Chicago as a deacon for 16 years, the Archdiocese of Milwaukee for three years and most recently the Archdiocese of Orlando. 

He is survived by his wife, Lorraine; children Cheryl Catalano, John Anderberg and Sandra Anderberg; grandchildren Christopher, Michael, Erin, Patrick, Sarah, Ellen, Mitchell and Isabella; great-grandchildren Thomas, Emma, Sean, Nora, Ryan and William; and siblings Peter and George Anderberg and Donna Macleary.

Deacon Peter Meehan, 80, died Jan. 15. He was ordained in 1991 and served at St. Martha Parish, Morton Grove.

He attended St. Nicholas School and St. George High School, both in Evanston.

He was active in youth sports, coaching a total of 32 teams that his children played on. As a deacon, he presided at baptisms, weddings and funerals, preached homilies, taught pre-Cana classes and brought Communion to the sick.

He is survived by his wife, Josephine, and children Peter Meehan, Patrick Meehan, Joseph Meehan, Nancy Dennis, Cathleen Thannert and Kevin Meehan and 19 grandchildren. He also is survived by his brothers, Thomas and Michael Meehan.

Viatorian Father Rev. John (Jack) E. Linnan, 83, died Jan. 15 at the Viatorian Province Center in Arlington Heights.  

Born in Springfield, Father Linnan made his first vows in 1952 and final vows in 1955. He was ordained a priest in 1961 in Louvain, Belgium.

He taught at seminaries in Washington, D.C., and ministered in Nevada before moving to Arlington Heights to serve as assistant provincial (1974-1979). In 1979, he became an associate professor of theology at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago and in 1981 was appointed as the third president of CTU. He held that position until 1987. After a sabbatical year, he returned to CTU and continued to be a member of the faculty until 2001. 

In 2011, he moved to the retirement residence at the Viatorian Province Center in Arlington Heights. 

Mercy Sister Barbara Heneghan, 78, died Dec. 1.

Raised on the West Side, she was educated by Sisters of Mercy at Resurrection Grade School and Siena High School. She entered the Sisters of Mercy in 1957.

Sister Barbara taught at St. Catherine of Siena, Oak Park; Precious Blood; St. Mary of the Lake; and St. Mary, Lake Forest. In 1970, she was named curriculum director at Siena High School. In 1977, Sister Barbara was responsible for moving Siena High School to a new location, where it was called Austin Career Center. She remained teacher/director there until 1990. When it closed, Sister Barbara taught at St. Patrick High School and was a member of the professional staff at Maryville Parenting Teen Center.

After retiring from teaching, Sister Barbara served as a patient advocate at Mercy Hospital; a member of the support staff at McAuley Manor, Aurora, Illinois; and a volunteer at St. Angela School.