Divine Word Father John “Jack” Farley, 90, died Nov. 17.

Born in Massachusetts, he entered the Society of the Divine Word in 1946 and professed religious vows in 1952. He was ordained a priest in 1960.

Despite his wish to serve overseas, after ordination, he was assigned to serve as assistant mission director for the Mission Office at Techny. He was editor of Missionary Youth magazine and director of the Latin America Office of the Divine Word Mission Office for 11 years.

He led a Divine Word Seminary in Perrysburg, Ohio, for five years before returning to Techny as director of programs and being charged with renovating the former St. Mary’s Seminary, turning it into Techny Towers Conference and Retreat Center and creating Divine Word International, a museum that featured missionary work around the world and believed to be the only museum of its kind.

In 1980, upon completion of the renovation, he asked for a pastoral assignment and served as a retreat director in Massachusetts; as a seminary director in Washington, D.C.; and as a staff member for a parish renewal program with assignments in Nigeria, Ghana, India and the Philippines.

Father Farley retired in Techny in 2015.

He is survived by his twin sister, Notre Dame Sister Joan Farley.

Divine Word Father Richard Thibeau, 93, died Nov. 17.

Born in New York, he began his studies with the Divine Word Missionaries in 1943; professed vows in 1949; and was ordained to the priesthood in Techny in 1957.

For the first three decades of his priesthood, he served as pastor, teacher and overall general contractor in the United States, finding new ways to use the society’s buildings.

In 1988, Father Thibeau received his first foreign mission assignment, which took him to Cuernavaca, Mexico, where he served in an administrative capacity and built several parishes. Father Thibeau also provided pastoral care for the Zapotecas people in the Sierra Juarez Mountains. For this assignment, he needed more than his knowledge of Spanish; he learned Zapotecan, the language of the indigenous people.

During his years in San Juan Bautista Parish in San Juan Yaeé, Oaxaca, he was the only priest for a population of about 7,000, and he recognized the need for a medical facility. To reach the nearest hospital, residents had to travel five hours down the mountainside. To remedy this problem, Father Thibeau built Our Madonna of the Rosary Medical Center in Oaxaca.

In 2016, Father Thibeau moved to Divine Word Residence at Techny and continued his missionary ministries. From a distance and well into his 90s, he supported missionary projects in Mexico, including Instituto Infantil Teresita School in Morelos.

Dominican Friar Richard John (John Francis) Woods, 81, died Nov. 19 in Tallaght, Ireland, where he had been hospitalized for several months due to brain and neck injuries resulting from falls.

Born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, he entered the Dominican novitiate in 1962 and professed simple vows in 1963. He earned bachelor’s (1964) and master’s (1966) degrees from the Dominican House of Philosophy at St. Thomas Priory in River Forest, and made his solemn vows in 1966.

In 1969, he was ordained to the priesthood after earning a master’s degree in theology from the Aquinas Institute of Theology in Iowa.

Following his ordination, Father Woods began doctoral studies at Loyola University Chicago, receiving a Ph.D. in the philosophy of religion in 1978. Among many other awards and honors, he received the honorary Master of Sacred Theology from the Dominican Order in 2000.

He taught at numerous institutions throughout the United States, including the Institute of Pastoral Studies of Loyola University Chicago and, from 2000-2022, Dominican University in River Forest. From 1991-1997, he was also a visiting tutor and lecturer at Blackfriars Hall, the University of Oxford, England.

Father Woods was a prolific producer of books articles, and lectures in professional journals and societies. His interest in and contribution to scholarship included spirituality and mysticism, sexuality, the Celtic harp (which he played masterfully), Celtic studies, the occult and Meister Eckhart. He also wrote or contributed to five volumes of fiction.

Father Robert J. Roll, 71, died Nov. 21. He was the former pastor of three parishes.

Born in Chicago, Father Roll attended Quigley Preparatory Seminary, Niles College and the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary before being ordained in 1977.

He was associate pastor of St. Constance, St. Cornelius, St. Josephine Bakhita and St. Giles. He was pastor of Sts. Peter & Paul Parish, St. Maurice Parish and St. Bride Parish. He also served as a dean for three years, 1998 to 2001. He retired in 2021.

Dominican Sister of Peace Joan Monica McGuire, 90, died Nov. 21 in Kentucky.

Sister Joan served in the Archdiocese of Chicago as director of the Office for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs from 1987-1992 and from 1996 until she retired in 2013. 

Early in her tenure as director, she was very involved in establishing a covenant relationship between the Metropolitan Chicago Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Archdiocese of Chicago. Sister Joan led the procession on Oct. 31, 2017, when Cardinal Cupich renewed this covenant with Bishop Wayne Miller of the Metropolitan Chicago Synod on the 500th anniversary of the beginning of the Protestant Reformation.

Sister Joan was a delegate of Cardinal Joseph Bernardin’s Chicago Catholic-Jewish Dialogue visit to Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, and under the leadership of Cardinal Francis George, she co-directed “A Pilgrimage of Love” to Constantinople and Rome.

While serving in the archdiocese, Sister Joan was an instructor in the Institute of Pastoral Leadership at the University of St. Mary of the Lake in Mundelein. She also served as a member of the joint working group of the World Council of Churches Faith and Order Commission and as co-chair of the Illinois Council of Churches.

Sister Joan was instrumental in making the 1993 convening of the Parliament of the World’s Religions a reality and remained deeply involved in the parliament’s work for many years.

“Sister Joan was a wise, humble and compassionate leader who worked tirelessly to build lasting relationships among Christians and with people of the world’s religions,” said Susan Pudelek, assistant director of the Archdiocese of Chicago’s EIA Office. “She will be deeply missed by those who came to know and work with her. We all benefit today from her legacy of faithful leadership in the name of Jesus.”

As a testimony to her remarkable contributions to ecumenical and interreligious relations, the archdiocesan EIA Office named an award in her honor, which recognizes outstanding contributions to local Christian and interreligious dialogue.

“For more than three decades, Sister Joan McGuire expertly directed ecumenical and interreligious affairs for the Archdiocese of Chicago,” said Dan Olsen, director of the EIA Office. “Her pioneering and exemplary work helped build the deep relationships among religious communities in Chicago that persist to this day. The interreligious fabric of Chicago has forever been changed for the better because of Sister Joan.”

Born in Nebraska, Sister Joan entered the Dominican Congregation in 1955 and professed final vows in 1958 at St. Catharine, Kentucky.

She taught at St. Michael, Orland Park, and Academy of Our Lady.  She was elected president of the former Dominican Sisters of St. Catharine from 1972 to 1980 and served on their leadership board from 1992 to 1996.

In 2014, Sister Joan moved to St. Catharine Motherhouse, where she provided community service. In 2017, she moved to Sansbury Care Center, also in St. Catharine, where she began a ministry of prayer and presence.

BVM Sister Bernadette Marie (David Ann) Schvach, BVM, 92, died Nov. 10 in Iowa.

Born in Chicago, she entered the BVM congregation in 1948, from St. Frances of Rome Parish, Cicero. She professed first vows in 1951 and final vows in 1956.

Sister Bernadette was an elementary teacher in Chicago and Berwyn as well as in Iowa, Colorado and Kauai, Hawaii, where she also served as principal.

Servite Father Philip M. McGlynn, 84, died Nov. 12.

Born in Chicago, he entered the Servite Order in Hillside and completed his religious formation in Wisconsin, Northern Ireland, and Illinois and professed solemn vows in 1962. 

Father McGlynn was ordained a priest in 1965 and served in various parish and educational ministries primarily in the Archdiocese of Chicago, including pastor of his home parish, Our Lady of Sorrows Basilica Parish, from 1973 to 1982. He also served as an instructor at St. Philip High School (1966-1968), St. Patrick High School (1970-1973), Notre Dame High School (1984-1990), and as director of the Servite Development Office (1990-2006). In retirement, he assisted in various nursing homes and parishes in the Chicago area.

He is survived by siblings Marianne McGlynn, John McGlynn and Providence Sister Patricia McGlynn.

Providence Sister Regina Ann (Mary Regina) Lynch, 91, died Nov. 15 in St. Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana.

Born in Indianapolis, she entered the Sisters of Providence in 1948 and professed final vows in 1955.

Of her 74 years as a Sister of Providence, she ministered in elementary education, as a nurse’s aide and as a volunteer in health care in Indiana, Illinois and North Carolina.

In the Archdiocese of Chicago, she taught at Our Lady of Mercy, Chicago (1950-1955).

Sinsinawa Dominican Sister Vicki Lauria, 93, died Nov. 17 in Footville, Wisconsin.

Born in Albany, New York, Sister Vicki made her first profession as a Dominican Sister of Kenosha in 1957 and her perpetual profession in 1976. In 1997, she transferred her religious vows to the Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa. Sister Vicki taught, was a novice director, was a general councilor and cared for family and loved ones in Illinois, New Mexico, Wisconsin, California and New York.

In the Archdiocese of Chicago, Sister Vicki taught at Providence of God.

Sister of Christian Charity Bernadette (Virginia) Voss, 81, died Nov. 19 Sacred Heart Convent, Wilmette.

Born in Evanston, she entered the Sisters of Christian Charity in 1960, made her first vows in 1963 and made her final vows in 1969.

Sister Bernadette served as portress in the motherhouse in Wilmette and as homemaker at St. Raphael Convent in Chicago and Sacred Heart Convent in Wilmette.

From 1980 to 1995 Sister Bernadette ministered in St. Louis.

In 1996, Sister Bernadette moved to Josephinum Convent, where she helped with ministry to the poor and taught religious education. After three years in Tucson, Arizona, she returned to Josephinum. From 2003 until 2008, Sister Bernadette served in pastoral ministry and religious education and was a eucharistic minister at St. Elizabeth Hospital.

In 2009, she suffered a stroke; she moved to Sacred Heart Convent, where she embarked on her ministry of prayer and presence.