Msgr. Martin O’Day
Retired St. Damian pastor
A funeral Mass for Msgr. Martin O’Day was offered April 2 at St. Damian Church, Oak Forest, where he was pastor emeritus. Cardinal George was celebrant of the Mass.
Msgr. O’Day died March 27 at Bishop Timothy J. Lyne Residence in Lemont. He was 82.
Pastor of St. Damian from 1971 until 1989, he oversaw the parish’s growth as new housing developments were constructed in Oak Forest. Under his leadership, many new parish organizations were formed and activities reached out to all age groups. After retiring in 1989, Msgr. O’Day continued to assist at the parish and at Little Company of Mary Hospital until moving to Lemont.
Ordained in 1947, he served briefly at St. Bartholomew Parish and then was associate pastor at St. Columbanus for five years.
From 1949 to 1952, he also was secretary and master of ceremonies to Auxiliary Bishop William Cousins. In 1952, he was named assistant director of the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, which oversaw catechetical instruction for Catholic children attending public schools.
He then became secretary and master of ceremonies for Auxiliary Bishop Raymond Hillinger from 1956 until the bishop’s death in 1971. While serving as the bishop’s secretary, he lived at Mercy Home for Boys and St. Mary of the Lake Seminary.
During this time, he also was associate pastor of St. Mel-Holy Ghost Parish, 1960-68, and St. Margaret Mary, 1968-71. He was named a monsignor in 1956.
Born in Chicago, he attended St. Basil and St. Rita schools and the archdiocesan seminaries.
Surviving are several nieces and and a nephew.
Fr. John Wojtowicz
Pilgrimage director
Franciscan Father John Wojtowicz, 48, died March 8 after a long illness. He was in his 26th year as a member of the Order of Friars Minor, Assumption Province.
Born in Chicago, he was a graduate of Five Holy Martyrs School. He completed his high school studies in Pulaski, Wis., and then entered the Franciscan formation program in Milwaukee. He studied for the priesthood at Aquinas Institute in Dubuque, Iowa, and was ordained May 24, 1980.
His first assignment was as co-pastor of Resurrection Parish in Wayne, Ill. From 1984 to 1990, he was vocation director of the province. He served on the provincial council from 1987 until 1996 when he was appointed general visitor to the Holy Name Province with headquarters in New York. At the time of his death he was director of programs for the Assisi Pilgrimage Experience.
Surviving are his parents, Edward and Genevieve; a sister, Debra Rose; and a nephew and niece.
Br. Rudolph Heckel
secretary, translator
Divine Word Brother Rudolph Heckel, 76, died March 11 at Divine Word Missionary Residence in Techny. Since 1984, he worked in the fund-raising office at Techny. He also managed the mail room and translated correspondence from German into English.
Prior to that, he spent 24 years in Rome where he did secretarial work at the Society of the Divine Word generalate and translated documentation.
Brother Heckel entered the novitiate in 1951 and worked in the Mission Press Office at Techny from 1954 to 1960.
Sr. Mary Ruth Wageman
Grade school teacher
School Sister of St. Francis Mary Ruth (Redemptoris) Wageman, 86, died March 13 in Campbellsport, Wis., where she was retired after teaching for 41 years. She taught in Chicago at St. Philomena, 1937-48, and in River Grove at St. Cyprian, 1949-60.
Sr. Mary M. Gallagher
Taught in archdiocese
Sister of Mercy Mary Margaret Gallagher died March 16 at McAuley Convent, Aurora. She was 82 and had been a Sister of Mercy for 65 years.
A native of Chicago, she taught in the archdiocese at Resurrection, St. Thomas, Christ the King, St. Gabriel, Mercy Home, St. Patrick, Precious Blood, St. Joan of Arc, St. Stephen, St. Catherine of Siena, Queen of Martyrs, St. Irenaeus, St. Catherine, St. Rose of Lima, St. Joseph and Divine Savior. She also served as a secretary at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, St. Thomas Aquinas and Mercy Hall.
Sr. M. Lucretia Stopka
Taught for 59 years
Felician Sister Mary Lucretia Stopka, 90, died March 20 at Our Lady of the Angels Convent, Chicago.
Born in Chicago, she began her teaching apostolate at the elementary school level, but then spent 50 years teaching and serving at high schools in Chicago.
Her assignments included Holy Innocents, 1929-38; St. Joseph High School, 1942-66; and Good Counsel High School, 1969-95.
Sr. Etheldreda Zaleski
Teacher, nurse
Sister of St. Joseph Ethelreda Zaleski died March 25 at the Immaculata Home of the Sisters of St. Joseph, Third Order of St. Francis, in Bartlett.
A member of the congregation for 62 years, her first assignment was as a teacher at St. Fidelis School, Chicago.
After studying nursing, she worked at hospitals in Nebraska, Mississippi, Wisconsin and Colorado. She also served in Vietnam for 18 months before returning to work in the Bartlett Learning Center and the infirmary.
Sr. Antoinette Vogel
housekeeper, baker
Benedictine Sister Antoinette Vogel, 96, died March 26.
Born in Germany, she joined the Benedictines there and came to St. Scholastica Monastery in Chicago in 1927.
Most of her years of ministry were spent at St. Scholastica Monastery, where she served in the kitchen, bakery, altar bread room and laundry as well as housekeeper to the chaplain.
Sr. Wilmada Ingenhorst
Served as an accountant
Holy Spirit Missionary Sister Wilmada (Sibylla) Ingenhorst, 80, died March 28 at the Convent of the Holy Spirit, Techny. Born in Germany, she joined the community there and came to the United States in 1951.
Sister Wilmada served in Maryland and at Techny, where she worked for many years as an accountant in the business office at the convent.
Sr. Sharon Rose
Editor, teacher
A funeral Mass for BVM Sister Sharon ( Mary Catherine) Rose was offered April 3 in Dubuque, Iowa. Sister Sharon, 87, died at Marian Hall there on March 29.
Sister Sharon was on the faculty of Mundelein College from 1960 to 1985, teaching journalism and public relations. She previously taught at Holy Name Cathedral High School, 1953-60.
Before entering the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, she earned a master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University. She then worked on the staff of The New World for six years as a reporter, feature editor and city editor.
She left the archdiocesan paper in 1945, at the age of 31, to enter the BVM congregation. When she was professed in 1948, the paper’s assistant editor called her “a little dynamo” who turned out an excellent job during the trying years of World War II.
When she joined the faculty of Mundelein she not only taught journalism and took over the student newspaper, but also wrote and did photography for BVM publications. She was the author of three children’s books, including “Above the Blue.”
Born in Chicago, she attended Holy Name Cathedral School, Immaculata High School, Mundelein College and St. Ambrose College in Davenport, Iowa.
Fr. Joseph W. Matheis
Pastor, counselor in Hawaii
Maryknoll Father Joseph W. Matheis, 74, died March 31 in Ossining, N.Y., where he was retired after serving in Hawaii for 43 years.
Father Matheis had served as pastor of Sacred Heart Parish in Honolulu and established a new parish in Puako. He served as architect for the new church building, incorporating many Hawaiian motifs into the design.
In the 1980s, he became a state-certified substance abuse counselor and worked full-time with alcohol and chemically dependent persons.
Born in Louisville, Ky., he attended St. Frances of Rome School in Cicero and Fenwick High School in Oak Park. He served with the U.S. Army Air Force during World War II and entered Maryknoll in 1952.
Sr. Doris Pryzbilla
nursed in Waukegan, Africa
Holy Spirit Missionary Sister Doris Pryzbilla, 96, died April 2 at the Convent of the Holy Spirit, Techny. She was in her 76th year of religious life.
After serving at hospitals in Illinois and Wisconsin, Sister Doris was among the pioneers who helped establish a clinic in Ghana, West Africa, in 1946. She returned to the United States in 1952 to work at St. Therese Hospital, Waukegan. Other assignments were in Michigan, including social work among the Potawatomi.
Sr. Helen Saffert
taught in Chicago
A funeral Mass for Sister of the Living Word Helen Saffert was offered April 8 at St. James Church, Arlington Heights. Sister Helen, 83, died April 5.
Sister Helen entered religious life as a member of the Sisters of Christian Charity and later joined the Sisters of the Living Word.
A teacher and administrator for 50 years, she served at St. Raphael School and St. Gregory High School in Chicago.
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