Issue of March 16, 2003

Passionist Father John Anthony Parenza, 82, died Feb. 23. Born in Iowa to Italian parents, he professed vows with the Passionist community in 1943. He was ordained a priest in 1950 in Louisville, Ky. He studied at Passionist communities in several states and at the Angelicum in Rome. He served as assistant superior of the community of Sacred Heart Monastery, Louisville, from 1968 to 1971. He was elected the local superior in 1971, a position he held for eight years.

Sr. Dominic Miller
teacher

Sister of Christian Charity Dominic Miller, 84, died Feb. 19. A Chicago native, she entered the Congregation of the Sisters of Christian Charity in 1933 at the motherhouse in Wilmette and made first vows in 1936. She taught in the Archdiocese of Chicago at St. Gregory High School and Josephinum High School.

In 1979, Sister Dominic left the classroom and began a new ministry with senior citizens in St. Louis. She retired from active ministry in 1998 and moved to Sacred Heart Convent, Wilmette.

Sr. Mercita Lynch
Librarian, teacher

Sister of the Holy Cross Mercita Lynch (Helen Elizabeth), 86, died Feb. 16.

A Chicago native, she served her ministry as a librarian and teacher in several states.

In the Archdiocese of Chicago she taught at Most Holy Redeemer School in Evergreen Park.

Sr. Margaret Ringe
teacher

Sister of Providence Margaret Lucille Ringe, 79, died Feb. 11. A native of Washington D.C., she professed her final vows in 1950.

Sister Ringe taught in schools staffed by the Sisters of Providence in several states.

For more than 25 years, she taught elementary grades. In the Archdiocese of Chicago, she served at St. Genevieve (1945), St. Andrew (1945-46) and at Our Lady of Sorrows (1959-60).

For 30 years, she ministered with the poor and elderly in parishes and other settings.

Sr. Michael Ann Murphy
Teacher

Sister of Providence Michael Ann Murphy, 84, died Feb. 9. She entered the Sisters of Providence in 1944 and was professed in 1951. She taught in schools staffed by the Sisters of Providence in several states. In the Archdiocese of Chicago, she taught at Our Lady of Sorrows (1946-48), St. Leo (1948-51), St. Andrew (1955-59) and St. Columbkille (1962-65).

Sr. Louis Mary Wellik
Cook-housekeeper

Benedictine Sister of the Sacred Heart Louis Mary Wellik, 92, died Feb. 9.

Born in Iowa to a family of early homesteaders, she moved to Illinois in 1936 and joined the Benedictines. She spent all of her years in the community serving as a cook and housekeeper.

In the Archdiocese of Chicago, she served at St. Procopius College, Our Lady of Lourdes and St. Vitus, and St. Mary of Celle in Berwyn.

Fr. Jim Wilmes
Priest-Pioneer

Glenmary Father Jim Wilmes, 76, died Feb. 7. A Chicago native, he was a Glenmary Home Missioner for 46 years. He began his ministry in North Carolina in the 1950s, where he was one of the first Catholic clergy to bring Catholicism to the Western part of the state, holding tent revivals and visiting people door to door. He then served in several other states before returning to North Carolina. He is survived by a sister, Loretta Vaughn of Downers Grove, and two brothers, Richard of Schaumburg and Robert of Des Plaines.

Sr. M. Richard Duszynski
educator

Franciscan Sister of Chicago Mary Richard (Julia) Duszynski died Feb. 6 at age 98. A native of Omaha, Neb., she left her family of seven siblings to join the Franciscan Sisters of Chicago in 1922.

She made her perpetual profession of vows in 1927 and began her 61 years of ministry, 48 of those years as an educator.

In the Archdiocese of Chicago she served at Guardian Angel Day Care Center, Five Holy Martyrs School, St. Florian, St. Pancratius, and St. Stanislaus Bishop and Martyr schools. She earned the nickname “tricky Dick” for her creative ways of solving problems.

During her ministry she also served the sisters as a local treasurer at many of the convents and as an assistant superior.

Sr. Jean O’Brien
Teacher

Sister of Mercy Jean O’Brien, 76, died Feb. 3. She was a Sister of Mercy for 57 years.

A native of Chicago, she served as a teacher in several states. In the Archdiocese of Chicago she taught at St. Paul of the Cross, Park Ridge; St. Justin Martyr, Chicago; Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, Chicago; St. Catherine of Siena, Oak Park; and Mother McAuley High School, Chicago. She was then on staff at Misericordia from 1981-93.

Sr. Antonissima Jamruk
Vicar, Women Religious

Franciscan Sister of Chicago Mary Antonissima Jamruk, 83, died Jan. 27. A native of East St. Louis, Ill., she joined the Franciscan Sisters of Chicago in 1937 and made her perpetual profession of vows in 1945. She served as a teacher while studying to become a registered nurse. She then studied oncological nursing.

After 13 years of service in health care, she was elected assistant superior general, an office she held for three consecutive terms.

With her experience in health care, she was appointed vice president of the congregation’s health care board of trustees

As a member of the general council, she was part of the proceedings at the exhumation of the remains of the foundress of the congregation in 1972 as part of the beatification process.

She was appointed the first woman religious to serve as vicar delegate for women religious in the Archdiocese of Chicago by Cardinal Cody in 1979.

She later became a certified chaplain and served at St. Joseph Home, Chicago. She later served at Addolorata Villa in Wheeling.