Issue of October 26, 2003

Taught at St. Christina

Genevieve Walther, 98, a resident of Addolorata Villa in Wheeling and formerly of Chicago, died Oct. 11. Born in 1905, she held several positions before teaching grade school at St. Christina Parish for 15 years, where she retired in 1972.

She was a member of the Secular Franciscans and the Blue Army of Our Lady for more than 50 years. She is survived by a sister, eight nieces and nephews, and many grand- and great-grand nieces and nephews.

Fr. John Kyle

WWII chaplain

The founding pastor of St. John the Evangelist Parish in Streamwood, Father John Murray Kyle, 93, died Oct. 9. At the time of his death he was a resident at the Resurrection Life Center in Chicago. He served as a Navy chaplain during World War II.

Father Kyle grew up on the city’s West Side. He graduated from Quigley Preparatory Seminary and the University of St. Mary of the Lake, Mundelein. He was ordained in 1936, and served his first six years at St. Leonard Parish in Berwyn. From 1942-46, he served as a Navy chaplain, earning the rank of lieutenant commander.

After returning from service, he became assistant pastor at St. Edward Parish on the Northwest Side, where he served for 16 years. In 1962, he formed a new parish in Streamwood, St. John the Evangelist, and served there as pastor until 1969.

For the next six years, he was chaplain at St. Benedict Home in Niles. He returned to parish ministry in 1975 as associate pastor of St. Mary of the Woods, Chicago, and then at St. Pius in Stickney.

In 1976 he was named pastor emeritus of St. John the Evangelist. He retired in 1983 and lived for a time at St. Andrew Life Center in Niles before moving to Resurrection. Father Kyle is survived by several nieces and nephews.

Sr. Barbarine Vanek

homemaker

School Sister of Notre Dame Barbarine Vanek died Sept. 28. She entered the congregation in 1938 and made her final profession of vows in 1942. She served for 22 years at the Academy of Our Lady, Chicago, where she ministered to the sisters who served in the high school. She retired in 2000.

Sr. Mary Carol Dicks

Music teacher

School Sister of Notre Dame Mary Carol Dicks died Sept. 27. A Chicago native, she entered the congregation in 1927 and professed her final vows in 1931. She had a long career in music.

Sister Mary Carol taught at missions in several states. She spent 37 years at the Academy of Our Lady, Chicago, where she taught music classes. She retired in 2003.

Fr. Charles Ezerskis

Served in western suburbs

Father Charles E. Ezerskis, 69, former pastor of Our Lady of Charity Parish in Cicero, died Oct. 12 at Condell Hospital, Libertyville.

A Chicago native, he was a graduate of Quigley Preparatory Seminary and the University of St. Mary of the Lake in Mundelein, where he received a bachelor’s. degree in education in addition to his theology degree. He was ordained in 1961.

Father Ezerskis served for five years as assistant pastor of St. Rose of Lima Parish, and for a short time at St. Robert Bellarmine on the Northwest Side and Sacred Heart in Winnetka.

He began a seven-year term as assistant pastor of south suburban St. Gerard Majella Parish, Markham, in 1969. He returned there for another three years from 1981-84. In between, he was the assistant pastor at St. Joseph Parish in Summit and Nativity of Our Lord Parish on Chicago’s Southwest Side.

For seven years, beginning in 1984, Father Ezerskis was the associate pastor of St. Rosalie in Harwood Heights. After spending a year as associate pastor of Incarnation Parish in Palos Heights, he was named pastor of Our Lady of Charity in Cicero.

He served as pastor there until 1996. Between 1996 and 2002, when he became ill, Fr. Ezerskis served at Most Holy Redeemer, Evergreen Park; Sacred Heart, Melrose Park; and most recently, as temporary administrator at St. Gerald Majella in Markham.

Sr. Agnesine Linzenbach

Physical therapist

Holy Spirit Missionary Sister Agnesine (Maria Wilhelma) Linzenbach, 95, died Oct. 5. A native of the Diocese of Cologne, Germany, she joined the Holy Spirit Missionary Sisters in Holland in 1932 and professed her final vows in 1941.

She cared for wounded soldiers during World War II at the Orthopedic Hospital in Vienna, Austria. She came to the United States in 1951 and served as a physical therapist in hospitals for nearly 25 years. In 1978, she returned to the Convent of the Holy Spirit in Techny and served in occupational therapy.

Sr. Mary Adria Pinski

Educator

Felician Sister Mary Adria (Rosemary) Pinski, 74, died Sept. 24. Born in St. Paul, Minn., she was a member of the Felician Sisters for 57 years. As an educator she was known for using creative methods in teaching. In the Archdiocese of Chicago, she taught at St. Joseph (S. Hermitage) from 1948-49; Ascension, Evanston, 1949-52; St. Linus, Oak Lawn, from 1960-63 and 1971-81; St. Mary of Gostyn from 1965-71; and at Incarnation Parish, Palos Heights, from 1987-2000.

She served as Provincial Councilor and coordinator of the apostolic services of the Felician Sisters in Chicago from 1981-87.

Joan Kroc

widow of McDonald’s founder

Joan B. Kroc, 75, widow of McDonald’s founder Ray Kroc who donated millions to Catholic universities and other charitable causes, died Oct. 12 in the San Diego suburb of Rancho Santa Fe.

In the 1980s, she made two gifts of $6 million each to the University of Notre Dame to establish the Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at Notre Dame and to build the Hesburgh Center for International Studies, which houses the Kroc Institute and the Helen Kellogg Institute for International Studies. More recently she gave $5 million to create an “international scholarship fund for peace and justice” honoring Holy Cross Father Theodore M. Hesburgh, president emeritus.

She met Ray Kroc in the 1950s while playing the organ and piano in a St. Paul restaurant and they married in 1969. He died in 1984.