Fr. Kevin Shanley
COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR
Carmelite Father Kevin Shanley, 76, died Feb. 25 at St. Patrick’s Residence in Naperville, where he had been in hospice after suffering a severe stroke on Feb. 10. Father Shanley was born in Jersey City, N.J. He attended Mount Carmel College in Niagara Falls, Ontario, and was ordained a priest in 1956 in Massachusetts. Father Shanley received several post-graduate degrees including a master’s in psychology from the Adler Institute of Psychology in Chicago in 1985, and a doctorate in ministry from the University of Saint Mary of the Lake/ Mundelein Seminary in 1996. He served for several years at Joliet Catholic High School as a teacher, dean of students and later chair of the English department. He was also communications director for the Carmelite Province in Darien, where he also served as a psychotherapist. Father Shanley taught Irish history and literature courses in the adult education program at St. Xavier University in Chicago for 17 years. A sought-after homilist, he regularly celebrated Mass at Chicago’s Gaelic Park, where he was among the first to greet Ireland’s President Mary McAleese in 2003. In 2006, he was named to the list of top Irish Americans.

Margaret “Marge” Skerrett
TAUGHT IN CATHOLIC SCHOOLS
A funeral Mass for Margaret Mary Skerrett (Murphy) was offered March 3 at St. Christina Church. Mrs. Skerrett, 89, died Feb. 27. A retired teacher, she had taught at St. Christina School, Our Lady of the Ridge, Chicago Ridge; and St. Catherine of Alexandria, Oak Lawn. She and her husband of 32 years, Joseph P. “Red” Skerrett, who died in 1976, were long time residents of the Mount Greenwood neighborhood. She was a graduate of St. Columbanus Grade School and the Academy of Our Lady (Longwood). A “lifelong student,” mother of six, musically inclined and a lover of amateur theater, Mrs. Skerrett also found time to be a volunteer coordinator for Misericordia and a reading tutor. She is survived by her children, Roger, Mary, Ellen, Patrick, Joseph and Michael; 13 grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Sr. Marie Irene Miller
EDUCATOR
Dominican Sister Marie Irene Miller, 94, died Feb. 20 at the Dominican Life Center in Adrian, Mich. Born in Detroit, Sister Marie Irene ministered in education for 53 years. She served at schools in Michigan, Florida and Illinois. In Chicago, she taught at St. Nicholas Tolentine from 1934- 35. She also ministered at Siena Heights University, Adrian, in the registrar’s office from 1971-87 and archives from 1992-95.

Sr. M. St. Benedict Zdenek
EDUCATOR
BVM Sister M. St. Benedict Zdenek, 92, died Feb. 21 at Caritas Center in Dubuque, Iowa. Born in Chicago, she entered the BVM congregation in 1936 and professed final vows in 1944. She taught in Chicago for 29 years at St. Tarcissus, St. G e r t r u d e , Holy Family, Our Lady of Lourdes, St. Cornelius, Mary Queen of Heaven in Cicero, St. William, and St. Lucy and St. Catherine of Siena in Oak Park. Sister St. Benedict also taught in Montana, Iowa and Nebraska.

Frank Starus
FATHER OF PRIEST
Mr. Frank Starus, 91, father of Father Ralph Starus, has died. Father Starus is the pastor of St. Stanislaus Bishop and Martyr Church in Posen. Mr. Starus was preceded in death by his wife, Estelle. Father Starus was the main celebrant at a March 2 funeral Mass for his father at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Melrose Park.

Br. Aloysius Quinn
SERVED AT ST. AUGUSTINE’S
Franciscan Friar Aloysius Quinn, 92, died Feb. 28 in Springfield, Ill. A native of Cleveland, Ohio, B r o t h e r Quinn entered the order in 1943 and professed solemn vows in 1949. From 1946 to 1979, he served at St. A u g u s t i n e Parish in C h i c a g o , which is now closed. He worked as a porter, sacristan and maintenance man at the parish. He also served at St. Paschal Parish in Oak Brook, San José Mission in San Antonio, and St. Gratian Friary in Dittmer, Mo.

Fr. Gerald Heinen
CHICAGO NATIVE
Carmelite Father Gerald Heinen, 81, died Feb. 19 in Teaneck, N.J. A native of Chicago, Father Heinen made his first profession of vows as a Carmelite in 1944 in Pennsylvania. He was ordained a priest in 1950 at the National Shrine in Washington, D.C. In 1951, he served as a seminarian teacher and treasurer at Mount Carmel College in Niagara Falls, Ontario. In 1966, he was assigned to St. Clara Parish in Chicago (now closed). The Society of the Little Flower in Illinois was first based at St. Clara Parish. He served there for a year and then returned to teaching at Joliet Catholic High School in Joliet. From 1972-2004, Father Heinen served at parishes in New Jersey.

Clarence Miller
FATHER OF STAFFER
Clarence Miller, the father of Joanne Walczynski, died March 6 at his home. Walczynski is the Youth Ministry Coordinator for Vicariate I. A funeral Mass was held March 9 at St. Edna Parish, Arlington Heights.

Fr. Henricus Vanderstappen
EXPERT IN CHINESE ART
Divine Word Father Henricus “Harrie” Vanderstappen, 86, professor emeritus at the University of Chicago, died Jan. 25. An expert in Chinese art of the Yuan and Ming periods, he was one of the first scholars to look at the influence of institutions and the patronage system on Chinese art. Father Vanderstappen taught at the University of Chicago for over 30 years. He was the first ordained Catholic priest to hold a faculty position at this university. He was born in the Netherlands and was ordained a priest for the Society of the Divine Word in 1945. He briefly taught art at a university in China before foreign missionaries were expelled from the country in 1949. Father Vanderstappen was in residence at the Divine Word Residence in Techny and he celebrated Masses at St. Norbert Parish in Northbrook.

Mary Margaret Schumacher
SISTER OF PRIEST
Mary Margaret Schumacher, the sister of Father Thomas Maher, died Feb. 1 in California. Maher is a retired resident at St. Mary of the Woods Church. A funeral Mass for Mrs. Schumacher was held Feb. 9 at a church in Culver City, Calif. Mrs. Schumacher’s two brothers, Father Thomas Maher and Father Arthur Maher, of the Diocese of Joliet, celebrated the Mass.

Fr. Joe Dean
CHICAGO NATIVE
Glenmary Father Joe Dean, 86, died Feb. 14 in Mt. Pleasant, Texas. A native of Chicago, Father Dean attended Quigley Preparatory Seminary and St. Mary of the Lake Seminary. When he joined the Glenmary congregation in 1943, he was asked to change his last name from Dyniewicz to Dean since it would be easier to pronounce. Father Dean was ordained in 1945. He served as a pastor of missions in Virginia, Kentucky, North Carolina, Mississippi, Georgia, Texas and Oklahoma. He also established several missions and founded two hospitals, one in Virginia and one in North Carolina. In the 1950s, Father Dean worked in Glenmary’s vocation and promotion department and taught at Glenmary’s seminary. In the mid-1980s, Father Dean recognized a growing Spanishspeaking population in Glenmary’s missions in the South. At 65 he began learning Spanish and reaching out to the immigrant population. He retired from ministry in 1995. From 2000 to the present he lived in a former mission in Mt. Pleasant, Texas. In 1997, he was honored by Quigley Prep as a recipient of the Archbishop James E. Quigley Distinguished Alumnus Award for his exemplary 50 years of priestly ministry.

Sr. Mary Limana Lontkowski
CARE WORKER
Felician Sister Mary Limana Lontkowski, 80, died Jan. 8. Born in Hofa Park, Wis., she entered the Felician Sisters in 1946 and professed final vows in 1954. She taught at schools in Illinois and Wisconsin for eight years and served the elderly at residential facilities in Illinois and Wisconsin for 34 years. She served at St. Andrew Life Center, Niles, from 1954-61, and she taught at Holy Innocents (1961-62) and St. Bronislava (1963-65).

Dr. Edmund Rooney
JOURNALIST
Dr. Edmund J. Rooney Jr., 82, a Pulitzer-winning reporter for the Chicago Daily News, died Jan. 27 in Chicago. Dr. Rooney was a journalism professor at Loyola University Chicago and was a supporter of the Catholic press. He wrote several articles for the Catholic New World. Dr. Rooney was preceded in death by his wife, Mary. He is survived by his children, Edmund J. Rooney III, John F., Molly Kelly, Ellen Martin, Peter E. and Timothy, and his 13 grandchildren

Sr. Ann Marie Bichlmeier
TEACHER, ORGANIST
School Sister of St. Francis Ann Marie (Philothea) Bichlmeier died Feb. 23 at St. Joseph Convent in Ca m p b e l l - sport, Wis. She entered the School Sisters of St. Francis in 1931 and professed final vows in 1936. She served as a teacher, principal and organist. In Chicago, Sister Ann Marie taught and was organist at Immaculate Conception School, 1933-34, and she taught at St. Matthias School, 1955-60.

Sr. Mary Carlton
EDUCATOR
Sister of Providence Mary (Florence) Carlton, 80, died Feb. 22 in St. Mary of the Woods, Ind. Sister Mary entered the congregation in 1948 and professed final vows in 1955. She served as a teacher in Indiana, Illinois, California, Michigan and Massachusetts. In Chicago, she taught at St. David, 1959-65; St. Agnes, 1965-71; and St. Gall, 1971-78. She also served at the senior center at Catholic Charities in Waukegan, 1978-80.