Advertisements ad

Obituaries

Pray For Them

Fr. Eugene Ballweber

AIR FORCE CHAPLAIN

Father Eugene Ballweber, 81, died Aug. 25 in Albuquerque, N.M., where he had lived for many years.

Ballweber was born in Chicago and attended St. Felicitas Grade School before entering Quigley Seminary. He was ordained in 1952 and served at St. Mel Parish until 1958 and at Nativity of Our Lord Parish from 1958-60. He then served as an active duty Air Force chaplain from 1960-70. He remained in the Air Force Reserve until 1982, and ministered in Catholic social services and substance abuse recovery in New Mexico after 1970.

He is survived by nieces and nephews.

Sr. Frances Finnegan

EDUCATOR

Sister of Providence Frances (Frances Marie) Finnegan, 90, died June 23 in Terre Haute, Ind. She entered the Sisters of Providence in 1940 and professed final vows in 1948. She served as an educator in Indiana, Illinois and North Carolina. In the Archdiocese of Chicago, she taught at St. Mel- Holy Ghost (1947-48), St. Andrew (1955-57), Maternity BVM (1963- 69) and St. Agnes (1969-71). She also served as assistant treasurer at St. Joseph Province in Park Ridge from 1979-88.

Sister Joan Netzel

TEACHER, HOSPITAL WORKER

Sister of St. Joseph Joan Netzel died Aug. 5. She was 73.

A member of the Sisters of St. Joseph for 54 years, she taught at many schools, including St. Francis Xavier in LaGrange.

From 1978 to 2004, she worked at Loyola University Medical Center, primarily in personnel services. She is survived by her sisters, Nancy Rasmussen and Pat Murray and her brother, Robert.

Sr. Joanne Geartts

THEOLOGY TEACHER

Dominican Sister Joanne (Margarita) Geartts died July 28 in Milwaukee. She was 82.

Sister Joanne made her first religious profession as a Sinsinawa Dominican Aug. 5, 1951, and her final profession Aug. 5, 1954. She served for 47 years as a teacher of theology and education in high schools and as a member of a retreat staff and director of religious education. Sister Joanne served in Illinois; Washington, D.C.; New York; Texas; Minnesota; and Wisconsin.

In the Archdiocese of Chicago, Sister Joanne taught at Visitation High School, Chicago, 1951-1955, and at Rosary College (now Dominican University), River Forest, 1959-1975.

She was born in Escanaba, Mich., the daughter of Albert and Helen Marie (Nelligan) Geartts. Her parents preceded her in death. She is survived by one sister.

Tammy Lynne Moote

TEACHER OF THE DEAF

Tammy Lynn Moote, a teacher in the Holy Trinity Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program at Children of Peace School, died in a car accident Aug. 10. She was 35.

Moote, who had no hearing in her right ear and 50 percent hearing in her left ear, grew up in Fonthill, Ontario, and moved to Chicago in her 20s. She earned a degree in deaf education from Northern Illinois University, and she joined the faculty at Children of Peace in 2002.

She is survived by her parents, Marilyn and Larry; her sisters, Cindy Duncan and Judi Wilton; her grandmother, Jodi; and several nieces and nephews.

Sr. M. Sicilda Parr

SECRETARY, TEACHER

School Sister of St. Francis Mary Sicilda Parr died July 30 at St. Joseph Convent in Campbellsport, Wis. She was 86.

She was born in Olean, Neb. to John and Elizabeth Parr, and was received into the School Sisters of St. Francis June 13, 1937 and made first profession of vows Aug. 12, 1939 and made final vows Aug. 8, 1945.

Sister Sicilda was a teacher and tutor in Nebraska, Illinois and Wisconsin and later provided secretarial services in Milwaukee. In the Archdiocese of Chicago, Sister Mary Sicilda taught at St. Anne School in Barrington (1947-1950) and at St. Benedict Grade School in Chicago (1958-1962).

She is survived by two brothers, John (Mary) Parr and Daniel Parr.

Sr. Lauren Dietl

WORKED WITH IMMIGRANTS

Holy Spirit Missionary Sister Lauren (Maria) Dietl, died Aug. 8 at age 71 at the Convent of the Holy Spirit in Techny. The oldest of five children, she was born in Klein - Olkowitz, a German settlement in Czechoslovakia.

A Holy Spirit Missionary Sister for 49 years, Sister Lauren was most known for her work over the past 20 years with new immigrants in the Waukegan area.

Sister Lauren served in Iowa, Texas and Mississippi before moving to Waukegan in 1985 to work with the outreach program and food pantry at St. Joseph Parish. She also coordinated the day laborer program, matching workers with jobs.

Sister Lauren is survived by two sisters: Josefinie Brei in Germany, and Sister Clemens, also a Holy Spirit Missionary Sister.

Sr. Mary Elizabeth Niemann

TAUGHT AT ANNUNCIATION BVM

Sister Mary Elizabeth Niemann, 91, died July 27 in Dubuque, Iowa. She entered the BVM congregation in 1935 and professed final vows in 1943. She was an educator in Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Missouri, Tennessee and Mississippi. In Chicago, she taught at Annunciation (1938-45; 1949-50).

Mrs. Edith Merold

PRIESTʼS MOTHER

Mrs. Edith Merold died in Waukegan June 17, on her 97th birthday. She was a lifelong resident of the Wadsworth- Waukegan area, having been baptized at St. Patrick Church in Wadsworth and remaining a lifelong member.

She is survived by her son, Father James Merold.