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Obituaries

Pray For Them

Fr. Millard P. O’Keefe

PASTOR

Father Millard P. O’Keefe, 68, former pastor of St. David Parish in the Bridgeport neighborhood, died Dec. 15. He was residing at St. Patrick Residence in Naperville when he died.

An Oak Park native, he was born Jan. 23, 1939, and baptized at the now-closed Blessed Sacrament Parish on the West Side. After attending St. Matthias, St. Finbarr and St. Eulalia elementary schools, he graduated from Quigley Preparatory Seminary and the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary.

Father O’Keefe was ordained in 1965. His first assignment was assistant pastor of Bellwood’s St. Simeon Parish, until 1966. He was then assigned to Queen of All Saints Basilica in Chicago as assistant pastor (1966-1973).

He became assistant pastor of St. Cecilia Parish in Mount Prospect (1973-1981) and then pastor of the now-closed St. David Parish (1981-1994) before taking a medical leave. Being fluent in Spanish, he lived at St. Andrew the Apostle Church in Romeoville where he said daily Masses in English and Spanish (1996-2004).

He is survived by a brother, Harold.

Sr. Agnes Patrice Harding

TEACHER, COUNSELOR

School Sister of Notre Dame Mary Agnes Patrice Harding, 82, died Nov. 19, at Resurrection Life Center in Chicago.

Sister Agnes Patrice taught in the Archdiocese of Chicago at St. Anthony, 1957-1958; St. Michael, 1958-1963; and St. Benedict School in Blue Island, 1963-1965.

Next she taught at St. Margaret of Scotland, 1965-1967; St. Alphonsus, 1967-1970; and All Saints, 1970-1971. She later returned to St. Benedict School, 1971-1974. She earned a Master of Education from Loyola University.

Sister also worked as a counselor at Academy of Our Lady, 1982-1993. She served as the director of initial formation for the former Chicago Province and at the Academy of Our Lady Convent until 1999, retiring in 2000.

Sr. Timon Fritsch

TEACHER

Dominican Sister Timon Fritsch, 84, died Dec. 12, at Mercy Medical Center, Dubuque, Iowa.

Sister Timon, a native of Milwaukee, made her first religious profession as a Sinsinawa Dominican in 1943.

She ministered for 58 years as an elementary school teacher, Learning Center director and school volunteer. She served in Illinois, Nebraska, Minnesota, Colorado and Wisconsin.

In the Archdiocese of Chicago, she taught at Immaculate Conception Parish, 1943-1951. Sister Timon moved to the motherhouse in 2001.

She is survived by a sister, Ann Fritsch.

Sr. M. Bertille Geffert

COOKED AT BOYS TOWN

Franciscan Sister Mary Bertille Geffert, 92, died Dec. 22 in the sisters’ infirmary in Lemont.

Born in Pennsylvania, she entered the Franciscan Sisters of Chicago at age 15.

Her life skills ranged from cooking, sewing and embroidering to earning a degree from St. John School of Nursing in Huron, S.D. She ministered in Indiana and East St. Louis before moving to Boys Town, Neb., with 12 other sisters in 1940.

She was cook/housekeeper for Boys Town founder Father Flanagan for eight years. She served Babe Ruth her homemade ice cream on a visit to Boys Town.

Sister Bertille later worked as a lab technician and administrator of hospitals in Nebraska and South Dakota, as well as supervisor and director of nursing at Mother Theresa Home in Lemont, and St. Joseph Home in Chicago.

In the ’80s and ’90s she ministered at St. Florian School in Chicago and teamed with another sister to cook and keep house for Bishop Edward Slattery in Tulsa, Okla.

Sister Bertille returned to Lemont in 1999 to retire.