Obituaries
Pray For Them
Fr. Ralph Mollan
PASTOR, CHAPLAIN
Father Ralph R. Mollan, pastor emeritus of St. Thomas Becket Parish in Mount Prospect, died April 14 at Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn. He was 90 years old and a resident of Bishop Lyne Home in Palos Park.
A native of Chicago’s West Side, Father Mollan was a graduate of Presentation School, Archbishop Quigley Preparatory Seminary and the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary.
Father Mollan’s first assignment after ordination in 1943 was at St. Rose of Lima Parish on the South Side. From 1951 to 1957, he was assistant pastor at St. Leo Parish in the Auburn Park neighborhood. Both of these parishes are now closed.
In 1957, he was named assistant pastor of St. Mary Parish in Evanston, where he served for nine years. From 1957 to 1961, Father Mollan was also an area chaplain for the Christian Family Movement, an organization of Catholic laity formed to promote Christian family life. Father Mollan also served as a chaplain in the early 1960s for Evanston Township High School and for a north suburban chapter of the Catholic Interracial Council.
For two years he served as assistant pastor of St. Bede the Venerable Parish near Midway Airport, and then was named pastor of St. John De La Salle Parish on the South Side. After 12 years there, Father Mollan became pastor of St. Thomas Becket Parish in Mount Prospect, where he served for nine years until his retirement from active ministry in 1989, when he was named pastor emeritus.
Sr. Marie Ellen Sullivan
FORMER GUERIN PRINCIPAL
Providence Sister Marie Ellen (Marjorie Joan) Sullivan, 82, died March 29 in St. Mary-ofthe- Woods, Ind.
She entered the congregation in 1945. Of her 64 years as a Sister of Providence, she taught for 40 years in schools in Indiana, Illinois, Washington, D.C., and Maryland. For 16 of those years she served as a high school principal. In 1988, she retired from teaching and served 15 years as pastoral associate at St. Constance Parish in Chicago. In 2004 she moved to the motherhouse where she dedicated herself totally to the ministry of prayer.
Other assignments in the Archdiocese of Chicago included: Our Lady of Mercy (1952-54); Providence High School, (1965-67); and Mother Theodore Guerin High School, River Grove (1971- 87, principal 1975-87).
Sister Marie Ellen is survived by a sister, Marian Kroes.
Sister M. Stephanie Neumann
TEACHER
Mercy Sister Mary Stephanie Neumann, 82, died March 31 at Provena McAuley Manor in Aurora.
A Chicago native, she entered the Sisters of Mercy from Our Lady of Mercy Parish in 1947.
She was a teacher and principal in the Archdiocese of Chicago from 1950 to 1984, with assignments at Our Lady of Mount Carmel; St. Rose of Lima; Precious Blood; St. James; St. Joseph the Worker, Wheeling; St. Catherine of Siena, Oak Park; and St. Ita.
She joined the staff at McAuley Convent, Aurora, in 1987, helping to care for the senior sisters until 2004.
She is survived by her brother, Father Aloysius Neumann.
Sr. Mary Arlene Scott
TEACHER
Sister Mary Arlene Scott, 55, died April 2 in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Born in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., she held master’s degrees in religious education and pastoral studies from Loyola University Chicago.
Sister Mary Arlene spent 18 years ministering in education in Michigan and Florida, as well as in the Archdiocese of Chicago. She taught at Our Lady of the Westside (1992-93) and St. Eulalia, Maywood (1993-97).
Sister Mary Arlene is survived by her parents, Robert and Mary Scott; two brothers, Gregory and Patrick Scott; and a sister, Julianne Cleary.
Sr. Rita Bleidorn
TEACHER
School Sister of St. Francis Rita (Miriam Joseph) Bleidorn, 82, died April 2 in Campbellsport, Wis.
She entered the School Sisters of St. Francis in 1948 and ministered in Illinois, Wisconsin and Canada. In the Archdiocese of Chicago, Sister Rita taught at St. William School (1952-59), St. Nicholas School (1959-60) and St. Bernardine School, Forest Park (1960-63).
Sister Rita is survived by a brother, Eugene, and a sister, Dolores Sanders.
Sr. Rosemary Welter
TEACHER, DIETICIAN
Mercy Sister Rosemary (Mary Marcellina) Welter, 85, died April 5. She had been a Sister of Mercy for 68 years.
A Chicago native, she attended elementary school in Hobart, Ind., before going to Siena High School in Chicago.
From 1944 to 1955, she taught elementary school in Chicago and Elgin, Ill., and in Iowa. Her interest in dietetics led her to pursue that work in Iowa and Wisconsin, in Peru and in Chicago, where she was a dietician at Holy Cross Hospital.
Her experience included teaching nutrition and diet therapy to nursing students for Mercy Hospital School of Nursing in Iowa City, Iowa, from 1958 to 1960. She also was a dietician at Holy Cross Hospital in Chicago.
She is survived by her sister Gloria O’Connor and brothers John and Charles Welter.
Sr. Francis Winifred Schnell
TEACHER
Adrian Dominican Sister Francis Winifred (Mary Martha) Schnell, 84, died April 6 in Adrian, Mich.
Sister Francis Winifred spent 22 years ministering in education in Chicago, Ohio, Michigan and Florida. She also served as a social worker, pastoral minister, office manager and secretary during her ministry.
In the archdiocese, she taught at Queen of Angels (1950-53) and St. Rita (1953-54).