Providence Sister Marie Alexis (Elizabeth Clarissa) Geiger, 91, died Oct. 14 in St. Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana.

Born in Indiana, she entered the Sisters of Providence in 1946 and professed final vows in 1953. She ministered in Indiana, Illinois and Washington, D.C.

Sister Marie Alexis, an able administrator, was supportive and appreciative of all with whom she worked. She was also fun-loving, rarely missing an opportunity to be part of a group, whether it was to play cards or just to socialize.

In the Archdiocese of Chicago, she taught at St. Francis Borgia (1956-1963).

Father Phillip F. Cioffi, 64, died Sept. 17. He was associate pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish (Belmont Avenue) until he retired in July.

Born in Chicago, he attended Our Lady Help of Christians School; Fenwick High School, Oak Park; DePaul University; and the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary before being ordained in 1981.

Father Cioffi served as associate pastor at St. Frances of Rome, Cicero; Our Lady of Mercy; St. Bernardine, Forest Park; Immaculate Conception, Highland Park; and Our Lady of Mount Carmel.

Father Jeremiah Boland, pastor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Glenview, remembered his classmate as “one of the most beloved members of the class of 1981.” Boland added that “he was bright and had a terrific sense of humor. He was greatly influenced by the spirituality of St. Philip Neri.”

Father James P. Murphy, 80, died Oct. 1. He was pastor emeritus of St. Barbara Parish, Brookfield.

Born in Evanston, Father Murphy attended St. Francis Xavier School, Wilmette; Quigley Preparatory Seminary; and the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary before being ordained in 1965.

Father Murphy was assistant or associate pastor at Our Lady of Lourdes; St. James, Sauk Village; St. Mary, Des Plaines; St. Raymond de Penafort, Mount Prospect; and St. Eugene Parish.

He was pastor of St. Catherine Labouré, Glenview, from 1989 to 2002 and pastor of St. Barbara from 2003 to 2009, when he was named pastor emeritus.

Father Robert Mair, pastor emeritus of St. Catherine Labouré, served alongside his classmate there. He remembered Father Murphy’s contributions to the parish and school. “He was always very generous with his time in terms of liturgies even after he retired,” Mair said.

Resurrection Sister Andrew (Noreen Rose) Donohue, 85, died Sept. 2 at Resurrection Life Center.

Born in Chicago, she was baptized at St. Jerome Parish and entered the congregation in 1950. She professed her final vows in 1958.

Sister Andrew taught at St. Mary of the Angels; St. Casimir (now Our Lady of Tepeyac); and Queen of the Rosary, Elk Grove Village, as well as in Nebraska and Indiana. She taught and was librarian at St. Casimir High School (now Our Lady of Tepeyac High School) and ministered at Resurrection Day Care.

Sister Andrew is survived by her sister, Sister Emmanuel Joseph, a Little Sister of the Poor.

Divine Word Father Arnold Lang, 93, died Sept. 26 in Techny. He was an educator and missionary in Appalachia.

Born in Ohio, Arnold Langenkamp, who later changed his surname, began his studies with the Divine Word Missionaries in 1940, professed vows in 1946 and was ordained to the priesthood in 1953.

He taught biology to Divine Word seminary students in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Iowa.

In 1985, Father Lang was called to West Virginia, a relatively new mission for the Society of the Divine Word. He served in the state for 23 years.

Father Lang moved to Techny in retirement in 2008.

Sister of Christian Charity Rosemary (Coronata) Schwer, 87, died Aug. 27 at Sacred Heart Convent, Wilmette.

Born in St. Louis, she entered the convent in 1946 and made her first vows in 1951.

She began her nursing training at St. Elizabeth Hospital in 1953, and then resided at St. Teresa Convent while taking classes at DePaul University (1956-1957).

She served as a nurse and organist at Sacred Heart Convent, Wilmette (1957-1963); served as a nurse and taught biology and health in Maria Immaculata Academy and in Mallinckrodt College (1967-1971).

She taught biology at the college again while living in Wilmette starting in 1979. In 1993, she moved to New Mexico to serve as a pastoral minister. She returned to Wilmette in 2005 and served in the leadership of her congregation.

She had served since 2012 in the ministry of care and bereavement at St. Joseph, Wilmette, and she was a member of the church choir.

Adrian Dominican Sister Theresia (Mary Susan) Scheuer, 88, died Sept. 6 in Adrian, Michigan. 

Born in Adrian, Michigan, she was in the 71st year of her religious life. She ministered in Michigan and Illinois.

In the Archdiocese of Chicago, she taught at Ascension, Harvey (1954-1960).

She is survived by a sister, Jo Ann McKelvey.

Providence Sister Camille Neubauer, 79, died Aug. 14 in St. Mary of the Woods, Indiana.

Born in Washington, D.C., Sister Camille entered the Sisters of Providence in 1961 and professed final vows in 1969.  She taught in schools in Missouri, Maryland and Illinois, then served as music director in parishes in Maryland and Virginia.

In 2002, she returned to the motherhouse in St. Mary of the Woods to serve as director of liturgy and music, and later was a volunteer receptionist at Woods Day Care and Providence Conference and Spirituality Center. 

In the Archdiocese of Chicago, she taught at Mother Theodore Guerin High School, River Grove (1975-1980).

Claretian Father Raymond E. O’Connor, 81, died Aug. 17 in Park Ridge.

Born in Chicago, Father O’Connor attended Claretian seminaries and Catholic University of America before being ordained in 1964.

He had brief assignments at Immaculate Heart of Mary and St. Francis of Assisi parishes before serving as assistant vocation director at the Claretian House of Studies in Washington, D.C., in 1966. He also ministered in New York, Virginia, Missouri and Georgia.

He returned to Chicago in 2005 and became the director of the National Shrine of St. Jude at Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish.  In 2008, he retired and became a resident of the Claretian community in Oak Park, but continued as codirector of the shrine for another 10 years. In 2019, he moved to the Sheridan at Park Ridge nursing home, his final place of residence.  

Jesuit Father Robert C. Thul, 89, died Aug. 25.

Born in Cincinnati, Father Thul was a Jesuit for more than 70 years.

He taught math and religion at St. Ignatius College Prep, at St. Xavier High School in Cincinnati and at Colegio San Jose in Arequipa, Peru.

In the 1990s, Father Thul co-authored “Math for Change,” a teaching curriculum which incorporated social justice themes into math problems, and which has gone through multiple reprints. 

After 2006, he did pastoral ministry in Lexington, Kentucky; and in Cincinnati before moving to the Colombiere Center in Michigan in 2016.