Sinsinawa Sister Rita Rae (Raffaello) Burger, 85, died Dec. 24 in Sinsinawa, Wisconsin.

Born in Madison, Wisconsin, she made her first religious profession in 1956 and her perpetual profession in 1959. She ministered in Illinois, Montana, Wyoming, California, Minnesota, Washington and Wisconsin.

In the Archdiocese of Chicago, Sister Rita Rae taught at St. Sabina (1956-1959), Epiphany (1967-1970), and St. Thomas the Apostle (1987-1996), where she also served in the media center (1996-2000). Sister Rita Rae also served in the library at St. Basil School (1996-2000).

Sister of St. Casimir Mary Balkus, 93, died Dec. 26.

A Chicago native, Sister Mary entered the Sisters of St. Casimir in 1946 from All Saints Parish (Roseland) and made her final vows in 1953.

She taught in schools in Illinois and Maryland.

In the Archdiocese of Chicago, she taught at Sts. Peter and Paul (1948-1952), Our Lady of Vilna (1953-1954), St. George (1959-1960), and Maria High School for 35 years (1960-1967, 1976-2004). She moved to Franciscan Village, Lemont, in 2014, where she served in the ministry of prayer and presence. 

Sister of St. Joseph Mary Ricardo DiSanto, 93, died Dec. 27.

She had been a member of the Congregation of St. Joseph for 74 years.

She taught at St. Barbara, Brookfield; St. Francis Xavier, LaGrange and Our Lady of Bethlehem, LaGrange Park. She was a music teacher at Nazareth Academy, and taught the Suzuki method at the C.S.J. School of Music.

Divine Word Father Walter Bunofsky, 87, who served as a chaplain, pastor and seminary formator, died Dec. 29 in Techny.

Born in Ohio, he professed religious vows in 1952 and was ordained to the priesthood in 1960.

For the first nine years of his priesthood, he served as a vocation director. In 1969, he asked for an opportunity to work in African-American ministry and was assigned to St. Anselm Parish in Chicago. He later served in St. Louis.

In 1994, he began a 21-year tenure at Divine Word College at Epworth, Iowa.

In 2015, he moved to Techny in retirement but continued to write poetry.

He is survived by two sisters, Florence Garcher and Elaine Mureko.

Adrian Dominican Sister Catherine (James Anita) McKillop, 87, died Dec. 30 in Adrian, Michigan.

Born in Scotland, she was in the 69th year of her religious profession.

Sister Catherine ministered in Illinois, Florida, Alabama, Puerto Rico and Michigan. She became a resident of the Dominican Life Center in Adrian in 2017.

In the Archdiocese of Chicago, she taught at St. Columbanus (1951-1952) and was coordinator of volunteer services at St. Leonard’s House, which provides temporary housing for formerly incarcerated men (1998-2007).

Sister Catherine is survived by sisters Patricia Young and Marguerite DeJaeghere and a brother, Joseph McKillop.

Adrian Dominican Sister Charles Christine (Eunice) Uhnavy, 101, died Jan. 2 in Adrian, Michigan.

Born in Michigan, she was in the 80th year of her religious profession.

She ministered in Michigan, Ohio and Illinois. Sister Charles Christine became a resident of the Dominican Life Center in Adrian, Michigan in 2012.

In the Archdiocese of Chicago, she taught at St. Nicholas of Tolentine (1939-1940) and St. Philip Neri (1940-1943).

Father Willard F. Jabusch, 88, died Dec. 9.

Born in Chicago, he attended Quigley Preparatory Seminary and the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary before being ordained in 1956.

He also earned a master’s degree in English from Loyola University Chicago and a doctorate in speech from Northwestern University.

Father Jabusch served as assistant pastor at St. James Parish (Wabash Avenue), chaplain and director of Calvert House at the University of Chicago, and as a faculty member at Quigley Preparatory Seminary, at Niles College and at the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary, where he taught for more than 20 years.

Father John Kartje, rector/president of the University of Saint Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary, knew “Fr. Bill” during his entire time in college at the University of Chicago, where Father Jabusch was the campus chaplain.

“He was very influential in inviting me to think about the priesthood,” Kartje said. “In addition to being an avid composer and musician, he loved learning and conversing over just about any topic the students were interested in.”

Father Jabusch wrote many hymns and tunes, including “The King of Glory,” a well-known song based on an Israeli folk tune that he learned while studying in Israel.

Sister of St. Joseph of the Third Order of St. Francis Charlotte M. Wachadlo, 95, died Oct. 5.

She had been a teacher, sacristan, caregiver and member of her religious community for 75 years. She taught special-education students in Alaska, Puerto Rico and Illinois, and started a home for developmentally disabled women where she was “head of household” for 19 years.

She is survived by a sister, Evelin Bevis.

Mercy Sister Evelyn Marie (de Chantel) Paznek, 90, died Nov. 5.

Born in Minnesota, she traveled to Milwaukee to care for a relative who was ill. While there, she met Mercy Sister Rosaire Ward, and was so impressed with the work of the Sisters of Mercy she decided to become one.

She entered the novitiate of the Sisters of Mercy in Des Plaines in 1949. After making temporary vows in 1952, she began teaching and served in nine different Mercy elementary schools in Illinois while earning her bachelor’s degree from Saint Xavier College (now University) after school, on weekends and during the summers.

In 1980 she was assigned to Queen of Martyrs Parish, where she would teach and minister for over 20 years until her retirement. She told people the highlight of her life was starting the first kindergarten at Queen of Martyrs School.

Holy Family of Nazareth Sister M. Ignatius (Marie) Remian, 99, died Nov. 5 in Des Plaines.

Born in Chicago, she entered religious life in 1939. Between 1939 and 1986, she served as a medical technologist at St. Mary of Nazareth Hospital in Chicago, as well as in hospitals in Texas. In the 1940s, she was involved in doing research on the Rh factor. She was also instrumental in planning and designing an 18,000-square-foot clinical and anatomical pathology department at St. Mary of Nazareth Hospital and served as the department’s director.

From 1992 to 2002, she ministered at Holy Family Medical Center in Des Plaines as the liaison between doctors and patients’ family members in the surgical waiting room. She retired from active ministry in 2003 at the age of 83.

She is survived by her youngest brother, Arthur.