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Sr. Anna Marie Dressler
School Sister of St. Francis Anna Marie (Agnes) Dressler, 88, died Dec. 13 in Milwaukee.
Born in Wisconsin, she was received into the School Sisters of St. Francis in 1946 and made her final vows in 1954.
Sister Anna Marie ministered in education in the Archdiocese of Chicago for seven decades. She taught at St. Martin (1948-1956) and Our Lady of Charity, Cicero (1956-1964); served as principal at St. Maria Goretti, Schiller Park (1964-1968); and taught at St. Mary, Buffalo Grove (1968-1969), and St. Catherine Labouré, Glenview (1969-1970). In 1970, Sister Anna Marie began her ministry in Barrington at St. Anne parish and school, where she served as teacher (1970-1984), religion coordinator (1984-1992), RCIA director (1992-2015), and volunteer (2015-2018).
Sister Anna Marie is survived by six sisters: Alma Moris, Claire Churchill, Rose Koppen, Catherine Oberfoell, Agnes Simpson and Bernadette Thole. She is survived by three brothers, James, Bernard and Clement Dressler.
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Sr. Emily Mary Kemppi
Mercy Sister Emily Mary (Joan) Kemppi, 84, died Nov. 22.
Born in Waukegan, she grew up in North Chicago. She entered the Sisters of Mercy in 1952.
Sister Emily began her life of ministry in 1957 as a high school teacher, teaching Latin, English and logic for nearly 10 years at Mother McAuley High School in Chicago, as assistant principal at Mercy High School in Chicago and as co-principal of Unity High School when Mercy and Loretto high school merged. She also taught at Mercy High School in Milwaukee.
She then became mental health occupational therapist at Mercy Center in Aurora, Illinois, and Mercy Hospital in Chicago until 1992.
She later served as an aide to sisters living at McAuley Convent while working as support staff for Network for Mercy Education in Chicago.
In 2014, she moved to Mercy Circle.
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Sr. Evelyn Trapp
School Sister of St. Francis Evelyn Trapp, 88, died Nov. 29 in Greenfield, Wisconsin.
Born in Wisconsin, she entered the School Sisters of St. Francis in 1947 and made her final vows in 1955.
Sister Evelyn ministered in education in Illinois, Kentucky and Wisconsin for more than seven decades. In the Archdiocese of Chicago, she taught at St. Peter School, Skokie (1950-1959).
Sister Evelyn is survived by four brothers: Gilbert, Philip, Robert and John.
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Sr. Doris Mary Zander
School Sister of St. Francis Doris Mary (Kathlyn) Zander, 86, died Dec. 9 in Milwaukee.
Born in Wisconsin, she entered the School Sisters of St. Francis in 1950 and made her final vows in 1958.
Sister Doris Mary ministered as a musician in Illinois and Wisconsin for more than six decades. In the Archdiocese of Chicago, she served at St. Clara (1952-1955), St. William (1955-1962); and St. Bernardine, Forest Park (1962-1963).
Sister Doris Mary is survived by four sisters: Franciscan Sister Felissa, Lois Severson, Kathleen Statz and Marion Dommer.
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Sr. Rita Rae Burger
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).
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Sr. Mary Balkus
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.
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Sr. Mary Ricardo DiSanto
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.
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Fr. Walter Bunofsky
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.
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Sr. Catherine McKillop
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.
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Sr. Charles Christine Uhnavy
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).
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