Adrian Dominican Sister Marie Geraldine (Barbara Jane) Brownell, 93, died June 25 in Adrian, Michigan.

Born in Detroit, she was in the 74th year of her religious life.

Sister Marie Geraldine ministered in education in Michigan, Florida and Illinois.

In the Archdiocese of Chicago, she taught at St. Kilian (1950-1960).

She is survived by a brother, Phillip Brownell.

Adrian Dominican Sister Janet (Mary Paulette) Persyk, 93, died July 20 in Adrian, Michigan.

Born in Detroit, she was in the 75th year of her religious profession.

Sister Janet ministered in education and as a hospital chaplain in Michigan, Florida; and Illinois

In the Archdiocese of Chicago, she was a chaplain at Resurrection Medica Center (1988-1992) and St. Elizabeth Hospital (1992-1997) and offered pastoral care to the elderly at Marillac House Social Center (1998-2000).

Sister of Notre Dame de Namur Jeanne Marie (Jeanne Patricia) Suerth, 89, died July 24.

Born in Chicago, she entered the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur in Cincinnati in 1953. She taught in elementary schools and programs for adults in Ohio and Illinois, and she oversaw the maintenance services for some of her community´s largest institutions, including the Province Center and Infirmary in Reading, Ohio. 

In 1988, Jeanne Marie started a new ministry: “Jeanne on the Scene,” a home maintenance service for seniors that provided a variety of services.

Father William J. Finnegan, 92, died July 13. He was the former pastor of Our Lady of the Woods Parish, Orland Park.

Born in Chicago, Father Finnegan attended Quigley Preparatory Seminary and the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary before being ordained in 1957.

He served as assistant pastor of St. Joachim, St. Margaret of Scotland and Sacred Heart Parish in Palos Hills. He was a Knights of Columbus chaplain.

Adrian Dominican Sister Barbara J. (James Denise) Carroll, 91, died April 7 in Adrian, Michigan.

Born in Detroit, she was in the 74th year of her religious profession.

Sister Barbara ministered in education, as a religious education director and as a pastoral minister in Indiana, Iowa, Illinois and Michigan.

In the Archdiocese of Chicago, she taught at St. Kilian (1951-1959) and Santa Maria del Popolo, Mundelein (1965-1967).

She is survived by a brother, John Carroll.

Providence Sister Margaret (Margaret Bernard) Heese, 91, died July 21 in St. Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana.

Born in Texas, she entered the Sisters of Providence in 1947 and professed final vows in 1955.

In her 76 years as a Sister of Providence, she ministered in teaching and parish work in Indiana, Illinois, Oklahoma, Texas and California. In 2001 she returned to the motherhouse and served her sisters with her expertise as a seamstress. 

In the Archdiocese of Chicago, she taught at St. Sylvester (1950-1954) and St. Andrew (1955-1958).

Sister Margaret is survived by two sisters, Mary Rose Skrobarczyk and Carolyn Heman, and a brother, James Heese.

Salesian Father Thomas M. Provenzano, 56, died unexpectedly on July 21 in Port Chester, New York.

Father Provenzano had served twice for a total of 11 years at St. John Bosco Parish. Born in Bronxville, New York, he had been a Salesian for 29 years and a priest for 21 years.

He ministered as a priest in New Jersey before coming to St. John Bosco in Chicago as parochial vicar. In 2007, he returned to New York and served there and in New Jersey until 2013, when he returned to St. John Bosco as pastor, a post he held until 2019.

Father Provenzano is survived by his brothers Joseph, Anthony and Salvatore.

Divine Word Brother Lawrence (Aaron) Camilleri, 83, a skilled aviator and missionary in Papua New Guinea, died July 22 in Techny.

Born in Michigan, Brother Larry entered the Society of the Divine Word at the age of 14 in 1954. He professed vows in 1961.

He completed mechanical aviation training in Cahokia, Illinois, as well as aircraft mechanic and private and commercial pilot licenses. He served as a pilot and aircraft mechanic for the Society of the Divine Word-owned and operated Divine Word Airways (DWA) in Madang, Papua New Guinea.

Being able to maintain a plane was a matter of survival for bush pilots who often traveled to remote territories inaccessible by roads.

While in Papua New Guinea, he flew single-engine planes, twin-engine planes and helicopters to deliver critically ill patients to hospitals, missionaries to their destinations and goods to the missions. An instrument-rated commercial pilot, Brother Larry eventually became DWA’s managing director and chief pilot.

According to the late Divine Word Father Patrick Fincutter, a fellow pilot in Papua New Guinea, by the time Brother Larry left Papua New Guinea in 1990, he had registered 14,000 flight hours, the third highest ranking among SVD pilots worldwide.

When Divine Word Airways closed, Brother Larry returned to the United States and used his skills for the Missouri-based Wings of Hope, a charitable organization that provided aircraft and pilots to assist medical, humanitarian and missionary programs in isolated parts of the world. His travels took him to the Galapagos Islands, Guatemala, Honduras, Liberia, Monrovia and Tanzania and for a time, he served as Wings of Hope field director in Belize.

He also volunteered for Earth Angel Aviators, another Missouri-based non-profit organization, transporting medical patients throughout the Midwestern United States.

Father Michael S. Michelini, 78, died July 5. He was a retired priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago and former pastor of St. Adalbert Parish.

Father Michelini was born in Chicago and attended Quigley Preparatory Seminary and the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary before being ordained in 1971.

He served as assistant pastor of St. Aloysius and St. Agnes of Bohemia parishes. From 1981 to 2012, he served as pastor of St. Aloysius, St. Fidelis and then St. Adalbert. He retired in 2015.

Father Michael Furlan, a good friend of Father Michelini, said Father Michelini was a very charismatic and special person. Furlan recalled his charming presence and how “he really lived life and he would walk into a room and the place would just light up.”

“He was willing to go just about any place to help people, or minister to people,” said Father Mark Canavan, one of Father Michelini’s classmates.

Adrian Dominican Sister Jeanette (Anesa Mari) Jabour, 91, died May 24 in Adrian, Michigan.

Born in Detroit, she was in her 73rd year of religious life.

Sister Jeanette ministered in education and as an administrator of a home for the elderly, social worker and director of community relations in Illinois, Arizona, Ohio and Michigan.

In the Archdiocese of Chicago, she taught at St. Rita School (1951-1955).