Poor Handmaid of Jesus Christ Sister Joan Kathleen (Colette) Fisher, 95, died Dec. 27 in Donaldson, Indiana.

Born in Indiana, she entered the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ in 1948 and professed her first vows in 1951. 

She was an elementary school and Montessori teacher in Indiana and Illinois, including at Angel Guardian Orphanage.

In 1978, she founded the Daystar Program in Cairo, Illinois, to bring hope to people who were poor, elderly or otherwise disadvantaged, and in 1997, she was one of the founders of Sojourner Truth House for women and children in Gary, Indiana.

Sister Joan was also director of the Poor Handmaid Associate Community from 1986 to 1992. In 2002, she moved to the Poor Handmaid Motherhouse to minister to her mother, who then lived at Catherine Kasper Nursing Home. In 2006, Sister Joan was asked to become a member of the Catherine’s Cottage Supportive Community.

Felician Sister Mary Lourdine (Irene) Lachowski, 101, died on Jan. 6 at Mother of Good Counsel Convent.

Born in Joliet, she joined the Felician Sisters aspirancy in 1938 and attended Good Counsel High School.  She entered the Felician Sisters postulancy in 1942 and professed her final vows in 1950. She ministered for over 50 years as a teacher and principal in elementary schools in Illinois and Wisconsin. Later, she was active in Mercy Home Phone Ministry.

In the Archdiocese of Chicago, she ministered at St. Helen (1942-1943); St. Joseph (1944-1949); St. Bruno (1952-1953); St. Wenceslaus (1953-1960); Ascension (1963-1971); Holy Innocents (1971-1972); St. Linus, Oak Lawn (1972-1982); and Our Lady of Ransom, Niles (1982-2004); and Mercy Home for Boys & Girls (2004-2020).

Sister of St. Joseph of Carondolet Virginia Anne (Mary Patricia) Fannin, 96, died Jan. 14 in St. Louis.

Born in Chicago, Sister Virginia Anne entered the community in 1948 and made her final profession in 1956.

Sister Virginia Anne spent her first 19 years of ministry working in education in Missouri, Hawaii, Alabama and Illinois.

In the Archdiocese of Chicago, she taught at St. Viator Grade School (1966-1967).

She then served as a medical records technician in Michigan and Missouri, before returning to Chicago as a receptionist at DePaul University (1978-1979).

She spent the next 21 years at St. Viator school and parish as a religious education instructor (1979-1992), librarian (1970-1998) and parish sacristan (1996-2000).

From 2000 to 2003, she served at Our Lady of the Nativity as a receptionist and a volunteer librarian and tutor.

Mercy Sister Elizabeth (Betty) Campbell, 91, died Jan. 18.

Born in Wisconsin, she entered the Sisters of Mercy in 1955 and professed perpetual vows in 1961.

Sister Betty ministered in solidarity with the Latin American community in both Central America and the United States for more than 60 years, denouncing human rights violations, criticizing U.S. foreign policies that undermined democratic movements in Latin America and conducting consciousness-raising workshops about the effects of these policies on the poor.

Sister Betty received a bachelor’s degree in nursing from St. Xavier College (now University) in 1960. She ministered at two Sisters of Mercy-affiliated hospitals, in Chicago and in Davenport, Iowa, before going to Sicuani, Peru, in 1962. During her 11 years there, she met Carmelite priest Father Peter Hinde, with whom she would minister and advocate for 56 years, until his death from COVID-19 in 2020.

Over the course of her ministry, Sister Betty and Hinde helped start Catholic Worker communities named Casa Tabor in Washington, D.C.; San Antonio; and Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico.

She also returned to Central America, working in medical clinics in Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Honduras.

In 1980, Sister Betty responded to St. Óscar Romero’s call for volunteers to assist the people of El Salvador, and established clinics in the basements of two parish churches in San Salvador, the capital. While in El Salvador, Sister Betty met and became friends with Maryknoll Sisters Ita Ford and Maura Clarke, Ursuline Sister Dorothy Kazel and lay missionary Jean Donovan, the four American churchwomen who were raped and murdered by the El Salvador National Guard on Dec. 2, 1980.

Sinsinawa Dominican Sister Alban (Marjorie Elizabeth) Hermes, 98, died Jan. 18 in Racine, Wisconsin.

Born in Illinois, she professed vows with the Sinsinawa Dominicans in 1947. She earned a bachelor’s degree in education from Edgewood College, Madison, Wisconsin; a master’s degree in educational administration from DePaul University; and a master’s degree in pastoral ministry from Loyola University Chicago.

Sister Alban was a teacher and pastoral minister. In the Archdiocese of Chicago, she taught at St. Sabina; Visitation; St. Thomas More; St. Patrick, Lemont; and St. Mary, Evanston.

She was also a pastoral minister at St. Mary Parish, Evanston. She spent the last 28 years of ministry at Our Lady of Knock Parish, Calumet City, where she taught RCIA, led Bible study and ran a food pantry as well as a meal site.

She also ministered in Illinois and in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Alabama.

She is survived by her sister, Ursula Zerbe.

 

 

 

Deacon Samuel E. Pincich, 85, of Glenview, died Dec. 23. He was ordained in 1984 and served at St. Isaac Jogues, Niles, now part of All Saints Parish in Morton Grove; and St. Zachary Parish, Des Plaines.

Born in Chicago, he moved to Glenview and began his banking career in 1960. He retired from the American Bankers Association in 2023. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1963 and served in the Signal Corps in Ankara, Turkey, until 1965. He was a member of the Optimist International service club and Toastmasters and was president of his local United Way chapter.

He is survived by his wife, Theresa, and his children Samuel Pincich, Steven Pincich, and Susan Pincich Cahill. He was preceded in death by his parents and his brother, Fritz Long.

Deacon James Condill, 87, of Barrington, died Dec. 24. He was ordained in 1979 and served at St. Anne, Barrington, and started a deacon truck stop ministry.< p/> Born in Elgin and raised in Barrington, Deacon Condill attended Salem Methodist Church. He graduated from Barrington High School and continued his basketball career at Montana State University.

He married his wife, Mary Ellen Harrer, in 1960 at St. Anne Church in Barrington in 1960, and became a parishioner there after becoming Catholic.

He worked in heating and air conditioning before beginning a career in the retirement community world, working at Friendship Village in Schaumburg and for the company that opened the Breakers at Edgewater Beach. He then worked for the Cenacle Sisters, overseeing operations at the Cenacle Retreat and Conference Center in Chicago.

Deacon Condill was predeceased by his wife. He is survived his children J.B. Condill, Jeffrey Condill, Courtney Condill-Peterson and Devyn Kelly; eight grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

 

Dominican Sister Mary Helen (Mary Christiana) Schmitz, 88, died Dec. 13 at her home in Fitchburg, Wisconsin.

Born in Wisconsin, she professed vows as a Sinsinawa Dominican in 1957.

In the Archdiocese of Chicago, she taught at St. Thomas the Apostle School. She also taught in other Illinois communities and in New York, Iowa and Wisconsin.

She also provided private elder and childcare to families in the Madison, Wisconsin, area. She is survived by two sisters, Jean Norman and Betty Meyers.

Sinsinawa Dominican Sister Melissa Waters, 95, died Dec. 21 in Hazel Green, Wisconsin.

Born in New York City, Sister Melissa was raised in Washington, D.C., before entering the Sinsinawa Dominicans in 1950. She earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Rosary College, River Forest; a master’s degree in English from the University of Minnesota; and a doctorate in ministry from the Aquinas Institute of Theology in Dubuque, Iowa.

She taught in Illinois, New York, Minnesota and Alabama. She served in congregation leadership as director of ongoing formation and then as provincial until 1980, when, after having completed her doctorate, she was called to Rosary College, now known as Dominican University, where she served for 38 years. She was an English teacher, associate dean for advising, assistant professor and administrator of the Rosary in London program. She retired in 2018.

“Sister Melissa’s great gift was establishing and continuing relationships with every group of people on campus, particularly students,” said Dominican Sister Marcella Hermesdorf, professor emerita of English at Dominican University. “The students loved her and she was a great advocate for them. She was so supportive and affirming to all. You never left Sr. Melissa’s office without feeling better about yourself and any situation you were dealing with.”

She is survived by her brother, Richard.

Father James L. Barrett, 79, died Dec. 15. He was a retired priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago and former pastor of St. Joan of Arc Parish, Evanston, and St. Margaret Mary Parish.

Born in Chicago, he attended Brother Rice High School; St. Mary’s University of Minnesota in Winona, Minnesota; the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary; and Loyola University Chicago.

After being ordained in 1982, Father Barrett served as associate pastor of St. Luke, River Forest; St. Zachary, Des Plaines; and Queen of All Saints Basilica. He was pastor of St. Joan of Arc for about 10 years and of St. Margaret Mary for another 10 years before he retired.

Father Jeremiah Boland remembered his close friend as the consummate parish priest. “He loved the rhythm of parish life,” Boland said. “He set deep roots wherever he served, cultivating many lifelong friends. He was a Vatican II priest through and through. He really believed in building community and bringing people together.”