Father Dominic J. Grassi, 79, died Aug. 25.  He was pastor emeritus of St. Josaphat Parish, a professor and an author.

Born in Chicago, Father Grassi attended Quigley Preparatory Seminary, Niles College of Loyola University and the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary before being ordained in 1973.

He was assistant pastor of St. John De La Salle Parish and Immaculate Conception Parish (Aberdeen Street). He was on the faculty of Quigley Preparatory Seminary for about 13 years, teaching religion, speech and media studies. He was a member of the Pastors’ Review Board and served as pastor at St. Josaphat Parish for 18 years. Afterward, he served at St. Gertrude Parish (Granville Avenue) for 11 years. According to the biography on his website called “Bumping Into God,” he was also an associate chaplain of the Arthur J. Audy Detention Center for Youth. Grassi was named pastor emeritus of St. Josaphat Parish in 2022.

A 2007 profile captured in the archdiocesan newspaper shared his love for storytelling. Years later, after retiring from parish ministry, he published “Death in Chicago: Winter,” his first mystery novel set in Chicago.

Grassi was the author of several books including “Bumping Into God: 35 Stories Of Finding God In Unexpected Places,” “Still Called by Name” and “Living the Mass,” as well as numerous articles for many publications.

Father Gerard T. Broccolo, 87, died Aug. 10. He was a retired priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago; former pastor of Ascension, Oak Park; and the founder of the archdiocesan Office for Divine Worship.

Born in Chicago, he attended Quigley Preparatory Seminary and the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary before pursuing theological studies at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, followed by graduate studies in liturgy at the Pontifical Institute of Liturgy of St. Anselm, also in Rome.

He was ordained in Rome in 1964.

He was assistant pastor of St. James, Highwood; St. John Brebeuf, Niles; and St. Martha, Morton Grove. He also started and led the Office of Divine Worship for almost 20 years and was on the faculty of the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary from 1968 to 1972.

He was associate pastor of St. Sebastian Parish and St. James, Arlington Heights, and was pastor of Ascension, Oak Park.

In 1991, Father Broccolo moved to Pittsburgh to work with the Sisters of Mercy to make their healthcare system. In 1997, he moved to the headquarters of Catholic Health Initiatives in Denver. He was a resource for ministry formation for the Office of Personnel Services and served as a consultant on liturgy. He retired in 2006.

Father Broccolo was Father William J. Stenzel’s spiritual director for more than 20 years. “He taught me and most of the diocese’s priests how to implement the reforms of the Second Vatican Council,” Stenzel said. “He was in Rome during the years of the council studying theology and brought his doctorate in theology home to Chicago, teaching the rest of us how to do it and what it meant.”

Stenzel added that he “did not know one guy who ever had him in class who can’t quote verbatim things we learned from him.”

Father Broccolo wrote “Spiritual Renewal of the American Priesthood” (1972), as well as numerous articles for Chicago Liturgy Training Publication and other periodicals.

Providence Sister Joseph Ellen (Rosemary Ellen) Keitzer, 92, died Aug. 23 in Providence Health Care in St. Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana.

Born in Hammond, Indiana, she entered the Sisters of Providence in 1951 and professed final vows in 1959. She earned a bachelor’s degree from St. Mary-of-the-Woods College and a master’s degree from Ball State University, both in music.

During her 75 years of religious life, she ministered as a music teacher for 23 years in New Hampshire, Illinois, Indiana and California. In the Archdiocese of Chicago, she taught at St. David (1958-1961) and St. Angela (1976-1987).

In 1987, she moved into parish work, serving as a pastoral associate (1987-2005) and director of religious education (1987-2001) at St. Angela Parish in Chicago for 18 years.  She retired in 2005 but stayed in the area for 17 more years as a volunteer, supporting the parishioners as parishes in the area closed and merged.

She moved to the motherhouse in 2023, continuing her ministry of prayer for the people of the former St. Angela Parish.

Felician Sister Mary Lauren (Frances) Lapinski, 78, died Aug. 24 in Our Lady of the Angels Convent.

Born in Chicago, she attended St. Bartholomew School and Good Counsel High School.  She entered the Felician Sisters in 1965 and professed her final vows in 1973. She ministered in elementary schools in Illinois and served as a teacher and counselor at Good Counsel High School. Later she was responsible for vocational, financial and archival ministries for the Felician Sisters.

In the Archdiocese of Chicago, she ministered at St. Bruno (1968-1970); St. Stanislaus Bishop and Martyr (1970-1973); St. Hubert, Hoffman Estates (1973-1975); and Good Counsel High School (1975-1983, 1987-1990).

Holy Family of Nazareth Sister Patricia Ann (Ambrose) of the Holy Cross Koschalke, 93, died Sept. 3 at Nazarethville in Des Plaines.

Born in Chicago, she entered the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth in 1952, professed first vows in 1954 and perpetual vows in 1960.

Sister Patricia Ann began her ministry as a teacher, but she spent most of her life dedicated to Catholic health care. In 1967, she joined the staff of St. Mary of Nazareth Hospital as head of its accounting department. In 1977, she went on to serve as administrator of Nazarethville, then as administrator of Holy Family Medical Center. In 1987, she was named president and CEO of Holy Family Health Care System, Inc., a role she held for more than a decade.

Her commitment to the mission of Catholic health care continued for decades: as executive vice president of fund development at Resurrection Health Care, as chairperson of the Sponsorship Board, and as a member of the Presence Health Ministries Board and corporate member of Presence Health. She later served on the Public Juridic Person Board through 2018.

She loved the community and served in leadership for a number of years, sharing her gifts as provincial councilor and later provincial superior, and attending several general chapters of the congregation.

In her later years, Sister Patricia Ann assisted in the dining room ministry at the provincialate in Des Plaines and CSFN Creations, before turning to a quiet ministry of prayer and presence at Nazarethville Place in 2025.

Father Maurice J. Kissane, 88, died Aug. 13. He was a retired priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago and pastor emeritus of Queen of Apostles Parish, Riverdale.

Born in Oak Park, Father Kissane attended Quigley Preparatory Seminary and the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary before being ordained in 1964.

He was assistant pastor of St. Malachy and Our Lady of Solace. Later, he was associate pastor of St. Giles, Oak Park,  and St. Cletus, La Grange. Father Kissane served as pastor of St. Barbara, Brookfield; St. Frances of Rome, Cicero; St. Louis de Monfort, Oak Lawn; and Queen of Apostles, where he served from 2006 until his retirement in 2008.

Father John M. Ryan remembered starting his first year at Quigley Preparatory Seminary with Kissane.

“He was always a very prayerful person,” Ryan said. “Even in high school, he prayed and said the rosary almost every day in the chapel. He always had a great sense of humor. Later on, when he became a priest, he was totally dedicated to his people. He just loved being a priest.”

Resurrectionist Father Edward Jaskula, 97, died Aug. 13 at Nazarethville Nursing Home in Des Plaines.

Born and raised in Ontario, Canada, he dedicated 71 years to his vocation as a priest.

Throughout his priesthood, he taught math and French at Gordon Tech High School, leaving a lasting impact on students and colleagues alike.

He is survived by his brother, Henry.

Conventual Franciscan Brother Martin (James) Schmitz, 96, died Aug. 24.

Born in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, he was raised in Robbinsdale, Wisconsin.

He left school after 11th grade to enter the Conventual Franciscans with his twin brother, Philip, in 1948 and to be a part of the founding of Marytown, originally in Kenosha, Wisconsin. He was invested a year later, professed first vows in 1951 and professed solemn vows in 1954.

In the early years of Marytown, one of the main functions was the production of the Immaculata magazine, and Brother Martin worked on the printing presses for years.

After Marytown moved to Libertyville and the community’s needs changed, he worked as cook, as treasurer and as the community’s vicar, according to Conventual Franciscan Brother Augustine Kelly, the Marytown community’s guardian.

Brother Martin ministered for a few years in Peoria, Illinois, but spent the rest of his active ministry at Marytown. When he retired, he moved to St. Joseph’s Home in Palatine, where he led the Divine Mercy chaplet every day.

Sister of Christian Charity Caroline (Lucilda) Schafer, 93, died Aug. 1 at the Convent of the Holy Spirit in Northfield.

Born in Michigan, she entered the Sisters of Christian Charity in 1945 and made first vows in 1949 and perpetual vows in 1955.

She taught elementary school at St. Gregory, Holy Trinity and St. Martha, Morton Grove, as well as in Iowa, Minnesota, Louisiana and Missouri, where she was also a principal.

In 1980, she returned to the motherhouse in Wilmette to serve as novice directress and teach American history at Mallinckrodt College. Eight years later, she served as principal of Holy Ghost, South Holland.

In 1993, she returned to Wilmette as provincial councilor, and in 1994, she was a general councilor in Rome. In 1995, she returned to Wilmette as provincial councilor and superior at the motherhouse.

She then served as administrator of Sacred Heart Convent in Wilmette from 1998 to 2019, when she retired from active ministry.

Redemptorist Father Peter Schavitz, 75, died Aug. 5 in Missouri. He devoted more than three decades of ministry to the preaching apostolate, and he was in such demand that his parish missions were often scheduled years in advance. Over his career in ministry, he preached 419 weeklong parish missions.

Born in Evanston, he attended St. Mary School in Des Plaines before entering the Redemptorist formation program at St. Joseph’s Preparatory College in Wisconsin.

He made temporary vows in 1970 and perpetual vows in 1974 before being ordained to the priesthood in 1976.

He was on the faculty at St. Joseph Preparatory college while earning a master’s degree in communication from the University of Wisconsin, and he served as his community’s vocation director and became involved in the Marriage Encounter movement.

After three years as a pastor in St. Louis, Father Pete served as director of Villa Redeemer Retreat House in Glenview for two years.

Father Pete found his niche in 1992, when he joined the Mission Team as an itinerant preacher based in Chicago. From 1992 to 2000, he lived at St. Alphonsus Parish, followed by five years at St. Michael Parish, while he traveled throughout North America giving missions and retreats.

After leaving Chicago, he served as president of the development office of the Denver Province before returning to the Mission Team at Liguori Mission House in Missouri.

Sister of the Living Word Stella Stacken, 98, died Aug. 10. She served as principal of St. Mary School, Riverdale, when Pope Leo XIV was a student there.

Born in Minnesota, Sister Stella lived her religious vocation for over 80 years. Originally a Sister of Christian Charity, she joined the Sisters of the Living Word in 1975.

During her ministry, she taught all grades of elementary school from 1946 through 1998. She ministered in various schools in Illinois, Minnesota and Iowa. She was appointed principal in three schools, including St. Mary from 1967 to 1973.

She lived at Resurrection Life Center  for the past several years.

She is survived by her sisters Darlene Matti, JoAnn Lenzmeier and Lucy Ann Lucy and her brother Paul  Stacken.

Divine Word Father Dennis Logue, 99, an Army veteran and hospital chaplain, died July 21 in Techny.

Born in coal mining country in Pennsylvania, he went to work in farming, strip mining and milling lumber after finishing grade school. When he turned 18, he was drafted and trained for war in the Pacific. When the war ended, however, his unit was redirected to join the occupation forces in Europe.

Surrounded by bombed-out buildings and the devastation of war, he discovered his vocation.

Shortly after his discharge from military service in 1946, Father Logue began exploring religious life. A visit to a religious goods store confirmed his vocation. He heard a customer remark that rosaries had been made by religious brothers, and he immediately recognized where God was calling him.

He entered the Society of the Divine Word in 1947 and professed vows as Brother Dennis in 1950. As a brother, he worked at O-Neh-Da Vineyards in upstate New York; as an infirmarian for Divine Word communities in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts; director of Health Services at Divine Word Seminary in Girard, Pennsylvania; and ministered to incarcerated young men at the Bordentown Youth Correctional Institution.

In 1975, he became the first permanent deacon ordained for the Diocese of Trenton, New Jersey, a milestone in the history of the diocese.

In 1979, after nearly three decades as a brother, Father Logue entered a program that recognized life experience toward priestly formation. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1983.

Father Logue’s first priestly assignment took him to Presbyterian University Hospitals in Pittsburgh, now part of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, where he became the first Catholic priest in the hospital’s 100-year history to serve as a chaplain.

A decade later, Father Logue accepted an assignment to serve rural Appalachian parishes in West Virginia. During that time, he received an invitation to minister in the Byzantine Catholic Church, in which some of his extended family worshipped.

After extensive preparation, Father Logue petitioned Rome for permission to celebrate the Byzantine Rite. He was granted dual rite faculties, allowing him to celebrate the sacraments in both the Roman and Byzantine Catholic traditions, and he later served as pastor of Byzantine as well as Roman Catholic parishes.

He returned to Techny in 2011, where he served as sacristan and as a hospice volunteer.

Columban Father Francis D. O’Mara, 89, a missionary pastor, died July 21 in Bristol, Rhode Island.

Father O’Mara was born in Queen of Angels Parish and attended St. Margaret Mary School before entering St. Columban’s Minor Seminary in Silver Creek, New York.

After being ordained in 1961, he did postgraduate studies in Rome, receiving a doctorate at the Gregorian University. In 1967, he was sent to Australia to teach at the Columban seminary there. He returned to Chicago briefly in 1978 before being sent to study Spanish in Cochabamba, Bolivia.

By January 1979, he was working in the parish of Santa Luisa, Barrancas, Chile, where he was active in the local prison, which led to his work with those with alcohol addiction.

In October 1983, he was arrested, along with 19 other priests, religious and laypeople after a demonstration against torture under the Pinochet regime. In 1984, Father O’Mara was deported from Chile. After a stopover in Lima, Peru, he arrived home in Chicago.

In 1985, he was sent to a parish in Alamogordo, New Mexico, and in 1992, he was sent to Grand Prairie, Texas, where he served until 1999.

In 1992, after the fall of Pinochet, Father O’Mara was able to visit Peru.

“It’s great to be back, with the people being free and so much less tension in the air,” he said at the time. The Community of John XIII in Pedahuel, where he was working at the time of his arrest and expulsion, gave him a great welcome.

After his assignment in Texas, he became pastor of St. Philomena Parish in Chicago. That was followed by work with fellow Columbans in El Paso, Texas, and across the border in Juarez, Mexico. In July 2017, he retired to the Columban House in Bristol, Rhode Island.

He is survived by his brother, Stephen O’Mara.

Father August (Gus) Belauskas, 83, died July 17. He was a retired priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago.

Born in Chicago, Father Belauskas attended Quigley Preparatory Seminary, Niles College of Loyola University and the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary before being ordained in 1968. He also received a master’s degree in philosophy from Loyola University Chicago after ordination.

He served as associate pastor of Sts. Faith, Hope, and Charity Parish, Winnetka, and St. Alphonsus Parish, Prospect Heights. He then joined the faculty of Niles College (1974), where he taught philosophy and was on the formation staff. He went to USML/Mundelein Seminary in 1986 to start the pre-theology program for candidates who were entering seminary for the first time. While on the faculty, he also served in various roles: vice-rector, formation adviser, spiritual director, adviser to seminarians in the residence halls where he lived and other duties. During his time at Mundelein Seminary, he also served as a weekend assistant priest for 40 years at St. Gilbert Parish, Grayslake. Father Belauskas retired in 2017 as the philosophy department chairman; he continued to teach and work in formation and spiritual direction part-time.

Father John Kartje, rector/president of USML/Mundelein Seminary, wrote about Father Belauskas in his Scripture column.

“Insofar as a priest is meant to be a ‘pontifex,’ a bridge to help lead others to Christ, Fr. Gus beautifully embraced that vocation,” Kartje wrote in part. “With a famously calm, steady demeanor, he could put the most anxious student or parishioner at ease with a self-effacing smile and a gentle word of encouragement.”

He is survived by his sister, Sylvia Phillips.

Deacon Faustino Santiago, 78, died July 11. He was ordained in 2012 and served at St. Bartholomew and Our Lady of the Rosary parishes.

Born in Puerto Rico, he worked in Chicago as a painter and wallpaper hanger.

He is survived by his wife, Jannett; his children Faustino Jr. and Taína; his mother, Maria; and his brothers Angelo, Damian and Manuel Jr.

Deacon Gregory Serratore, 96, died July 18. He was ordained in 1979 and served at St. Mary, Star of the Sea Parish and as a chaplain for the Chicago Police Department.

Deacon , a veteran of the U.S. Army, worked for the Santa Fe Railway and World’s Finest Chocolate and as business manager at St. Mary, Star of the Sea.

A fourth degree Knight of Columbus, he was married to his late wife, Rose Ann, for 74 years.

He is survived by his children Anthony Serratore, Gregory Serratore, Maria Coleman and Teresa Okrzesik; 12 grandchildren and 19 great-grandchildren.

Sister of Notre Dame de Namur Lea Cozzini, 88, died July 1.

Born in Chicago, she was in the 71st year of her religious life.

She was baptized in St. Callistus Parish and confirmed in St. Viator Parish. She received a master’s degree in curriculum/supervision from DePaul University and taught at St. Peter Canisius for 10 years and St. Robert Bellarmine for 14 years.

She also ministered in Ohio.

Sister of St. Joseph Janet Bolger, 97, died July 14. Sister Janet was celebrating 76 years of religious life.

She had bachelor’s and master’s degrees in history. In the Archdiocese of Chicago, she taught at St. Francis Xavier, La Grange; St. Isaac Jogues, Niles; St. Margaret Mary; and St. Hugh, Lyons. She was an administrator at Nazareth Academy and The Well Spirituality Center, and co-director of Allium, an eco-spirituality center and meeting place.

Father John E. Hennessey, 84, died June 14. He was a retired priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago and pastor emeritus of St. Joseph Parish, Libertyville.

Born on Long Island, New York, he attended Quigley Preparatory Seminary and the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary before being ordained in 1967. He later completed a master’s degree at the University of Notre Dame.

He served as assistant pastor of St. Bernadette, Evergreen Park, and St. Christina. He was associate pastor of St. Hilary Parish.

He served as director of the Vocations Office from 1980 to 1986 and was pastor of St. Isaac Jogues, Niles, from 1986 to 2003. He then became pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Libertyville and served at that parish until 2012, when he retired and was named pastor emeritus.

Resurrection Sister Rosemary Gira, 97, died June 10.

She was baptized at St. Stanislaus Kostka Church. She entered the Sisters of the Resurrection, where her older sister was already a member, in 1950, and made her first vows in 1951.

Sister Rosemary graduated from Fordham University in 1955 and began a 50-year ministry of teaching first grade, including assignments at St. Casimir; St. Mary of the Angels; and Queen of the Rosary, Elk Grove Village, as well as in Indiana, Nebraska and Florida. She said she loved teaching little children “because their hearts are open and ready for the seeds of faith and the message of God’s love to be planted.”

She is survived by her nephew, Bishop Robert Kurtz, CR.