BVM Sister Jane (Bonaventure) Mc- Donnell, 95, died Aug. 30 in Dubuque, Iowa.

Born in Iowa, she entered the BVM congregation in 1943 and professed final vows in 1951.

Sister Jane taught at The Immaculata and served as coordinator for an ecumenical peace and justice organization.

She also ministered in Iowa, California and North Dakota.

Adrian Dominican Sister Audrey (Raymond Clare) Hull, 93, died Aug. 28 in Adrian, Michigan.

Born in Miami, she was in the 68th year of her religious profession in the Adrian Dominican Congregation.

She spent 27 years ministering in education in Oak Park as well as in Michigan, Florida and Guayama, Puerto Rico.

Mercy Sister Maureen Scott, 74, died Aug. 24.

She attended St. Clotilde School and Mercy High School before entering the Sisters of Mercy in 1959. She professed final vows in 1967.

She taught at St. Joseph, Libertyville; St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Ethelreda and Siena High School.

After earning a doctorate in social psychology at the University of Illinois at Chicago, she taught and was an administrator at Barat College, Lake Forest (1975-1984) at Saint Xavier College (1984-1994) and DePaul University (1996-2012), where she was visiting professor and assistant director of the graduate School of Public Services.

Sister Ann Kevin (Theresa Ann) O’Connor, 91, died Aug. 24 in St. Mary-of-the- Woods, Indiana.

Born in Summit, she entered the Sisters of Providence in 1943 and professed final vows in 1951. She ministered in education and as clerk and in record-keeping.

In the Archdiocese of Chicago, she taught at St. Genevieve (1955- 1960); Maternity BVM, (1964-1966); and Trinity High School, River Forest (1991-1994).

She is survived by a brother, Maurice.

Divine Word Father August “Gus” Langenkamp, 87, died Aug. 23 in Techny.

Born in Ohio, he professed vows in 1949 and was ordained to the priesthood in 1957.

He was one of the first Divine Word missionaries to work in Ecuador, starting in the Diocese of Guaranda, where he was one of 14 priests ministering to 130,000 Catholics in a 1,200- square-mile area.

He is survived by his brother, Father Arnold Lang.

Deacon Norbert Lesnieski, 88, of Lemont, died Sept. 23. He was ordained in 1972 as a member of the Archdiocese of Chicago’s fist class of permanent deacons, and he served at SS. Cyril & Methodius Parish for 44 years.

Deacon Lesnieski was founder and bandleader of “The Mello- Tones,” and he was the band’s lead vocalist and saxophone player. He was a co-founder of the Lemont Park District and served as president of the Lemont Park District Board for over 35 years, and he was a veteran of the U.S. Navy. He was also an active member of the Jaycees.

He is survived by his wife of 66 years, Jerri; his children James Lesnieski and Suzette Sniegowski; grandchildren Anne Becker, Christina Strehlau, Michael Lesnieski, Josh Sniegowski and Aubrey Sands; and three great-grandchildren.

Deacon Michael Romano, 100, died Sept. 16 at Resurrection Hospital. He was ordained a deacon in 1974.

He served at St. Genevieve Parish for about 15 years. From the late 1980s until his retirement in 2013, he served as a minister in several hospitals. His most recent assignment was to St. Joseph Hospital.

He is survived by his wife of 70 years, Lois, and his sister, Phyllis Romano.

Deacon Roberto Rivas, 57, died Sept. 11.

Deacon Rivas was ordained in 1994 and served at Blessed Sacrament Parish. In 2000, he and his wife, Ana, started Camino y Esperanza, a pastoral ministry for marriages and families.

He is survived by his wife and children, Roberto Jr., Jessica Eileen and Ricardo Rivas.

Divine Word Father Donald Ehr, 87, a beloved parish priest in African-American parishes in Chicago, died Aug. 19 in Techny.

Born in Iowa, he entered the Divine Word high school seminary in East Troy, Wisconsin in 1943 at age 14. He professed religious vows in 1948 and was ordained in 1955. He was sent to Rome to complete a doctorate in systematic theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University. When he returned to the United States in 1960, he served as professor of dogma at St. Mary Seminary in Techny.

In 1968, he was elected provincial superior of the Society of the Divine Word’s Eastern Province and served three three-year terms. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Father Ehr was rector of Divine Word Seminary in Washington, D.C. and Bordentown, N.J., while also working as a hospital chaplain.

He was named pastor of Chicago’s St. Elizabeth Parish in 1984 and remained until 2000. He then was a priest-in-residence at St. Anselm Parish until the week before he died.

He is survived by three brothers, Ronald, Irvin and Francis Ehr, and two sisters, Mary Vogel and Marlene Chaudoir.

BVM Sister Mary Jamesita Keller, 80, died Aug. 15 in Dubuque, Iowa.

Born in Joliet, Illinois, she entered the BVM congregation in 1954 and professed first vows in 1961.

In the Archdiocese of Chicago, Sister Mary Jamesita taught elementary school at St. Thomas of Canterbury, St. Eugene and St. Joseph, Round Lake.

She is survived by a brother, James Keller.

Sister of the Living Word Laurita (Virginia) Saunders, 96, died Aug. 9 at Presence Resurrection Life Center in Chicago.

Born in Massachusetts, she moved to Chicago with her family. She graduated from Wilmette Mallinckrodt High School in 1939 and joined the Sisters of Christian Charity. She made her final vows in 1948.

In the Archdiocese of Chicago, Sister Laurita taught at St. Raphael (1954-1959) and St. Theresa, Palatine (1968-1975).

After 27 years as a Sister of Christian Charity, Sister Laurita joined 89 other sisters to form the new Sisters of the Living Word. She served as director of religious education and adult education at Sacred Heart, Palos Hills (1975-1976); St. Ita (1976-1978) and St. Joseph the Worker, Wheeling (1978-1983). She then ministered at St. Mary, Evanston (1984-1986) and taught math at Pope John XXIII School, Evanston (1986-1987).

In 1988, she started her ministry as hospitality coordinator at the Living Word Center in Arlington Heights.

Divine Word Father Patrick Fincutter, 88, a longtime missionary in Papua New Guinea, died in Techny July 19.

Over the course of 40 years, Father Fincutter served the people of the world’s second largest island nation as priest, pilot, mechanic and professional communicator.

Born in Libertyville, Father Fincutter said he knew from the time he was a child that he wanted to be a pilot and a priest. Eventually, he chose the priesthood and only later learned that the Divine Word Missionaries relied on air travel in New Guinea and had founded a transportation hub called Wirui Air Services.

He professed vows at Techny in 1948 and in 1955 was ordained to the priesthood.

In 1961, he fulfilled his lifelong dream. For nine years, he flew Cessna 180s and Dornier Do 27s as a mission pilot, fulfilling assignments that included medical emergency flights and supply deliveries.

In 2001, he returned to the United States. He moved to Techny in 2013.

He is survived by two brothers, Robert Fincutter and Divine Word Father John Fincutter, SVD.

Deacon William J. Reinert, 82, died Aug. 27 at Lutheran Home & Services, Arlington Heights. He was 82 years old and had served at St. Raymond Parish, Mount Prospect, and St. James Parish, Arlington Heights.

Born in Chicago, he graduated from the University of Illinois with a degree in mechanical engineering in 1957. He worked for with Northshore and WE Energies before spending 37 years at Peoples Gas.

Deacon Reinert was a 4th Degree member and Past Grand Knight of Knights of Columbus, Holy Rosary Council #4483 and the Elizabeth Ann Seton Assembly.

He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Joan; his children William Reinert, Patricia Julian and Robert Reinert; his grandchildren Samuel, Joseph, Elizabeth and Alyssa; and his brother, John Reinert.

Holy Cross Father Edwin J. Kadzielawski, 94, died April 27 in Notre Dame, Indiana.

Father Kadzielawski was in Chicago and graduated Holy Trinity High School before being received into the Congregation of Holy Cross in 1941. He made his final profession of vows in 1945 and was ordained to the priesthood in 1949.

He served in parishes and schools in Louisiana, Indiana, Illinois, Minnesota and Texas.

In the archdiocese, he assisted at Holy Trinity Church from 1954 to 1956.

He is survived by his brother, Leonard.

Sinsinawa Dominican Sister Diona McNichols, 86, died Aug. 17 in Sinsinawa, Wisconsin.

A Chicago native, Sister Diona made her first religious profession in 1956 and her final profession in 1959. She taught for 29 years and served as associate academic dean for 11 years and administrative assistant for eight years. Sister Diona served in Montana, Wisconsin and Illinois.

In the Archdiocese of Chicago, Sister Diona served at Rosary College, now Dominican University, River Forest, as home economics teacher, 1965-1968, 1980-1991 and 1994-2000; associate academic dean, 1968-1979, when she also served as director of the summer school; and administrative assistant to the chancellor, 1991- 1994. She also ministered as receptionist at St. Luke Parish, River Forest, 2000-2005.

She is survived by a brother, William “Bill” McNichols.

Viatorian Father Edward Anderson, 94, died Aug. 14 in Las Vegas.

Father Anderson joined the Viatorians in 1944 after graduating from high school in Peeksville, New York. He professed perpetual vows in 1948 and was ordained in 1950.

He served in schools and parishes in New York, Illinois and Nevada. In the Archdiocese of Chicago, he was provincial of the Viatorians’ Chicago province from 1969 to 1974.

Sister of St. Joseph Adrienne Schmidt, 88, died Aug. 16. She had been a Sister of St. Joseph for 70 years.

Sister Adrienne was a teacher at Nazareth Academy, LaGrange Park; St. Leonard, Berwyn; and St. Francis Xavier, LaGrange, where she also served as principal. She was food service manager at the Cenacle in Warrenville, Illinois, and administrator and food service manager at the LaGrange Park Center.

Daughter of St. Mary of Providence Sister Gertrude Labarbera, 84, died Aug. 7.

Born in Fredonia, New York, she entered the Daughters of St. Mary of Providence in 1953.

She ministered in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Rome and Michigan, as well as in Illinois. In the archdiocese, she was principal of the school program at the St. Rose Center (1970-1971); was director of residential services and formator for junior sisters (1971-1975) and delegation superior (1982-1992) at St. Mary of Providence; and superior at Mount St. Joseph, Lake Zurich (2004- 2012). In 2016, she retired to Queen of Peace Retirement Center in Lake Zurich.

Mercy Sister Gwendolyn (Mary Catherine) Durkin, 91, died July 30. She had been a Sister of Mercy for nearly 67 years.

Born in Chicago, she graduated from the Academy of Our Lady, and in 1947, earned her bachelor’s degree in sociology from Saint Xavier College. She began her ministry at Catholic Charities for two years while attending graduate school.

After two years as a social worker and eight years as director of Mercy Clinics, Sister Gwendolyn became administrator/ chief executive officer of Mercy Hospital in 1963. She led what was then a 350-bed hospital, and helped plan and build the new Mercy Hospital and Medical Center that opened in 1968.

Just three weeks after being named CEO, Sister Gwendolyn was faced with a fire that broke out at the hospital. They safely evacuated 160 patients and had the fire under control before the fire department arrived. In the Daily Southtown, Sister Gwendolyn was quoted later as saying, “When I got through that, I realized I could get through anything.”

She would be tested again in 1967 when a major snow storm hit Chicago stranding thousands. The hospital opened its doors, providing shelter for some 250 who had made their way there.

According to Mercy Sister Susan Butters, to help feed the guests, she and Sister Gwendolyn went out into the street and brought back bread from several stalled bread trucks. “We met the driver of one of the trucks in our auditorium,” she said.

After 15 years with Mercy Hospital, she filled a variety of roles. From 1969 to 1970, she was a supervisor for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. After serving a brief time as a staff advisor for the Sisters of Mercy-Chicago Province, she was assistant administrator at Misericordia Home for a year.

From 1972 to 1976, she was director of outpatient services and then assistant administrator for Holy Cross Hospital, sponsored by the Sisters of St. Casimir.

Sister Gwendolyn returned to Mercy Hospital as vice president of human resources and general administration from 1976 to 1992. In 1994 she served as cochief executive officer for one year.

Deacon Benito Centeno, 88, died July 30, in Pompano Beach, Florida. He was ordained in 1972 and served at St. Francis of Assisi Parish for 25 years and St. Genevieve Parish for eight years.

He and his late wife, Magda, were involved in PreCana classes, baptism preparation and visiting the sick of their parishes. He retired from active diaconal service in 2003 with the onset of Alzheimer’s disease.

In addition to his ministry, he worked for more than 25 years at John Crane Packing Company and was a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps who served in the Korean War.

He is survived by his six children, Maria, Jaime, Sylvia, Jose, Angel, Luis and Pedro; 13 grandchildren; 10 greatgrandchildren; and two brothers, Juan and Pedro.