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.