Benedictine Sister of Chicago Vivian Ivantic, 109, died Feb. 11 in St. Joseph Court Infirmary.

Sister Vivian (Rosalie M.) was born in Waukegan and attended Mother of God Parish with her family.

She became an aspirant of the Benedictine Sisters of Chicago while attending St. Scholastica High School. She spent her senior year at and in 1932 graduated from Holy Child High School in Waukegan to be closer to family.

She entered the Benedictine Sisters of Chicago in 1932 as a postulant and was received as a novice the following year. In 1934, she professed her first vows and almost immediately began her long career as an educator.

Through years of after-school, Saturday and summer courses, she finally received a bachelor’s degree from DePaul University and a master of library science degree from Rosary College (now Dominican University), River Forest.

In the Archdiocese of Chicago, Sister Vivian taught at St. Hilary, St. George, St. Joseph, St. Symphorosa and St. Scholastica High School, as well as her home parish, Mother of God in Waukegan. She also taught in Arizona and Colorado.

In 1952, she was assigned to Mother of God to be the house superior while serving as the teaching principal.

After more time in Colorado, she returned to St. Scholastica in 1958 to be both teacher and librarian, a position she held for 17 years. In 1978, Sister Vivian established the archives for the Benedictine Sisters of Chicago.              

She is survived by her only living sibling, Bill Ivantic.

Sinsinawa Dominican Sister Betty (Erneste) Smith, 83, died Feb. 11 at the Dominican motherhouse in Sinsinawa, Wisconsin.

Born in Washington, D.C., Sister Betty made her first religious profession in 1959 and her perpetual profession in 1964. She served in the culinary arts and as a teacher and pastoral minister.

In Illinois, Wisconsin, Missouri, South Carolina, the District of Columbia and Georgia.

In the Archdiocese of Chicago, she was a culinary artist at Queen of Peace Convent, Burbank.

Sinsinawa Dominican Sister Virginia (Angelique) Kinsella, 83, died Feb. 14 in Hazel Green, Wisconsin.

Born in Chicago, Sister Virginia made her first religious profession in 1959 and her perpetual profession in 1964. She was a teacher, principal, pastoral minister and chaplain and served as a support staff member in the District of Columbia, Illinois, Wisconsin and Iowa.

In the Archdiocese of Chicago, Sister Virginia taught at St. Richard (1968-1969); St. Thomas More (1986-1987); St. John de la Salle (1987-1988); and the Academy of St. Benedict the African, Laflin Campus (1988-1990). She ministered as chaplain at Alexian Brothers Medical Center and Home Health, Elk Grove Village (2001-2002).

Deacon Eugene Kummerer Jr., 62, died Feb. 2. He was ordained in 2019 and served at St. Pascal, now part of Holy Rosary Parish.

Deacon Kummerer was active in many ministries at the parish, including the liturgy and art and environment committees.

“If Gene saw something that needed to be done, he did it,” said Betty Arena, administrative assistant for the parish. “Nobody knows everything he did.”

He was the moderator for women’s club, past president and a member of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and led adoration and Benediction every Thursday. Friends said he would pull out his wallet to give money to homeless people as soon as he saw them.

He is survived by his parents, Margaret and Eugene Kummerer Sr.; and his siblings Brian, Jeff and Richard Kummerer and Mary Pat Lunkes.

Providence Sister Maureen Abbott, 84, died Jan. 26 in St. Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana.

Born in Buffalo, New York, she joined the Sisters of Providence in 1956 and professed final vows in 1964.

She ministered as a teacher, principal, councilor to the provincial, provincial and director of ministries and vicar of education in the Diocese of Corpus Christi. She also worked in the marriage tribunal in the Diocese of Portland, Oregon, and wrote a history of her congregation.

In the Archdiocese of Chicago, she taught at Mother Theodore Guerin High School, River Grove.

Sister Maureen is survived by five sisters: Patricia Ashton, Liz Karchmer, Christine Wisian, Jean Wood and Kathy Oxford; and one brother, John Abbott.