Obituaries
Father Vincent Welsh, pastor of West Chester parish, dies at 50
The pastor of SS. Peter and Paul Parish and native of East Norriton was buried on the same date as his ordination 25 years ago.
Franciscan sister dies two months shy of 100
Sister Joella Matt, a sister for 80 years, worked in a Catholic hospital in Reading for 55 years and at the former St. Mary’s Hospital in Philadelphia for 22 years until retiring 13 years ago.
Jesuit priest with ties to Phila. dies at 63
A graduate of Cardinal O'Hara High School, Father John Rock, S.J., earned numerous advanced degrees before serving faithfully at a Dominican sisters' motherhouse in Tennessee. He died May 4 after serving 26 years as a priest and 35 as a Jesuit.
Sister Mary Bentz taught for 40 years in Philadelphia, Allentown schools
The Immaculate Heart sister from West Reading died April 28 at age 86.
Immaculate Heart sister who served at St. Katherine in Wayne dies at 91
One of eight children of an Easton, Pa. family, Sister M. Ann Dorothy Gittings, I.H.M., served in archdiocesan schools and her home parish's school.
Dominican sister who gave retreats in Elkins Park dies at 104
Dominican Sister of Peace Josefina Rivera-Ortiz was a native of Puerto Rico. In addition to serving at Dominican Retreat House, she also worked at the Dominican Residence for Women in Philadelphia.
Franciscan sister dies at 96, was teacher for 72 years
Sister John Catherine Rohe was one of seven sisters from Baltimore, three of whom became Sisters of St. Francis, along with three of her cousins.
Franciscan priest from Havertown dies in Florida at 64
Father Art Johnson, a Franciscan Friar of the Atonement, died March 26. Ordained in 1977, he served on the Governor’s Advisory Council on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse in New York State and worked in ecumenism for the Los Angeles Archdiocese, among other assignments.
Franciscan Sister Kathleen McDonagh, native of Ireland, dies at 79
Sister Kathleen Patricia McDonagh, O.S.F., formerly Sister Etheldreda, died April 3 at age 79. She ministered in domestic work, child care, elder care and parish ministry during her 60 years as a professed member of the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia.
Sister Michel Graham dies after long ministry in Catholic high schools
Sister Michel Marie Graham, I.H.M., died March 29 in Camilla Hall, Immaculata, at age 87. She spent most of her 65 years of her religious life teaching in high schools, including in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.