BELMONT — Mercy Sister Ellen McSorley, 88, died May 21, 2018, at the Sisters of Mercy’s Marian Center in Belmont following an extended illness. She had been a Sister of Mercy for 70 years.
A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated May 24, 2018, Sacred Heart Convent Chapel on the campus of the Sisters of Mercy in Belmont. Interment followed at Belmont Abbey Cemetery in Belmont.
Sister Ellen McSorley was born July 19, 1929, in Cleveland, Ohio, the daughter of John Francis McSorley and Mary Nelligan.
In 1948 she entered the Sisters of Mercy in Baltimore. Following her profession of vows, she chose as her personal motto “To Jesus Crucified Through Mary Sorrowful.”
Sister Ellen received a bachelor’s degree in education from Mount St. Mary’s College in Baltimore, Maryland, and a master’s degree in religious education from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.
She ministered as a teacher in Maryland, Alabama and Savannah, Ga. In addition, she served as a chaplain at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Atlanta, where she concentrated on the needs of patients with AIDS.
When she retired from active ministry in 2000, she moved to Oregon to outline a book on HIV/AIDS and to concentrate on pastoral care of persons who were HIV-positive.
She loved the works of the famous theologian Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, and she left several of his quotes for others to contemplate.
Well loved and respected by her special circle of friends, Sister Ellen was an entertaining conversationalist, and was especially loved and admired by a group of women writers in Oregon.
She was preceded in death by her brothers John, James and Tom (Benedictine Father Matthew Thomas McSorley) and her sister Virginia, as well as her parents. Her brother Father McSorley was well known for his work as pastor of St. Helen Church in Spencer Mountain.
— Catholic News Herald
GREENSBORO — Deacon Ronald Frederick Steinkamp, 74, passed away peacefully on Sunday, June 10, 2018, in High Point.
Visitation will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday, June 21, at Hanes Lineberry Funeral Home in Greensboro, located at 515 North Elm St.
Visitation will also be held from 10 to 10:45 a.m. Friday, June 22, at St. Pius X Church in Greensboro, located at 2210 North Elm St.
The Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11 a.m. Friday, June 22, at St. Pius X Church by Bishop Peter Jugis. Monsignor Anthony Marcaccio, pastor of St. Pius X Church, will be concelebrant.
A second family visitation will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. Monday, June 25, at Duker & Haugh Funeral Home, located at 823 Broadway in Quincy, Ill. Father Tom Donovan will officiate the graveside interment service on Tuesday, June 26, at Calvary Cemetery, at 1730 North Eighteen St. in Quincy.
Deacon Steinkamp was born in Coffeyville, Kan., on Aug. 9, 1943, the eldest son of Virginia Anna Eva (Fredericks) Steinkamp Steiner and Roger Frederick Steinkamp.
He considered Quincy, Ill., his hometown.
He graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1965, earning a Bachelor of Science in economics.
He began his 40-year business career with Armstrong World Industries and retired from Thomasville Furniture Industries in 2005 as senior vice president of manufacturing. He held positions in facilities in Massachusetts, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Virginia and North Carolina.
He was married to his wife, Bette Jean (Werneth) Steinkamp, also a native of Quincy, for 53 years.
They moved to North Carolina in 1988, living first in Thomasville and then in High Point.
The largest part of his career was spent in Virginia, where he also served on a parish council and a building committee and was instrumental in the establishment and construction of Our Lady of Peace Church in Appomattox.
During those years, he was a Boy Scout leader and he and Bette provided a home to many children in need through foster parenting.
He was an avid gardener his entire life.
He was ordained a deacon for the Diocese of Charlotte in 1995 and was first assigned to Our Lady of the Highways Parish in Thomasville. It was there that his ministry not only supported his local parish, but it expanded into the community and reached out into roles at the diocesan level as his time permitted.
In 1999 he was assigned to St Pius X Parish in Greensboro.
He completed his Master of Theological Studies in 2010 from Quincy University.
He also served, after appointment by Bishop Jugis, as the director of the Diocese of Charlotte’s Permanent Diaconate program for five years, from 2011 to 2016, and as an advocate for the Diocese of Charlotte Tribunal for 13 years.
He was active in the Cursillo movement and in the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults, and he was a 3rd Degree Knight of Columbus. Within the Cursillo Movement, he served three years as spiritual advisor from 2007 to 2009.
Deacon Steinkamp and his wife Bette shared so much of their faith together at local parish and diocesan events. They were an example of what it meant to share God’s work together as a couple. In many ways, they ministered together.
In his 23 years of diaconate ministry, Deacon Steinkamp took to heart his call to service. He always remembered the words at his ordination: "Receive the Gospel of Christ, whose herald you have become. Believe what you read, teach what you believe, and practice what you teach."
As a permanent deacon, he was a committed man whose faith was an example to others. He not only proclaimed the Gospel, but he lived the Gospel message and brought it to others through how he lived his own life with Bette, his wife always by his side. He was a servant of the Church he loved and a man of great faith.
He is survived by his wife Bette; their daughter Emily Jane Steinkamp Gomes and her husband Mark Gomes; son Roger Craig Steinkamp and his wife Milagros; and grandsons Jonathan Gomes, Joshua Gomes and William Steinkamp. Also surviving is his mother Virginia Steiner, brother Kent Steinkamp, sister Judith Steinkamp, and many brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law, nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his father and by his sister Linda.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to the Hayworth Cancer Center, 302 Westwood Ave., High Point, N.C.
Hanes Lineberry Funeral Home of Greensboro is in charge of the arrangements.
Online condolences may be made at www.haneslineberryfuneralhomes.com.
— Catholic News Herald
SCRANTON, Pa. — Sister Jane Meehan (formerly known as Sister Annmarie) of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary died Feb. 4, 2018, at Our Lady of Peace Residence in Scranton.
The Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated Feb. 10, 2018, at Our Lady of Peace Residence. Interment followed at St. Catherine’s Cemetery in Moscow, Pa.
Sister Jane was born on Feb. 12, 1928, in New Albany, Pa., the daughter of the late James and Annabelle Healey Meehan. She entered the IHM Congregation on Sept. 8, 1948, and made her temporary profession of vows on May 9, 1951, and her final profession of vows on Aug. 2, 1954.
She earned a Bachelor of Science in education and a Master of Science in counselor/secondary education from Marywood College.
Sister Jane served as a teacher in the following schools: St. John the Evangelist Elementary School in Binghamton, N.Y., from 1951 to 1953; Our Lady of Grace Elementary School in Greensboro, from 1953 to 1955; St. Thomas Aquinas Elementary School in Archbald, Pa., from 1955 to 1957; St. Agnes Elementary School in Baltimore, Md., from 1957 to 1963; St. Ephrem Elementary School in Brooklyn, N.Y., from 1963 to 1968; and Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Elementary School in Forest Hills, N.Y., from 1968 to 1974.
She served as a guidance counselor at the following schools: Maria Regina Diocesan High School in Uniondale, N.Y., from 1974 to 1980; Bishop Neumann High School in Williamsport, Pa., from 1980 to 1985; Bishop Hannon High School in Scranton from 1985 to 1987; St. Mary’s High School in Manhasset, N.Y., from 1987 to 1996; and Seton Catholic High School in Pittston, Pa., from 1996 to 1997.
Sister Jane then served as minister to homebound parishioners at St. John the Evangelist Parish in Pittsburgh from 1997 to 2004; pastoral visitor at the Marian Convent in Scranton from 2004 to 2006; pastoral visitor at Our Lady of Peace Residence in Scranton from 2006 to 2011; and as a member of the support service staff at the IHM Center in Scranton from 2011 to 2017.
From 2017 until her death, Sister Jane was a prayer minister at Our Lady of Peace Residence in Scranton.
She was preceded in death by two brothers, James Jr. and Francis; and two sisters, Mary Jackson and Kathleen.
She is survived by two sisters, Alice Rice of Massapequa, N.Y.; and Annabelle Kravetz of Mildred, Pa.; and by the members of the IHM Congregation.
Memorial contributions may be made to support the retired IHM Sisters c/o the IHM Sisters Retirement Fund, IHM Center, 2300 Adams Ave., Scranton, PA 18509.
— Catholic News Herald
CINCINNATI, Ohio — Father Francis Joseph Schenk, a Glenmary Home Missioner for 66 years, died April 11 in Cincinnati. He was 102.
Reception of the body will take place at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 18, at Our Lady of the Fields’ Chapel, 4085 Glenmary Trace, Fairfield, Ohio. Visitation will follow. Wake service will begin at 7 p.m.
Mass of Christian Burial will begin at 10 a.m. Thursday, April 19, at St. Matthias Catholic Church, 1050 W. Kemper Rd., Cincinnati, Ohio. Internment will follow at Gate of Heaven Cemetery, 11000 Montgomery Rd, Cincinnati, OH 45249.
One of the oldest and longest serving Glenmarians, Father Frank was not expected to live past age 15. Early in life, he contracted a bone disease that took him six operations, and years of bedrest to recover from. Once healed, Father Frank set out to see the world, working in Wyoming and South Dakota, studying in Washington state and visiting friends in Oregon.
During a short vacation, he visited an Oregon library, where he read about Glenmary, a new Catholic society that was serving in the southern and rural United States. Intrigued, Father Frank sent letters to Glenmary founder Father William Howard Bishop, who invited the Mount Vernon, Ind., native to begin the formation program in 1948.
After his ordination in 1955, Father Frank began serving in Sylva, Spruce Pine and North Wilkesboro. He also ministered in Oklahoma, Kentucky, Georgia and Arkansas. A small-town boy, he enjoyed rural ministry, connecting with the community and parish and helping to break down barriers between Catholics and Protestants.
“Father Frank wanted to contribute to the mission cause however he could,” said Glenmary president Father Chet Artysiewicz. “He stayed in the missions until he was 90! He lived very simply and was interested in the affairs of Glenmary and the world. He was practical and his observations reflected basic common sense.”
In his service, Father Frank wrote a weekly newspaper column, hosted a radio show, preached in a tent and helped build a North Carolina church by hand. One of the first Glenmarians to study Spanish, Father Frank started a Spanish Mass in all of his missions and provided outreach to migrant workers who needed help with transportation, translating services, food or work.
On two occasions Father Frank worked in Colombia as a pastor and a scout for potential Glenmary missions in South America. Though the areas he served were poor and remote, he enjoyed feeding the hungry, educating the youth and ministering to his parish.
Father Frank did not accept Glenmary senior membership until age 90. Though legally blind, he was determined to continue working until he could no longer be of service. Even after he returned to Cincinnati, Father Frank continued to tend a garden and bake fresh bread every morning for many years.
Father Frank made his first oath with Glenmary in 1951 and was ordained a priest in 1955. He attended St. Martin’s College in Olympia, Wash., St. Gregory Seminary in Cincinnati and St. Mary’s Seminary in Cincinnati. He also studied Spanish in Cincinnati and Cuernavaca, Mexico.
He is survived by many nieces, nephews, fellow missioners and friends. He was preceded in death by his parents, John and Rose (née Bluff) Schenk; and brother John Schenk and his wife Bernice.
Memorials may be made to Glenmary Home Missioners, P.O. Box 465618, Cincinnati, OH 45246-5618 or at Glenmary.org.
Newcomer Funeral Home is assisting with arrangements.
— Catholic News Herald
NEW ALBANY, Ind. — Deacon Robert Jerome Gettelfinger, decorated World War II veteran and beloved father of Dennis, Nancy, Teri and Geoff, passed away peacefully on Dec. 23, 2017, after a recent period of declining health. He was 96.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Dec. 30, 2017, at St. Bernard Church, located at 7600 Hwy. 337 N.W. in Depauw, Ind., with burial in the church cemetery.
He was born Oct. 23, 1921, in New Albany, Ind., to the late Raymond P. and Margaret S. Gettelfinger.
During World War II he served honorably with the U.S. Army Air Corps in the Burma/China theater and was decorated with the Distinguished Flying Cross as well as the Legion of Merit. He went on as a career officer to serve in the U.S. Air Force for 27 years, retiring with the rank of colonel in the Strategic Air Command. He then began a second career with Educational Testing Service in Princeton, N.J., in computer operations. He retired in 1988 and moved with his wife Doris to Charlotte to live closer to his family.
As an active, lifetime member of the Catholic Church, he served as a permanent deacon for more than 30 years. He was ordained in the Diocese of Trenton, N.J., and served first at St. Paul's Church in Princeton, N.J., and then at St. Gabriel Church in Charlotte.
He was a devoted father and husband and was dearly loved and admired by his family.
In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his wife Doris M.
Gettelfinger; sister Jane F. Block; and brothers John B., Daniel J. and Raymond P. Gettelfinger.
Surviving family members include his children, Dennis, Nancy, Teri and Geoff; brother Ralph; sister Mary; and five grandchildren.
Swarens Funeral Home Inc. of Ramsey, Ind., was in charge of the arrangements.
— Catholic News Herald