Father John S. Plotkowski, 76, died Nov. 25. He was a retired priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago and former pastor of St. Zachary Parish, Des Plaines.

Born in Chicago, Father Plotkowski attended Quigley Preparatory Seminary, Niles College of Loyola University and the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary before being ordained in 1974.

Father Plotkowski was associate pastor of St. Marcelline, Schaumburg; St. Stephen Protomartyr, Des Plaines; Our Lady of Hope, Rosemont; and St. Mary, Buffalo Grove.

From 1982 to 1986, Plotkowski was on the faculty of Quigley Preparatory Seminary. He also served as pastor of St. Simeon, Bellwood, and St. Zachary. He retired in 2018.

Father Marcel J. Pasciak, retired archdiocesan priest and one of Plotkowski’s classmates, remembered Father Plotkowski as a very personable, outgoing man who “was well-liked by everybody and very lively.”

Marianist Father Timothy Dwyer, 89, died Nov. 18 in San Antonio. He had been a member of the congregation for 70 years.

Born in St. Louis, he first encountered the Marianists at DeAndreis High School there and entered the novitiate after graduating. He made his first vows in 1954.

After earning a bachelor’s degree in 1957, he taught high school in Texas and then in Switzerland, where he entered the Marianist seminary in 1964.

After being ordained in 1968, he taught and was a chaplain at St. Michael High School in Chicago, and then in a school in Texas. He then started to do retreat work, religious formation and provincial administration.

He ministered in Missouri, Texas, New Jersey and Ontario, Canada, including seven years as provincial superior of the St. Louis Province.

Benedictine Sister Margaret Ann (Mary Denis) Holtz, 92, died Nov. 30 in St. Joseph Court, the infirmary of St. Scholastica Monastery. She was a member of the Benedictine community for 74 years.

Born in Pennsylvania, Sister Margaret Ann visited her aunt Sister Gertrude Holtz, OSB, on a family trip to Chicago. She entered the Benedictine Sisters of Chicago in 1950.

For decades, Sister Margaret Ann taught primary grades at schools throughout the Archdiocese of Chicago, including Queen of All Saints, St. John Nepomucene, St. George and St. Hilary, where she also served as assistant principal. She also taught at Mother of God School, Waukegan; and in Colorado.

As was the practice in religious communities at the time, Sister Margaret Ann took college courses while teaching; in 1964, she earned a bachelor’s degree from DePaul University.

In the late 1970s, Sister Margaret Ann moved from teaching into positions of financial responsibility for both schools and community. She served in the business office of St. Scholastica Academy, Chicago, eventually becoming treasurer. Her ministry also included an appointment as treasurer of the Benedictine Sisters of Chicago. In her later years, Sister Margaret Ann coordinated monastery resources and housekeeping staff.

Father Philip C. Cleary, 71, died Nov. 3 in Mexico. He was a retired priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago and former associate pastor of Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish on Hermitage Avenue.

Born in Chicago, Father Cleary attended Quigley Preparatory Seminary, Niles College of Loyola University and the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary in Mundelein before being ordained in 1979.

He then served as associate pastor at St. Boniface Parish and Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish. From 1982 to 1984, Father Cleary served as president of the Association of Chicago Priests and was elected to the National Federation of Priest Councils Executive Board in 1983.

During that time, Father Cleary learned about Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos (NPH), a nonprofit organization that cares for orphaned and abandoned children in Latin America and the Caribbean. His initial plan was to volunteer for one summer at NPH’s main orphanage in Mexico, he told people, but he ended up making a lifelong commitment to the children of NPH.

Father Cleary served as national director of NPH Mexico before becoming executive director of NPH International. He resided at NPH’s main home in Miacatlán, Morelos, Mexico. He later became chaplain for the Diocese of Cuernavaca in Mexico and retired in 2023.

Joliet Bishop Ronald Hicks, one of Cleary’s closest friends, remembers Father Cleary as a mentor, role model and friend who “lived life with great dedication.” Bishop Hicks spent a year in Mexico volunteering for one of NPH’s orphanages before entering Mundelein Seminary.

“He (Father Cleary) not only provided spiritual guidance but also a real dedication to the mission of improving the children’s lives,” Hicks said. “Because of watching his priesthood and how he lived it, he inspired me to enter the priesthood myself.”

Father Daniel J. Collins, 93, died Nov. 16. He was a retired priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago and former pastor of St. John Vianney Parish, Northlake.

Born in Chicago, he attended Quigley Preparatory Seminary in Chicago and the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary before being ordained in 1958.

Father Collins served as assistant pastor of St. Francis Borgia; St. Issac Jogues, Niles; Our Lady of Mount Carmel; and St. Christopher Parish, Midlothian. He then served as associate pastor of St. Leonard, Berwyn, and later as pastor of St. John Vianney.

Sister of the Living Word Marie McKenna, 72, died Oct. 15 after a long journey with cancer.

Born in Toronto, she began her vocation with the Sisters of the Living Word, having taught at St. Gregory High School and ministered as pastoral minister at St. Simeon in Bellwood. She was a clinical family therapist at Catholic Charities for more than 20 years while also maintaining a private practice.

Sister Marie’s skills in counseling, envisioning “out of the box” ideas, and her dedication to the common good through activism, concern for effective health care programs, and love for God’s creation melded into effective leadership for the Sisters of the Living Word. She shared her vision in two leadership terms, and unfortunately ending her second term early as cancer curtailed her energy and abilities.

Sinsinawa Dominican Sister Patricia (Alberta) Caraher, 90, died Nov. 13 in Hazel Green, Wisconsin.

Born in Chicago, Sister Patty professed vows in 1956. She earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Rosary College, River Forest, and a master’s degree in education from Marquette University, Milwaukee. 

Sister Patty’s ministry was dedicated to education and social justice. She taught in Mobile, Alabama, from 1960 to 1975. While there, she cofounded a program for prisoners called LINK. She taught English as a second language at Friendship House and at St. Thomas of Canterbury, Chicago, where she cofounded Amos Temporary Help and also ministered at Epiphany Parish and at Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge.

She served the Sinsinawa Dominican Congregation as Southern Province councilor for four years and provincial for six years. She also ministered in Atlanta, in the Bronx, New York; and in Florida and Louisiana.

She retired in Muskego, Wisconsin, in 2023.

She is survived by a sister, Frances Collins.

Sister of St. Joseph-Third Order of St. Francis Dorothy (Barbara) Monikowski, 81, died Nov. 16.

Born in Chicago, Sister Dorothy made final vows with the Sisters of St. Joseph-Third Order of St. Francis in 1968. She spent many years teaching in various grade schools in Chicago, and she was elected to the provincial council on two occasions.

Sister Dorothy earned advanced degrees in administration and organization development. She became associate director of planning for the Archdiocese of Chicago. She became an organization consultant and facilitator helping many religious congregations throughout the United States. Sister Dorothy also worked for the Archdiocese of Chicago’s of Office of Catholic Schools.

Archbishop James Patrick Keleher, 93, died Nov. 9 in Olathe, Kansas. He had served as the archbishop of Kansas City, Kansas, from 1993 to 2005.

Born in Chicago, he attended St. Felicitas School and Mount Carmel High School for one year before entering the archdiocesan seminary system. He was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago in 1958.

He was assistant pastor of St. Henry and taught at Quigley North, Niles College of Loyola University and the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary before serving as rector of Quigley South and then USML/Mundelein Seminary.

He was named bishop of Belleville in 1984.

Sister of Christian Charity Campion (Mary Ann) Breske, 88, died on Sept. 28 at the Convent of the Holy Spirit in Northfield.

Born in Detroit, she entered the Sisters of Christian Charity in 1955. She pronounced first vows in 1958, and final vows two years later.

Sister Campion’s first ministry was teaching grade school. She taught at schools in Louisiana, Minnesota, Iowa and Michigan as well as Illinois, where she taught primary grades and religious education at St. Gregory School and at St. Theresa, Palatine.

In August 1987, Sister Campion began a new ministry, undergoing training in Deaf ministry while residing at Josephinum Convent. The next year, she began doing ministry to the Deaf community in St. Louis. Later ministries took her to South Dakota and elsewhere in Missouri, before moving to Holy Ghost Parish in South Holland, where she taught religious education and helped with pastoral duties.

Residing at St. Joseph Convent in Wilmette, Sister Campion ministered as activities coordinator at Sacred Heart Convent. Seven years later, she was transferred to Josephinum Convent, where she served as local leader and visiting eucharistic minister.

She started offering prayerful presence at Sacred Heart Convent in 2017; in 2024, she moved to the Convent of the Holy Spirit.