Mercy Sister Valery Heffner, 93, died April 25.

Born in Milwaukee, she entered the Sisters of Mercy in Chicago in 1945.

For nearly 20 years, Sister Valery taught at schools in Chicago, Skokie, Evergreen Park, Dundee, Park Ridge, and Aurora, Illinois; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and Pleasant and Burlington, Iowa.

She also served with the Latin American Committee and as director of Volunteers for Misericordia North, both in Chicago. In 1981, she began a housing internship and went on to serve for four years at the Chicago Housing Authority and then for Southwest Development Corp. and Mercy Properties, all in Chicago.

For several years, Sister Valery served in pastoral care at Oak Park Hospital and Mercy Rehab in Chicago.

Beginning in 1998, Sister Valery served in several volunteer roles, including prison ministry as a Spanish translator.

BVM Sister Marie C. (Jane Frances) Fitzpatrick, 95, died May 1 in Dubuque, Iowa.

Born in Chicago, she entered the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1945 from St. Charles Parish. She professed first vows in 1947 and final vows in 1952.

She was principal at St. Charles (1963-1966).

Sister Marie also was an elementary teacher and principal in Iowa, New York and South Dakota. She was a religious education director in Denver and parish minister and psychotherapist in Aurora, Colorado.

Sinsinawa Dominican Sister Geraldine “Geri” Hoye, 83, died May 4 in Hazel Green, Wisconsin.

Born in Chicago, she made her first profession as a School Sister of Saint Francis of Christ the King of Lemont in 1957 and her perpetual profession in 1962. She served as a teacher and principal before transferring her vows to the Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa in 1990. Sister Geri remained in education administration for another three years before moving into parish ministries for the next 23 years.

Sister Geri served in Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Louisiana, Mississippi and Kentucky.

In the Archdiocese of Chicago, Sister Geri taught at St. George (Ewing Street) (1957-1961); Holy Trinity (1961-1962) and St. Stephen (1967-1969).

Father Thomas A. Tivy, 84, died April 25. He was pastor emeritus of Resurrection Parish.

Born in Chicago, he attended Quigley Preparatory Seminary and the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary in Mundelein before being ordained in 1962.

He was assistant pastor of St. Lambert, Skokie, and St. Hilary Parish and associate pastor of St. Gregory the Great and St. Sylvester. He was pastor of Our Lady of Grace and Resurrection, and he was named pastor emeritus of Resurrection in 2009.

In addition to his parochial assignments, Father Tivy served as judicial vicar, vicar for clergy, dean and member of the Priest Personnel Board.

Father Lawrence Gorski, former associate pastor at St. Mary Parish in Buffalo Grove, was mentored by Father Tivy before he was ordained a priest. Gorski and Father Tivy became lifelong friends after that first year of mentorship.

“He was a priest to the priests,” Gorski said. “He always cared and looked out for us. He was very sensitive to people’s difficulties and went out of his way to help people.”

Sister of the Living Word Elaine Josephine Tworek, 80, died March 31.

Born in Nebraska, Sister Elaine was a teacher and principal at many schools, including St. Thecla (1961-1962, 1978-1980); St. Casimir (1962-1963); St. Mary of the Angels (1963-1965); Resurrection High School (1965-1973, 1980-1988); Queen of the Rosary, Elk Grove Village (1973-1978); and St. Joseph High School, Westchester (1988-1994).

She also was the coordinator of ministry for the Sisters of the Living Word (1998-2002) and a pastoral minister in South Dakota.

Sister Elaine is survived by her sister, Dorothy Greene, and her brothers, Marc and Jim Tworek.