Sister Hosanna Almaguer, OP
Sister Hosanna Almaguer, a Dominican Sister of Mission San Jose for 84 years, died at the Motherhouse in Fremont, June 11, at the age of 106. A native of a small village in Mexico, she joined the Dominican Sisters in Mexico in 1925 at the age of 22.

The following year she came to the United States because of religious persecution in Mexico. She never returned to live in Mexico and was proud that she became a naturalized citizen of the United States.

Although Sister Hosanna’s main ministry was cooking, she considered care of the home and all who lived there a part of her responsibilities. She served at Immaculate Conception convent in San Francisco, St. Elizabeth’s in Oakland, the Motherhouse in Mission San Jose, as well as convents in southern California and Oregon.

In 1993 at the age of 90, she came to reside at the Motherhouse where she spent her time praying for peace and justice in the world, for all the Dominican Sisters in ministry, and for all friends and benefactors of the community. Normally, Sister would rise at 4 a.m. to begin her prayers.

Before her death, Sister Hosanna was fond of saying “I can never thank God enough for taking such good care of me over the years. My life is an alleluia to God!”

The Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated at the Dominican Sisters Chapel in Fremont. Burial took place at the Congregation’s Cemetery on the Motherhouse grounds. Memorial gifts: Dominican Sisters, 43326 Mission Blvd., Fremont, CA 94539.

Deacon Ferris Anthony
Deacon Ferris Anthony, one of the first permanent deacons ordained for the Oakland Diocese, died of cancer Aug. 1. He had served Good Shepherd Parish in Pittsburg before his retirement from active ministry.

Born on Christmas Day, 1931, in Pennsylvania, he served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War and then had a successful 33-year career as a fire captain, retiring from the Riverview Fire District. He was ordained on March 10, 1978.

On the 25th anniversary of his diaconate, he told The Catholic Voice, “As a husband, a father, a retired firefighter and a deacon, my whole life has been dedicated to serving others. My role as a deacon strengthened my love of God and my love of the Church.”

He is survived by four children and 13 grandchildren. His wife Kathleen and an infant daughter predeceased him.

A rosary service was held Aug. 5 at Most Holy Rosary Church in Antioch with the funeral Mass there on Aug. 6. Burial was at Holy Cross Cemetery in Antioch.

Memorial donations: Hospice of the East Bay, 3470 Buskirk Ave., Pleasant Hill 94532.

Sister M. Edwardine Bohan, SHF
Sister M. Edwardine Bohan, a former director of Oakland’s St. Vincent’s Day Home, died in Fremont on June 2. She was 90 years of age and had been a member of the Sisters of the Holy Family for 60 years.

A native of Oakland, Sister Bohan was baptized and confirmed at Oakland’s Sacred Heart Parish. She served as director of St. Vincent’s Day Home from 1957 to 1967 and also ministered in several parishes in the Oakland Diocese — St. John the Baptist, El Cerrito (Sunday School teacher, 1944-1946); St. Lawrence O’Toole, Oakland (1969-1970); St. Jarlath, Oakland (religious education coordinator, 1970-1976, and secretary, 1980-1981); St. Joseph, Fremont (receptionist, 1981-1982); and St. Felicitas, San Leandro (CCD principal, 1982-1993). She also worked in pastoral care at Providence Hospital in Oakland (1976-1980).

The funeral Mass was held at the Motherhouse Chapel of the Sisters of the Holy Family in Fremont on June 5. Burial took place at Holy Cross Cemetery in Colma.
Memorial remembrances: Sisters of the Holy Family, P.O. Box 3248, Fremont, CA 94539.

Sister Marian Ruth Christensen, SNJM
Sister Marian Ruth Christensen who worked as a nurse, a Catholic school teacher, an academic counselor and hospital chaplain, died July 10. She was 82 years of age and had been a vowed member of the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary for 51 years.

A native of Wellsboro, Penn., she received her nursing education from Temple University School of Nursing in Philadelphia and the University of San Francisco. She joined the U.S. Army Nurse Corps and served as a first lieutenant at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, D.C. and 4th Field Hospital in Korea during the Korean War.

After joining the Holy Names Sisters in 1958 she became a high school science teacher at Oakland’s Holy Names High School and at schools in Santa Monica and Alhambra before moving into academic counseling. She also spent many years as a chaplain at Children’s Hospital in Oakland.

The funeral Mass was held July 16 at the Convent of the Holy Names in Los Gatos. Burial, with military honors, took place the following day at Holy Sepulchre in Hayward

Memorial donations: Sisters of the Holy Names, P.O. Box 907, Los Gatos, CA 95031.

Deacon Robert Dowling
Deacon Robert Dowling, a member of the second class of permanent deacons in the Oakland Diocese, died July 29 in Castro Valley at the age of 84. He had served as a deacon at Our Lady of Grace Parish.

He is survived by his wife of 57 years, Kathleen, six children and seven grandchildren. Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, he was a World War II veteran who served aboard the HMS Pictou and as an officer in the Royal Canadian Naval Reserve.

He earned a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Manitoba and became a teacher in the Winnipeg School District. He left teaching in 1955 for a career with Safeway, first in Winnipeg and then at the company’s headquarters in Oakland as corporate manager of human resources. He retired in 1982, the same year in which he was ordained as a permanent deacon.

He was a volunteer chaplain at Santa Rita Jail and coordinated parish visitors to the sick and homebound. On the 25th anniversary of his ordination he spoke about the “outstanding service” of these volunteers, saying they were “an example to me of what it means to love and reach out to the sick in the parish.”

A prayer vigil was held Aug. 2 at Our Lady of Grace Church with the funeral taking place there, Aug. 3.

Memorial donations: St. Vincent de Paul Society or Bay Area Crisis Nursery.

Sister Mary Therese Janke, OP
Sister Mary Therese (Marie Carmel) Janke, who taught at St. Leo School in Oakland, (1948-1957), died July 26 at the Motherhouse of the Sinsinawa Dominicans. She was a vowed religious for 72 years.

A native of South Dakota, she was a teacher for 35 years and principal for 13 years as well as a missionary in Cochabamba, Bolivia, and parish religious education director.

A funeral Mass was held in Sinsinawa, Wisc., July 30 with burial following at the Motherhouse cemetery.

Memorials: Sinsinawa Dominicans, 585 County Road Z, Sinsinawa, WI, 53824-9701 or at www.sinsinawa.org.

Sister M. Elizabeth Murray, SHF
Sister M. Elizabeth Murray, a former dean of Holy Family College in Fremont, died July 3 in Fremont. A member of the Sisters of the Holy Family for 59 years, she was 76 years of age.

The San Francisco native served in parishes throughout California. In the Oakland Diocese she worked at Logan High School in Union City (release time teacher, 1959-1962); St. Raymond Parish in Dublin and St. Augustine Parish in Pleasanton (religious education coordinator, 1961-1967); and Corpus Christi in Fremont (religious education coordinator, 1968-1970).

She was assistant dean (1975-1976) and dean (1976-1986) at Holy Family College in Fremont before the college closed in 1986. She also served as juniorate directoress (1968-1970) for the Holy Family Sisters and ministered in the dioceses of Honolulu, Monterey, San Jose, San Diego and the Archdiocese of San Francisco.

The funeral Mass was held at the Motherhouse Chapel of the Sisters of the Holy Family in Fremont on July 7. Burial took place at Holy Cross Cemetery in Colma.

Memorial remembrances: Sisters of the Holy Family, P.O. Box 3248, Fremont, CA 94539.

Father Stanley Fabian Parmisano. OP
Dominican Father Stanley Fabian Parmisano, well-known as a teacher, preacher, retreat master, counselor and confessor, died June 18 at Oakland’s St. Albert Priory after an extended illness. He was 83.

A native of Daly City, he attended parochial schools and St. Mary’s College, where he was elected student body president. He joined the Western Dominican Province in 1948, received his Dominican education at St. Albert Priory (now the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology) and was ordained to the priesthood in 1953.

He served in a number of positions including those of master of students at St. Albert College in Oakland, superior, prior and member of the Dominican Preaching Band.

After earning a doctorate in English literature at Cambridge University, Father Parmisano taught for many years at Notre Dame College in Belmont and at St. Albert College. He was also involved in the Theology for the Laity program sponsored by the Western Dominican Province.

He also played a crucial role in the “theological sharing” movement in the 1950s among some local seminaries. This movement helped to lay the groundwork for the formation of the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley. He also wrote a book, “Dominicans West” which details the history of the Dominican Order in the western United States.

Additionally Father Parmisano served as the regent of studies for the Western Dominican Province (1986-1990), a position considered so important that the appointment must be approved by the Master of the Order.

Survivors include his sister, Corinne M. Konevich, and his nieces and nephews and their families.

The funeral Mass was held on June 26 at St. Dominic’s Church in San Francisco; burial followed at St. Dominic’s Cemetery in Benicia.

Sister Mary Charles Reilly, OP
Sister Mary Charles Reilly, a professed Dominican Sister of Mission San Jose for 73 years, died July 23 in Fremont. She was 93 years old.

A native of Portland, OR, she made her first profession in religious life in 1936. For 47 years she was an elementary school teacher in both northern and southern California, including St. Elizabeth School, Oakland, and School of the Madeleine, Berkeley.

Since 2001, her ministry had been an apostolate of prayer.

The Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated at the Dominican Sisters’ Motherhouse on Aug.1, with burial on Aug. 4 at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Hayward.

Memorial gifts: Dominican Sisters, 43326 Mission Blvd., Fremont, CA 94539.

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