Sister Helen Griffin, PBVM

Sister Helen Griffin, a teacher who worked briefly in the Oakland Diocese, died June 26 in San Francisco at the age of 84. She had been a Sister of the Presentation for 67 years.

A native of San Francisco, she earned a bachelor of art’s degree at San Francisco College for Women in 1951. She was a teacher for 42 years at schools in Albuquerque, New Mexico, as well as Los Angeles, San Pedro, Menlo Park, San Francisco, San Jose and Oakland, where she taught at St. Columba Elementary School during the 1967 – 68 school year.

While teaching at Cathedral Presentation Elementary School in San Francisco she co-pioneered a new ministry, visiting families at a housing project known as the “Pink Palace” at Turk and Scott Streets.

After she retired from teaching in 1987, Sister Griffin worked at the University of California Hospital in San Francisco for 10 years. She later became a regular visitor to children in the pediatric oncology unit at the hospital. In recent years she remained active in the ministry of prayer for missionaries.

The funeral Mass was held July 2 at the Presentation Motherhouse in San Francisco. Burial was at Holy Cross Cemetery in Colma.

Sister Mary Agnes Teresa Kovich, PBVM

Sister Mary Agnes Teresa Kovich, an educator for over 30 years, died July 4 at the Presentation Motherhouse in San Francisco. She was 82 and had been a Sister of the Presentation for 64 years.

A native of Bellingham, Washington, she was a child when her family moved to Berkeley. She graduated from St. Augustine School in Oakland and Presentation High School in Berkeley and earned her bachelor’s of science degree at the University of San Francisco in 1959.

Sister Kovich, who began her teaching career in 1948, taught at Oakland’s St. Columba School from 1960 – 1962. She also taught first through fifth grades at Catholic schools in San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Jose, and in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

She was secretary-receptionist at Cathedral Intermediate School in San Francisco from 1971 – 1982 and director of religious education at the Presidio in San Francisco from 1990 – 1994 when the Presidio closed as a military base. She then became a volunteer visiting the sick and serving as a driver for the Sisters at the Presentation Motherhouse. In recent years she was involved in the ministry of prayer.

Survivors include her brother, Charles; sister-in-law, Mary; nephews and their families.

The funeral Mass was held July 10 at the Presentation Motherhouse in San Francisco. Burial was at Holy Cross Cemetery in Colma.

Sister Mary Dolora Sullivan, PBVM

Sister Mary Dolora Sullivan, a teacher for 42 years, died July 3 at the Presentation Motherhouse in San Francisco. The San Francisco native was 94 years of age and had been a Sister of the Presentation for 76 years.

Sister Sullivan, whose baptismal name was Mary Dolores Sullivan, earned a bachelor’s of arts degree in English from the San Francisco College for Women and a master’s of arts degree in education from the University of San Francisco.

Her teaching career began in 1935. She taught all grades from second to 12th. In the Oakland Diocese she taught at St. Joseph School in Berkeley (1937 – 1939; 1944 – 1949) and Presentation High School in Berkeley (1964 – 1966; 1972 – 1977). She also taught in high schools staffed by Presentation Sisters in San Francisco, San Jose and Los Angeles.

Following her retirement from education Sister Sullivan served in administration at the Presentation Motherhouse and at St. Joseph Convent in Berkeley (1980 – 1983). When she retired from full time ministry she volunteered as a minister to the sick and elderly and later while residing at the Presentation Motherhouse was involved in the ministry of prayer for the intentions of the Sisters of the Presentations’ donors.

Survivors include her sister-in-law, Catherine Sullivan; nieces, Kathleen Foley and Rosemary Dervin; nephews, Arthur J. Sullivan III and James J. Sullivan, and their families.

The funeral Mass was held July 8 at the Presentation Motherhouse in San Francisco. Burial followed at Holy Cross Cemetery in Colma.

Brother Martin Fallin, FSC

Christian Brother Martin Fallin, a longtime educator who spent 21 years at St. Mary’s College in Moraga, died July 8 in Napa. He was 78 years of age and had been a member of the De La Salle Christian Brothers for 61 years.

Born Robert William Fallin in Springfield, Missouri, he graduated from the Christian Brother’s Junior Novitiate in Napa and entered the novitiate in 1949. He received the religious habit that same year and pronounced final vows in 1956. He received his bachelor of arts degree from St. Mary’s College in 1954 and a Master’s degree in education from Immaculate Heart College in Los Angeles in 1968.

Brother Fallin served as a teacher and administrator at several Christian Brothers school in California for 55 years. At St. Mary’s College, where he began in 1988, he held both academic and administrative positions. He retired to the Christian Brothers retirement community in Napa in October 2009.

Survivors include his nephew, Timothy Fallin, and relatives in California and Oklahoma.

The funeral Mass was held July 13 at Mont La Salle in Napa. Burial followed at the Mont La Salle cemetery.

Father Paul Locatelli, SJ

Jesuit Father Paul Leo Locatelli, 71, who served for 20 years as president of Santa Clara University and currently was its chancellor, died July 12 in Santa Clara of complications from pancreatic cancer.

Locatelli joined SCU as an accounting professor in 1974, the same year he became an ordained priest and earned his master of divinity from the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley. He had previously earned a doctorate in business administration from the University of Southern California in 1971 and an accounting degree from Santa Clara University in 1960.

Within a few years of joining SCU, he was appointed academic vice president, voted outstanding teacher of the year, and made associate dean at the Leavey School of Business.

In 1988, he was selected as the university’s 27th president. He held the position until 2008, when Father Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, then superior general of the Jesuits, made him secretary for Jesuit higher education, with responsibilities for shaping Jesuit higher education worldwide. After stepping down as president, Father Locatelli became Santa Clara’s chancellor.

Locatelli served on the board of directors of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities, Catholic Relief Services, the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, and on the board of trustees of the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley and on the International Committee for Jesuit Higher Education for the Society of Jesus.

A funeral Mass was celebrated July 16 at Santa Clara.

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