Mike Ditka, the Hall of Fame football player and fiery coach who led the Chicago Bears to their only Super Bowl championship, died Friday, Oct. 9, at age 86. His family announced his death, remembering him not only as a football legend but as “the heart of our family.”

Retired Bishop Frank J. Dewane of Venice, who led the southwest Florida diocese for nearly 20 years before his retirement in May, died Oct. 7, the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, at Sarasota Memorial Hospital after a brief illness. He was 76.

Deacon Carlos Morales, whose ministry included work as a university dean of students, radio host and author, and who accompanied thousands of people in their faith, died of liver cancer Sept. 22 in Edgewood. He was 82.

A funeral Mass for Conventual Franciscan Brother Vincent Joseph Vivian will be offered Oct. 2 at 10 a.m. at Our Lady of the Angels Care Center in Enfield, Conn. Brother Vincent died Sept. 26. He was 78.

Deacon Wayne Matthews, whose ministry in the Archdiocese of Baltimore strengthened parish life and expanded outreach programs across Western Maryland, died Aug. 28 at age 81.

Betty Contino, a diminutive-yet-larger-than-life presence in Baltimore education and longtime chairwoman and chief executive officer of the Women’s Education Alliance (WEA), died Aug. 31 at 81. Through WEA, she helped thousands of students attend Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Baltimore, while also supporting teachers, school leaders and the broader needs of the schools she served.

A funeral Mass for Mercy Sister Marian Joseph Baird was offered Sept. 3 at Sacred Heart Convent in Belmont, N.C. Sister Marian Joseph died Aug. 26 in North Carolina. She was 87.

Mary Pat Stoval, director of fiscal services for the Archdiocese of Baltimore and a beloved colleague known for her kindness, competence and faith, died Aug. 18 at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, due to complications from leukemia. She was 67.

An 11 a.m. funeral Mass for School Sister of Notre Dame Mary Laurentilla Back will be offered Aug. 25 at the chapel at Stella Maris in Timonium. Sister Mary Laurentilla died Aug. 10. She was 93.

A funeral Mass for Sister Maria Soledad Gutierrez of the Oblate Sisters of Providence will be offered Aug. 8 at 11 a.m. at her religious community’s motherhouse in Arbutus. Sister Maria died July 18. She was 101. A native of Puerto Rico, Sister Maria entered religious life in 1960 and professed her first vows in […]