Obituary of Sister Mary Catherine Uchman, OSF

Sister Mary Catherine Uchman, OSF (Camille)

Sister Mary Catherine Uchman, OSF (1937 – 2019) died at Our Lady of Angels Retirement Home, Joliet, Illinois, on February 1, 2019.  Sister Mary Catherine was the eldest of two children born to the late Catherine Ann (Mahoney) and Bruno Uchman. She has only one sibling, her brother John (Jack) who resides in New Castle, California. Sister Mary Catherine was a member of the Sisters of St. Francis of Mary Immaculate for 64 years.

Sister Kay, as she was affectionately called, was a member of St. Francis de Sales Parish in Chicago.  She attended the parish grade and high school. Sister Kay completed her high school education at St. Francis Academy in Joliet, Illinois, and earned her bachelor’s degree from the College of St. Francis, now University of St. Francis, Joliet, Illinois. She then earned a Master of Social Work from George Williams College in Downers Grove, Illinois.

Sister Kay began her ministry in the field of education at Sacred Heart, Englewood, as a teacher of grade four. She taught fourth grade at St. Raymond Cathedral School in Joliet, Illinois, from 1959 – 1963. She taught the middle grades in various schools in Illinois until 1967 when she began her ministry as a missionary in South America, where she did pastoral work in the state of Goiás. In 1973 she returned to the United States and began her ministry in the field of social work as a therapist and then as a psychotherapist and supervisor of social services in the Joliet, Illinois, area. In 1980 she took a position at Maricopa Medical Center in Phoenix, Arizona, as a psychotherapist and Administrative Supervisor. She remained in this position until her retirement in 2003.  

In 2018 Sister Kay returned to Joliet residing at Our Lady of Angels Retirement Home where she ministered to the residents through her joyful, welcoming personality.

The wake for Sister Mary Catherine will be at Our Lady of Angels Retirement Home, 1201 Wyoming Avenue, Joliet, IL, (Wyoming and Rt. 30) on Monday, February, February 4, 2019, from 2:00 – 6:45 p.m., with a Prayer Service at 4:45 p.m. and Mass of Christian Burial at 7:00 p.m. The Funeral Procession will leave from Our Lady of Angels on Tuesday morning, February 5, 2019, at 9:00 a.m. The Interment of her cremains will take place at Resurrection Cemetery in Romeoville, IL.

Memorials may be made to the Sisters of St. Francis of Mary Immaculate, 1433 Essington Road, Joliet, IL 60435.     

Funeral arrangements held under the care and direction of the Fred C. Dames Funeral Home.  For more information, please call 815-741-5500 or visit her Memorial Tribute at www.fredcdames.com