Obituaries for July 2025
Let us pray for our dearly departed clergy and religious whose Masses of Christian Burial were held in July.
Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord,
and let perpetual light shine upon them.
May the souls of all the faithful departed,
through the mercy of God, rest in peace.
Amen.
Sister Monica Donohoe, CSJP
A Mass of Christian Burial was held on July 16 at Saint Michael Villa in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey for Sister Monica Donohoe, CSJP. She died peacefully at St. Michael Villa on July 10. Sister Monica was 82.
Born in the Bronx to the late Patrick Joseph Donohoe and Margaret Mary Moriarty, Sister Monica entered the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace at St. Michael Villa Novitiate in Englewood Cliffs in 1960. She pronounced final vows there in 1968.
After graduating from Caldwell College with a BA in social studies and secondary education, she earned an MLS in Library and Media in 1973 from Rutgers University.
Sister Monica taught at St. Joseph’s School in Medford, Holy Cross School in Wayne, St. Luke’s School in Ho-Ho-Kus, St. Ann’s School in Trenton, and Mater Dolorosa in South San Francisco, California.
In 1977 Sister began her ministry as a Librarian and Media Specialist at St. Elizabeth School in Wyckoff. She continued in this ministry at Immaculate Heart Academy in Washington Township, Essex Catholic High School in East Orange, and Saint Vincent Academy in Newark. In 2015, Sister Monica retired to St. Michael Villa.
Sister Monica was predeceased by her brother, John Patrick Donohoe. She is survived by her brother Kevin Donohoe, as well as several nieces, nephews, and cousins.
Sister Marie Thérèse Hayes, OSB
A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated on July 3 at the Saint Walburga Monastery in Elizabeth for Sister Marie Thérèse Hayes, OSB. She died on June 29.
Born in Brooklyn, NY, she entered the Benedictine Sisters in 1950 and made her Monastic Profession in 1951.
Sister Marie Thérèse was an educator and served as a math teacher at the following schools: St. Joseph in Maplewood; Blessed Sacrament in Elizabeth; St. Henry’s in Bayonne; St. James in Springfield; and Bender Memorial Academy in Elizabeth. Having spent 27 years as a teacher at Bender Memorial Academy and 9 years as a principal, Sister Marie Thérèse had a great fondness for the school, its students, faculty, and families. Closing the school in 2005 was difficult, but Sister Marie Thérèse led everyone through the process with the same organization and care she put into all her years there.
Sister Marie Thérèse was predeceased by her parents, John and Edmee Hayes. She was survived by her godson, John Matthew Moore, and her cousins.
Monsignor John A. “Jack” Radano, Ph.D.
A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated on July 12 in the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception at Seton Hall University in South Orange for Monsignor John A. “Jack” Radano, Ph.D. He died suddenly on July 7.
Monsignor Radano was a distinguished priest, noted scholar, and passionate advocate for Christian unity. His legacy spans nearly six decades of service to academia, the Church, and ecumenical dialogue. His loss was felt profoundly among all those whose lives he touched during his 60 years of priestly ministry.
A Jersey City native, Monsignor Radano was ordained a priest in 1965 and was appointed to the faculty in the Department of Religious Studies. He remained there until 1984, serving as chairman of the department from 1977 until his departure in in 1984.
Appointed to the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (PCPCU) in 1984, he became head of its Western Section in 1985. Serving the Holy See for twenty-five years, Msgr. Radano was deeply involved in international bilateral dialogues between the Catholic Church and Lutheran, Reformed, Baptist, Mennonite, Pentecostal, and Evangelical Christians. From 1988, he also served as liaison to the World Council of Churches’ Commission on Faith and Order and on the Joint Working Group.
A prolific writer, Msgr. Radano’s works include Lutheran and Catholic Reconciliation on Justification (2009) and Celebrating a Century of Ecumenism (2012), among others. He was the editor of the PCPCU Information Service (1985–2008) and contributed to key theological reference works. A 2017 Festschrift, Towards Unity: Ecumenical Dialogue 500 Years After the Reformation, honored his lifelong ecumenical contributions.
Upon returning to New Jersey and the University in 2008, Monsignor Radano remained an active voice in interreligious dialogue and Catholic education. He taught at Seton Hall’s Seminary, St. Joseph’s Seminary (Dunwoodie), the Angelicum in Rome, University of St. Thomas (MN), and St. Paul Seminary. He participated regularly in Seton Hall University retreats and initiatives on virtue and unity well into the 2020s.
He was named Papal Chaplain (Monsignor) in 1986 and Prelate of Honor in 1993 by Pope St. John Paul II, and ultimately a Protonotary Apostolic Supernumerary in 2008 by Pope Benedict XVI.
Monsignor Radano is survived by many loving nieces and nephews, as well as many great-nieces and great-nephews.
Sister Lillian Silkowski, SC
A Mass of Christian Burial was held on July 9 at Holy Family Chapel in Convent Station, New Jersey for Sister Lillian Silkowski, SC. She died on July 1 at Complete Care at Cedar Grove in Cedar Grove. Sister Lillian was 91.
Formerly Sister Francis Anthony, she was born in Passaic and raised in Belleville. She entered the Sisters of Charity in 1952 and was a member of the congregation for 72 years.
Sister Lillian graduated from the College of Saint Elizabeth in Morristown with a B. A. in history. She served New Jersey’s Ministry of Education for more than 50 years. Sister Lillian was a teacher at Our Lady of Mount Carmel School, Tenafly; Immaculate Conception School, Elizabeth; Epiphany School, Cliffside Park; Holy Cross School, Harrison, NJ; and St. Mary’s School, Jersey City. She was also Dean of Students at the Academy of the Sacred Heart in Hoboken.
Sister Lillian’s ministry at St. Mary’s spanned more than 20 years. In addition to her dedicated teaching and monitoring after-school study hall, Sister Lillian was involved in many sports programs, including CYO baseball and basketball teams. She was well known for opening the school gym in the evenings to provide a safe place for neighborhood young people to gather. In a 1998 interview, she said, “You have to be willing to give time to listen, to care, to understand . . . You need to be there for them.” In 1994, Sister Lillian was honored by the Archdiocese of Newark with a Teacher Recognition Award.
She moved to the Convent of Saint Elizabeth in Convent Station in 2008. When her health declined, Sister Lillian moved to St. Joseph’s Health and Rehabilitation Center, Cedar Grove, where she resided until her death.
Sister Lillian was predeceased by her parents; her sisters Viola, Elaine Macenko, and Thelma Ivey; and her brother Robert. She is survived by many loving cousins, nieces, nephews, grandnieces, grandnephews, great-grandnieces, and great-grandnephews.
