Remembering the recently deceased in the Archdiocese of Seattle

Sister Roberta Collins, CSJPBELLEVUE

Sister Roberta Collins, a Sister of St. Joseph of Peace, died Dec. 5. She was 92.

Sister Roberta and her identical twin, Sister Sheila, were born on Aug. 2, 1922, in Galway, Ireland. In 1951 the twins entered the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace in Newry, Northern Ireland, and 10 months later traveled to Bellingham to begin the novitiate. Another sibling, Sister Brigid, was also a Sister of St. Joseph of Peace.   Sister Roberta received a Bachelor of Science in education from Mount Angel College in Oregon, and master’s degrees in education and religious education from Seattle University.   She taught at several schools in the Seattle Archdiocese: Immaculate Conception, Mount Vernon; St. Rose, Longview; St. Margaret, Seattle; and Sacred Heart, Bellevue. She also taught in British Columbia and California.   In 1976 she became the director of catechetical ministry at St. Catherine Laboure Parish, San Diego. In 1987 her twin Sister Sheila joined her to establish the religious education program in the newly formed St. Jerome Parish, San Diego. They recently moved to St. Mary-on-the-Lake. 

“I am grateful that I was born into a strong Catholic family where religion was a priority,” Sister Roberta said at her 60th jubilee in 2012. A funeral Mass was celebrated Dec. 11 at St. Mary-on-the-Lake.

Remembrances may be made to the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace Retirement Fund, P.O. Box 248, Bellevue, WA 98009. 

Father John HoranSEATTLE

Father John Horan, a priest of the Archdiocese of Seattle for more than 67 years, died Nov. 24. He was 94. 

Born the second of six children in Duagh, Kilmorna, Ireland, he was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Seattle June 9, 1946, at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Kilkenny.

After serving as an assistant at Church of the Assumption in Bellingham (1947-52) and Holy Rosary in Seattle (1952-53), he served as pastor at St. Barbara in Black Diamond (1953-60), St. Aloysius in Buckley (1960), St. Mary in Marysville (1960-64), St. Pius X in Mountlake Terrace (1964-76), and St. Anne in Seattle (1976-83). He was in residence at St. Monica on Mercer Island from 1985 to 2005.

A funeral Mass was celebrated Dec. 3 at St. Monica Church.

Doreen Hagan ThewlisGRANBURY, TEXAS

Doreen Thewlis, a former resident of Lynnwood, died Nov. 19. She was 89.

Born in Arklow, Ireland, she worked for the Edmonds School District. She enjoyed dancing and knitting hats for newborns at local hospitals.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Matthew Thewlis.

Survivors include her daughters, Carmel Ellis of Granbury, Texas, Patricia Fuller of Kent and Mary Hamilton of Arlington; four grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

She will be interred at Holyrood Cemetery, Shoreline, Jan. 9 at noon.