Back to Exponent Menu Printer Friendly Page   Friday, March 21, 2008 March 21 Deaths Father Francis S. Snock, 85 A Mass of Christian Burial was offered March 17 at St. Matthias Church for Father Francis S. Snock, 85, who died March 13 at the Regina Health Care Center, Richfield, Ohio. Father Snock was the pastor emeritus of St. Matthias Parish, Youngstown. Father Snock was born Nov. 11, 1922, in Clarksville, Pa,. a son of John and Anna (Jurisin) Snock. He attended St. Mary School, Brownsville, Pa., and Brownsville High School before attending the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus. He was ordained on June 3, 1950, by Archbishop Amleto G. Cicognani, Apostolic Delegate to the United States. Father Snock served as associate pastor at Warren St. James Parish, (1950-51) and Youngstown St. Matthias (1951-65) before being named pastor of Kingsville St. Andrew (1965-66) and Mantua St. Joseph (1967-74). He was named pastor of St. Matthias in 1974 and served there until his retirement on July 1, 1994. He also served as a religion teacher at Ursuline High School; the Ashtabula deanery director of the lay volunteer program; chaplain for the Ashtabula and Mantua Knights of Columbus; moderator for the Portage County Council of Catholic Women; and the bishop’s representative on the board for the Catholic Service League, Mahoning County. Father Snock leaves two brothers, Mike and Steve, and a sister, Mary Kriska. Sister Rita Ferry, H.M., 70 A Mass of Christian Burial was offered March 15 at the Villa Maria Chapel, Villa Maria, Pa., for Humility of Mary Sister Rita Ferry, formerly Sister M. Maurice, 70, who died March 11 at St. Angela Center in Pepper Pike, Ohio. Sister Rita was born Feb. 25, 1938, in Masury, a daughter of Michael and Mary Agnes (Mittal) Ferry. She graduated from Villa Maria High School in 1956, and then from St. John College, Cleveland, in 1967 with a bachelor’s in Education. Sister Rita received an M.Ed. (1972) from Kent State University; and an M.A. in Counseling and Human Services (1991) and an L.P.C.C. (1995) from John Carroll University, Cleveland. She entered the Sisters of the Humility of Mary on Jan. 13, 1957, from St. Bernadette Parish. Sister Rita professed her First Vows on July 17, 1959, and her Final Vows on July 17, 1964. She celebrated her golden jubilee in May 2007. Sister Rita dedicated 42 years to ministry in education and counseling in the Youngstown and Cleveland dioceses. Ten of those years were spent in the Youngstown diocese as a teacher at Ashtabula Our Lady of Mount Carmel School (1964-65), a teacher at Kent St. Patrick (1968-73) and an Educational Media Specialist at Kent St. Patrick (1973-77). She was preceded in death by her parents and two sisters, Agnes Mijavec and Maryanne Fornadel. Sister Rita leaves two brothers, Richard Ferry of Springfield, Ohio, and Vincent Ferry of Fairborn, Ohio; 15 nieces; and 19 grandnieces and grandnephews. Sister Virginia McDermott, OSU, 92 A Mass of Christian Burial was offered March 18 at the Ursuline Motherhouse, Canfield, for Ursuline Sister Virginia McDermott, 92, who died March 16 at Hospice House, Youngstown, after a short illness. Sister Virginia was born Genevieve McDermott in Youngstown on Nov. 14, 1915, a daughter of James and Anna Wallace McDermott. After graduating from Ursuline High School in 1933, she entered the Ursuline Sisters of Youngstown on Dec. 8, 1933, and professed final vows on Aug. 25, 1939. Sister Virginia earned a Bachelor of Science in Education from St. John College, Cleveland, in 1948 and a Master of Arts in English in 1957 from The Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C. In her 55 years of active ministry, Sister Virginia taught at St. Rose School in Girard and Immaculate Conception in Youngstown and served on the faculty of Ursuline High School, Youngstown, for 23 years. She also worked at St. Thomas Hospital, Akron, for four years and later in home health care. Sister Virginia served the Ursuline Sisters of Youngstown in several different capacities – as Director of Junior Professed Sisters from 1954 to 1966; as a member of the Leadership Team of the Ursuline Sisters from 1966 to 1976 (two terms); and as a minister of prayer, praying for the needs of the Church and the world. In particular, she corresponded with and visited several individuals in prison, inspiring a sense of hope and purpose in their lives. She was preceded in death by her parents; three brothers, Robert, William and Joseph McDermott; and by two sisters, Margaret Varley and Jenny McDermott. Sister Virginia leaves her sisters Beatrice McCarren of Bridgeville, Pa., and Betty Stewart of Culpepper, Va.; and several nieces and nephews. She was buried March 19 at Calvary Cemetery. Bonnie J. Erickson, 61 A funeral was held March 10 at the Holeton-Yuhasz Funeral Home in Niles for Bonnie J. Erickson, 61, who died March 6 at her home. Mrs. Erickson was born in Niles on Jan. 7, 1947, a daughter of William M. and Jean A. (Shelar) Holme. She was a 1964 graduate of Niles McKinley High School and graduated in 1968 from Kent State University with a Bachelor of Science in Education. She retired in 2006 after 15 years of teaching fifth grade at St. Stephen School. She previously had taught fifth and sixth grades at the Our Lady of Mt. Carmel School, Niles. She coached for the Academic Bowl and Destination Imagination at both schools. She was a member of St. Stephen Parish and she was active with its Relay for Life Team (for cancer research). She was preceded in death by her father, William M. Holmes; and a niece, Lauren Cervone. Mrs. Erickson is survived by her husband, Harold E. Erickson Jr., whom she married on June 8, 1968; her mother, of Niles; her daughter, Stacy Rising of Wooster, Ohio; two sons, Scott Erickson of Morgantown, W.Va. and Phillip Erickson of Cortland; six grandchildren; and three sisters, Peggy Kreidler of Niles, Joyce Holmes of California, and Cynthia Cervone of Niles.   Back to Exponent Menu Printer Friendly Page   Other Articles of 2008   Please visit the Catholic Exponent new Web site: www.cathexpo.org   September 26 Deaths   August 8 Deaths   July 25 Deaths   July 11 Deaths   June 27 Deaths   June 13 Deaths   May 30 Deaths   May 16 Deaths   May 2 Deaths   April 21 Deaths   April 4 Deaths   March 21 Deaths   February 8 Deaths   January 25 Deaths   January 11 Deaths   Past Articles From 2007