Divine Mercy Secular Franciscan Fraternity

In Memoriam
 

Gertrude Mary Sinnott Thomas, SFO
1927 - 1997

Gertrude Mary Sinnott Thomas, SFO, of Vero Beach, FL and Bedford Village, NY, died on February 6, 1997 after a long illness.

Trudy was born in Brooklyn, NY, the 11th of 13 children. She was employed at Famous Studios, NY, creating animated films such as Popeye and many others. She was a member of the Screen Cartoonist Guild of America for over 30 years.

For most of her life, Trudy was active in Catholic education in Fairfax, VA. She served on the board of trustees at Bishop Dennis J. O'Connel High School. At St. Patrick's School in Bedford, NY, she served on the Enrichment Council and was awarded a Relic of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, by the Sisters of Charity. For 32 years, Trudy sang Soprano in the choir at St. Ann's, Arlington, VA., St. Patrick, Bedford Village, and, St. Helen in Vero Beach where she took part in a 1993 Pilgrimage of the choir to sing at St. Peter's in Rome. Her passion for music and art led her to restoring and preserving statues. She was a ceramist of skill. Her biggest project was the Franciscan Monastery of the Atonement at Garrison, NY. This assignment required more than four dozen statues, many larger than life-size.

Trudy was a dedicated mother. Her concern for the unborn brought her to serve as "Den Mother-Confidant" at a Catholic Charities home for unwed mothers in Westchester, NY. Trudy's great inspiration came when she served as Eucharistic Minister. She was privileged to bring Holy Communion to shut-ins, people in nursing homes and hospitals.

She was married to her husband of 48 years, George F. Thomas, SFO (below, d. 2007). They had a large family of children and grand-children. A memorial Mass was celebrated on Saturday, February 8th, 1997 at St. Helen Parish in Vero Beach, Florida. A Funeral Mass took place at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Bedford, NY, followed by interment at the Cemetery of St. Francis of Assisi in Mount Kisco, New York.

May the Lord Bless you and keep you.
May He show His face to you and be merciful to you.
May He turn His countenance to you and give you peace.
May the Lord bless you, sister Trudy!

George  F. Thomas, SFO
1930 -2007

George F. Thomas, SFO, 77, died July 25, 2007, at Indian River Medical Center

He was born in Brooklyn, NY and moved to Vero Beach in 1989 from Bedford, NY. Before his retirement, he was the Sales Manager for Readers Digest Publishing Company of New York. He was professed in the Secular Franciscan Order, Divine Mercy Fraternity, Vero Beach, on October 12, 1996. He was also a member of the Knights of Columbus in Virginia, and Toastmasters International (New York)

He is survived by his sons, Richard B. Thomas of Vero Beach, John A. Thomas (Chicago, IL) and George Thomas of Leominster, MA.; brother Mark Thomas, and sister, Maryann Mattaliano, and two grandchildren.

Memorial contributions may be sent to Catholic Charities, 9995 North Military Trail, Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33410.

It is always sad to lose a friend and brother, but George goes way back with us. He really helped Corrine McCarthy, SFO,  in the early days in 1992-1993 with his beloved wife Trudy Thomas, SFO, (see above) in the founding of our Fraternity. May he rest in peace.

The above picture was taken 11/17/2006 and was printed on the Memorial Mass program. Other information was from his Obituary.

In Memoriam
"I will walk in the presence of the Lord in the land of the living."  Ps.116:9

Jean Kurtz, SFO
Professed:  October 4, 1994
Deceased:  November 29, 2000

Jean Kurtz SFO, one of our founding members, passed from this life during the morning hours of November 29, 2000.  During her last brief illness and hospitalization she was surrounded by family, friends and members of the Divine Mercy Secular Franciscan Fraternity.  She received the Sacrament of the Sick from at least three priests who had known her for many years, two of whom ( Fr. Richard LaCorte and Fr. Jim McClain) were in Vero Beach by, what appears to be, a coincidence.

Patricia Jean Kurtz was born May 5, 1935 in Sioux City, Iowa and moved to Vero Beach in 1985 from Anchorage, Alaska. She was a teacher in the Anchorage Borough School District for 22 years. During her tenure there she served as chairman of the English Department of Dimond High School, and taught honors English classes. She took special pleasure in helping students who had fallen behind to improve their reading skills. After moving to Vero Beach, she volunteered as a reading tutor at St. Helen Catholic Church.

Jean's Funeral Mass was celebrated  at 4 pm on Friday, Dec. 1st at St. John of the Cross Church in Vero Beach.  Visitation was at Strunk Funeral Home on Thurs., Nov.30th from 5 to 7 pm.  followed by a Franciscan Wake Service at 7 pm.

Jean was one of the founding members of the fraternity and will be sorely missed. She led a very holy life. This is how she came to know us. One day, in late 1992, Jean walked into St. Helen's Charismatic Prayer Group Meeting on a Thursday evening. At the appropriate time, she went to the microphone, and introduced herself and she asked: "Are there any Franciscans here?" Fred Schaeffer raised his hand, and Jean told him that she wanted to join the SFO, and if he would please help her begin a Fraternity in Vero Beach. Fred had some Capuchin experiences when he was around 20-22, so he answered he would try. It took many phone calls and much letter-writing to come to a determination just what the procedure was to create a new Fraternity. The reason it was so extraordinarily difficult was because the SFO, formerly Third Order of St. Francis, had just begun the "regionalization" process in the USA and no one was particularly sure what to do with an emergent fraternity. But begin we did, and thanks to Jean, Fred, and also Corrine McCarthy (now living in Maine), the Fraternity was begun and in 1996 we received full Canonical Approval and became a member fraternity of Five Franciscan Martyrs Region (Florida and part of Southern Georgia).

Besides her enthusiastic membership in the Secular Franciscan Order, Jean volunteered to lead the Rosary at Alterra Sterling House on a regular basis. She also was instrumental in bringing EWTN on Cable-television in Vero Beach. She is survived by her husband L.S. "Jerry" Kurtz of Anchorage, Alaska, her son, Lloyd S. Kurtz, III of San Francisco, her daughter, Kathryn L. Kurtz of Juneau, Alaska. She also had two sisters, Joan Boyce and Jane Huffman in Vero Beach and related spouses.

Strangely enough, after Jean passed away, the fraternity began to grow, at first slowly, then more came. We think she's praying for us up there, and we have not forgotten you, either. You're our sister in Christ, in Saint Francis, and you are in our hearts. Thank you for everything. We love you.

November 29th is the feast day of All Saints of the Franciscan Orders. Jean is with them now.
 

Mary's Jewelry (by J. Kurtz)
 

Marcella Ann Richard, SFO
Died July 5, 2005, at the age of 79.

Marcella was born at South Bend, Indiana, on February 11, 1926. For a period of 30 years she was a Registered Nurse at the Miami, Florida, VA Medical Center. She lived in Ft. Lauderdale. She moved to Vero Beach in 1999 and joined Divine Mercy Fraternity since then. The fraternity celebrated the 25th Anniversary of her profession in May 2005. Marcella worshipped at St. John of the Cross Church. She has two sisters in Indiana, and close friends in the area. After the Mass of Christian Burial, on July 6, 2005, she will be transferred to the Palmer Funeral Home in West Bend, Indiana, for burial. Marcella has been very ill for a long period of time. Yet, she managed, with the aid of a friend, to visit us at some of our fraternity meetings. We will miss our Sister in St. Francis, Marcella Richard, SFO. She was special to us. Please pray for her. Please thank Jesus for granting her peace.