Ruth Marie Beckman
Funeral Mass for Ruth Marie Beckman, 88, who died December 22, was celebrated Friday, Dec. 29 at Columbus Christ the King Church.
Beckman was the director of the diocese’s Joint Organization of Inner City Needs (J.O.I.N) for more than 34 years before retiring.
She was born on July 21, 1935 in Miamisburg, Ohio to Louis and Aline Wyen. She graduated from Springfield Catholic Central High School and the University of Dayton, which recently honored her with a distinguished alumni award. She married John “Jack Beckman on Aug. 24, 1957.
In addition to her work with J.O.I.N., she was a member of Christ the King, a member of the Knights and Ladies of the Holy Sepulchre and the Serra Club of Downtown Columbus, and active in many parish and outreach organizations to help those in need.
She was preceded in death by her parents; husband; brother, Louise Wyen; sister, Frances Thiele; bother-in-law, William Beckman; and sisters-in-law, Marion Pollack, Virginia Ulliman and Mary Gayle Beckman. She is survived by her sister, Theresa Lauer; brother, Fred Wyen; and her eight children, Jeanette (James) Kuschill, Marjorie (Brad) Luckhart, John Beckman, Mary (Richard) O’Mara, James Beckman, Marilyn (Scott) Wilson, Jacinta Beckman and Bernadette (Patrick) McGurk; 25 grandchildren, 28 great-grandchildren and many nieces and nephews.
Sister John Marie Charniga, OP
Funeral Mass for Sister John Marie Charniga, OP, 88, who died Saturday, Dec. 16, at the Mohun Health Care Center, was celebrated Thursday, Dec. 28 at the Motherhouse of the Dominican Sisters of Peace in Columbus. Burial will be in Oxford, Michigan at the sisters’ Motherhouse there.
She was born Theresa Ann Charniga on June 7, 1935 in Windber, Pennsylvania, to John and Mary Ann (Valovsky) Charniga.
She earned a Bachelor’s degree in education in 1964 and a Master’s degree in religious education in 1981 from Mercy College in Detroit (now the University of Detroit Mercy) and a Master’s degree in education in 1970 from the then-University of Detroit.
She entered the Congregation of St. Rose of Lima in Oxford, Michigan (now the Dominican Sisters of Peace) in 1959 and professed her vows on Aug. 15, 1961.
She served from 1959 to 2010 as a teacher and later a religious educator, primarily in Michigan and also in Wisconsin. She was a driver at the sisters’ Our Lady of the Elms Motherhouse in Akron from 2010 to 2015, then entered a life of prayer and service there before becoming a resident of the Mohun center in 2021.
She was preceded in death by her parents; brothers, John, Joseph, Michael and George, and sisters, Mary Oshanik and Annie Lombardi.
BOYDEN, Elizabeth, 64, Dec. 16
St. Rose of Lima Church, New Lexington
BERRY-SAMBA, De’Andre, 5, Dec. 5
St. Pius X Church, Reynoldsburg
CIACIURA, Patricia, 86, Dec. 15
St. Paul Church, Westerville
COLLINS, Patricia A., 82, Dec. 4
St. Francis of Assisi Church, Columbus
COLOPY, Raymond G. “Jerry,” 84, Dec. 5
St. Bernadette Church, Lancaster
CRUMRINE, Mary Elaine, 94, Dec. 12
St. Francis de Sales Church, Newark
DRUGAN, Dorothy A., 90, Dec. 13
Christ the King Church, Columbus
ELIAS, Jim, 66, Nov. 18
St. Joseph Church, Plain City
FINCK, Peter James, 67, Dec. 10
St. Patrick Church, Junction City
HABOWSKI, Irene A., 86, Nov. 26
St. Paul Church, Westerville
HANKINSON, Linda (Groves), 77, Dec. 15
St. Rose of Lima Church, New Lexington
HARDER, William R., 80, Nov. 22
St. Andrew Church, Columbus
HEIL, David, 72, Nov. 10
Sacred Heart Church, New Philadelphia
HENSEL, Nelson W. “Bill,” 91, Dec. 10
St. Paul Church, Westerville
JANES, Douglas P., of Upper Arlington, 92, Dec. 9
Holy Sepulchre Cemetery Chapel, Rochester, N.Y.
KUNKLER, Barbara Jean, 78, Dec. 4
St. Bernadette Church, Lancaster
LYNCH, Gerald “Jerry,” 80, Dec. 16
St. Joseph Church, Dover
MARA, Shirley A., 91, Dec. 11
Immaculate Conception Church, Columbus
MARIELDA, Nangah A., 71, Dec. 5
St. Pius X Church, Reynoldsburg
MARRYOTT, Linda (Woodard), 77, Dec. 4
St. Agatha Church, Columbus
McCLANAHAN-PEPPER, Sue E. (Herbert), 84, Dec. 12
St. Ann Church, Dresden
MUETZEL, Stephen T., 41, Dec. 1
Basilica of St. Mary of the Assumption, Lancaster
NADER, Joseph Azar, 92, Dec. 16
St. Nicholas Church, Zanesville
RATH, Charles W., 87, Dec. 9
St. Catharine Church, Columbus
ROGERS, Finnley Emmerson, newborn, Dec. 4
St. Francis de Sales Church, Newark
SWALDO, Beatrice, 86, Nov. 23
Sacred Heart Church, New Philadelphia
THORNTON, Susan J. (McDonald), 78, Dec. 19
St. Mary Magdalene Church, Columbus
WEHINGER, Margaret B. (Wirthman), 58, Dec. 11
Our Lady of Victory Church, Columbus
YOUNG, Ronald L., 69, Dec. 9
Holy Spirit Church, Columbus
ZIMMERMAN, Barbara A., 77, Dec. 8
St. Andrew Church, Columbus
