Submitted by: Mary Jo Koran
SBT
Angela M. Danch
SOUTH BEND — Angela M. Danch, 92, of Countryside Place
Nursing Home and
Angela Mary Danch
Sept. 21, 1910 - Jan. 2, 2003
Angela Mary Danch, 92, beloved wife
of Elmer J. Danch of South Marine Street, South Bend, Ind.,
passed away at 1:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 2, in the Countryside
Place Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, Mishawaka, Ind. She had
suffered a massive stroke on Sunday, Dec. 15, prior to attending
an 11 a.m. Mass at St. Matthew's Cathedral. Born in Goshen, Ind.,
on Sept. 21, 1910, she and her family moved to South Bend when
she was eight and resided on North Lafayette Boulevard, south of
Leeper Park, where she grew up and won the city women's tennis
championship in 1931. Her parents were Michael Hertel and
Mary Rosing. Mr. Hertel lost his life in a railroad
accident. Mrs. Hertel later married John Wortinger, who
also assumed the responsibility of her 11 children.
While a student at St. Joseph's Academy, she
was honored for her academic achievements, was also a member of
the girls basketball team, and was selected as the school's May
Queen for 1928. At a recent reunion of the four area Catholic
high schools, she was introduced as one of the living members of
the 1928 graduating class. As an outstanding Catholic laywoman,
she received high praise from the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South
Bend for volunteer activities, especially 33 years of teaching
Confraternity of Christian Doctrine classes St. Matthew's
Cathedral; for 25 years of service in helping organize volunteers
for the Faith-Hope-Charity Chapel in downtown South Bend; and
assisting at the Sunday televised Masses at WNDU-TV. During her
distinguished 53 years as a parishioner of St. Matthew Cathedral,
she was honored by the Catholic Committee of Scouting with the
prestigious Marian Medal for training more than 100 Cub Scouts in
their goal of the Parvui Dei medal; served on the parish council;
was among the first to serve as a Eucharistic Lay Minister;
assisted the mentally handicapped; and helped organize the St.
Matthew Harvest House program for seniors which was the second of
its kind in the city.
Her early efforts in teaching the mentally
handicapped eventually led parents to establish Corvilla, a
permanent home for the mentally handicapped. With a few other
women, she helped establish the Ladies of the Knights of Columbus
and was one of its original charter members. Prior to that she
played a leading role in degree ceremonials for the Notre Dame
Circle of the Daughters of Isabella, at the time a women's
counterpart to the Knights. Known by her peers as a
"gentle woman" whose outreach touched many lives, she
spent World War II as a member of St. Joseph's Hospital volunteer
Nurse's Aid Corps. She continued her volunteerism working among
minority groups in helping establish a congregation for St.
Augustine parish on West Washington Street, and later as a key
committee member in planning the first fund-raising drive for the
establishment of St. Joseph's High School.
An avid sports enthusiast since her brother
Raymond was a Rockne student athlete at the University of Notre
Dame, her home was a fathering place for Notre Dame football
players of the early thirties, and it was a rare occasion she
missed a home football game. She was among the first women to
become charter members of the former Notre Dame Quarterback Club
and the Three Point Basketball Club. Her enthusiasm for the Irish
took her to Tokyo and Hawaii for Irish bowl games.
Preceding Mrs. Danch in death were five
sisters, three of whom were Sisters of the Holy Cross, Sister
Ivan Hertel, CSC, Sister John Michael Hertel, CSC, Sister Claire
Marie Hertel, CSC, Helen Irish and Hildegarde Hertel,
and four brothers, Rev. Louis Hertel, Paul, Walter and
Raymond Hertel.
She is survived by her husband, with whom
she celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary on Sunday, Sept. 1,
2002, at St. Matthew's Cathedral; two sons, Michael John Danch,
an Assistant Athletic Director at the University of Notre Dame,
and David Anthony Danch; a daughter, Mary Theresa Sparks;
eight grandchildren, Thomas and Mary Angela Sparks, Laura Weaver,
Lisa Brammer, Elizabeth Cloud, Sara Martinez,
Ellen Emery and Stephen Danch; 14 great-grandchildren;
many nieces and nephews; and by a brother, Norbert Hertel.
A memorial Mass in her honor will be at 11
a.m. Thursday and, as a strong supporter of Catholic education,
memorial contributions may be made to the Bishop Joseph R.
Crowley Education Fund at St. Matthew Cathedral.