Jesuit Father George V. Coyne, a Baltimore native who led the Vatican Observatory as its director for 28 years, got his start in the field of astronomy as a young student in formation for the priesthood by secretly studying under his blanket, flashlight in hand.

A funeral Mass for Mercy Sister Annella Martin will be offered at 10 a.m. on Feb. 15 in McAuley Chapel at Mercy Medical Center. Sister Annella died Feb. 6. She was 90 and had served at Mercy Medical Center for nearly 50 years.

Monsignor Lloyd E. Aiken, who spent most of his priesthood at Sacred Heart in Glyndon, the parish of his youth, died at Stella Maris Hospice Feb. 5, a year to the day after informing the people he served that he had been diagnosed with stomach cancer.

Mary Higgins Clark, known as the “queen of suspense” to her millions of readers throughout the world, died of natural causes in Naples, Florida, Jan. 31. She was 92.

Father Paul Holthaus, a native of South Baltimore who served eight parishes in the Archdiocese of Baltimore during his nearly five decades as a priest, died Jan. 26.

Wootten led his teams to national prominence while teaching his players to prioritize God, family, school and basketball in that order.

Arthur E. P. “Ed” Wall, a former editor of the Catholic Review from 1965 to 1971 who would later become director and editor-in-chief of what is now Catholic News Service, died Jan. 18 in Orland Park, Ill. He was 94.

A longtime parishioner of St. Bernardine Church in West Baltimore died Jan. 18 after being shot earlier this month outside her apartment complex, apparently caught in the crossfire as she smoked a cigarette.

A funeral Mass will be offered Jan. 15 for Franciscan Sister James Frances McGlashen at Assisi House in Aston, Pa.

The priest, a son of Highlandtown, died Dec. 20 at age 92 after a fulfilling ministry that included serving the rural poor, soldiers in battle and professional athletes.