Memorial Donations
in honor of Armida
We mourn the loss of Armida Deck, long-time friend of the Loyola Institute and beloved sister of Fr. Allan Deck, SJ, the founder and first executive director of LIS.
Armida died on April 9, 2015, as a result of injuries sustained in an automobile accident on Easter Sunday afternoon. We ask you to thank God for her long life of dedicated service to the Church, especially in a wide range of ministries to the Hispanic communities of Southern California, and to pray for her eternal reward.
In lieu of flowers for her funeral, the family has asked that donations be made to the Loyola Institute for Spirituality. All donations received will be used to provide scholarships for persons enrolled in our Hispanic ministry programs.
If you would like to make a donation in honor of Armida, in any amount, please click the "Donate" button here:
You can also mail a check (made out to "L.I.S.") to our office (address below). Please indicate that your donation is in remembrance of Armida Deck.
Thank you for your kindness and generosity, and please continue to remember Armida and her family in your prayers.
Memorial Donations Received (as of 5/1/15):
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Sr. Veronica Mendez, RCD
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S. M. Murrieta
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Mrs. Olga A. Wong
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Monarch Home Sales (Elizabeth Alex, Owner)
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Santiago Creek Orange, HOA (Phyllis Lopez, Treasurer)
In Loving Memory
Armida Deck
(October 13, 1940 – April 9, 2015)
Armida Deck was born in Los Angeles and attended St. Vincent de Paul Grammar School where she first met the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet. After graduating from St. Mary’s Academy in 1958 she entered the same congregation where she served for thirty-eight years. She left the congregation in the 1990s to care for her aging aunt and mother. A few months before her death she had initiated a process to return to the Sisters of St. Joseph, but God had something else in mind.
She held an undergraduate degree from Mt. St. Mary’s University and graduate degrees in Spanish and Latin American Literature from UCLA and from St. Louis University where she attained candidacy for the Ph.D.
Armida was an educator and pastoral agent of extraordinary energy and scope. She taught grammar school and high school as a young sister and went on to become Principal of St. Mary’s Academy in Los Angeles and served also as an assistant superintendent of schools for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. From 1978 until her death she served in the Diocese of Orange in various capacities. She was Director of Catechesis for Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish (Delhi) in Santa Ana, at that time a parish entrusted to the Jesuits. Later she served as Director of Hispanic Ministry for the Orange Diocese. For five years she served as Hispanic outreach director for the Columban Missionary Society which took her often to Omaha, Nebraska. For several years Armida administered and taught in the Certificate Program in Pastoral Studies in Spanish of Loyola Marymount University which serves the (arch)dioceses of Los Angeles, Orange, and San Bernardino.
Always concerned for the pastoral care and education of Latinos, she founded a Nativity Middle School for a short time in Santa Ana, but this effort failed due to lack of funding. This was one of the greatest disappointments of her life.
Armida was active in the National Catholic Council for Hispanic Ministry and served on its board of directors for several years. She was a great supporter of Jesuit works, especially the Loyola Institute for Spirituality from its founding in Orange in 1997. In recent years Armida sold mobile homes and worked several years at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery where she facilitated funeral arrangements for grieving families.
In all that she did Armida demonstrated extraordinary levels of energy and commitment, while always delighting people with her unfailing sense of humor.