International Marianist Family
Familia Internacional Marianista
Famille Internationale Marianiste

Portal for the Members of the SM

Number

Name

Date of Death SM Unit
2004-37 Father Angelo Carriero December 29, 2004 Italy
2004-36 Brother Donald Hebeler December 27, 2004 USA
2004-35 Father François-Joseph Pralong December 8, 2004 Switzerland/Togo
2004-34 Father John Donald Mulligan December 5, 2004 USA
2004-33 Brother Maurice Brissinger November 18, 2004 France
2004-32 Father José Antonio Fernández Zubigaray November 7, 2004 Madrid
2004-31 Brother Mauro Curiel Acero November 6, 2004 Zaragoza
2004-30 Brother Paul Boeckerman October 22, 2004 USA
2004-29 Brother Karl Buchinger October 22, 2004 Austria/Germany
2004-28 Father Serge Gaetan Hospital October 18, 2004 France
2004-27 Brother John J. Jansen October 9, 2004 USA
2004-26 Brother Joseph Becker September 24, 2004 USA
2004-25 Father John Kelley September 20, 2004 USA
2004-24 Brother Melquíades González Brizuela September 18, 2004 Madrid
2004-23 Brother Antoine Herrmann August 29, 2004 France
2004-22 Brother Raymond Dotzler August 23, 2004 USA
2004-21 Father John F. Mueller August 20, 2004 USA
2004-20 Brother Julián Martínez Albaina August 7, 2004 Madrid
2004-19 Brother Éloi Boule July 25, 2004 France
2004-18 Brother George H. Dury June 17, 2004 USA
2004-17 Brother Pierre Cattin May 26, 2004 Switzerland/Togo
2004-16 Father José Miguel Cañabate April 29 2004 Chile
2004-15 Brother Tomás Sánchez Alvarado April 24, 2004 Zaragoza
2004-14 Brother Agustín Alonso Martínez de Abroja April 17, 2004 Madrid
2004-13 Brother John Sullivan April 16, 2004 USA/Ireland
2004-12 Father Ichiro Paul Miki Hasegawa April 8, 2004 Japan/Brazil
2004-11 Brother Vicente Apaolaza March 15, 2004 Madrid
2004-10 Brother Josef Gossenreiter March 13, 2004 Austria/Germany
2004-09 Brother Albert Joseph Sutkus February 8, 2004 USA
2004-08 Brother Mulendu Anaclet Nakahosa February 8, 2004 Congo/Ivory Coast
2004-07 Brother John T. Kurz January 27, 2004 USA
2004-06 Brother John Sheehy January 25, 2004 USA
2004-05 Brother Daniel Lasagabáster Arratíbel January 21, 2004 Zaragoza
2004-04 Brother Jost Schranz January 16, 2004 Switzerland/Togo
2004-03 Brother Iwamatsu Simon Hikazudani January 8, 2004 Japan
2004-02 Brother Edward Kiefer January 7, 2004 USA
2004-01 Brother Pedro-María Gongueta Urizarbarrena January 4, 2004 Zaragoza

2004-37

The Province of Italy recommends to our fraternal prayers our dear Brother, ANGELO CARRIERO, priest, who died in the service of the Blessed Virgin Mary on December 29, 2004, at Rome, in the 81st year of his age and the 65th of his religious profession.

Angelo Carriero was born at Riccia (Campobasso) on October 19, 1924. In 1936, he finished elementary school in his home town and then entered the Postulate at Pallanza. He began his Novitiate at Pallanza on October 20, 1939. The next year, at 16, he made his first profession on November 3, 1940. He made his perpetual profession at Pallanza on August 5, 1947, the Marian feast of Our Lady of Snows (Madonna della Neve), which commemorates the dedication of the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome. He spent the first years of religious life at Pallanza (1942 and following) during World War II. He knew the suffering linked to a period of captivity. Then he spent his life in the communities of Pallanza and Giove in Brusasco from 1952 to 1954; in Campobasso from 1954 to 1958 at the House of Orphans of War; in Rome from 1958 to 1962 at the Marianist parish, the Holy Name of Mary; and again in Campobasso from 1962 to 1974 at the Marianist parish, Mater Ecclesiae. In 1974, he began his missionary life in French Congo; from 1975 to 1979 he lived in Ivory Coast at Abidjan; from 1979 to 1990 in Ecuador at the mission of the Province of Italy in Latacunga with the parish, “Once de Noviembre, La Vitoria”. When he returned to Italy, he stayed from 1990 to 1995 in Milan at the formation house to attend theological studies that ended in his priestly ordination on April 1, 1995, at Campobasso at the age of 70. He realized a wish he had since he had choosen religious life. We can summarize the characteristics of our brother through the approach of his life: a great love of the poor, the neglected, the leprous, those who are not important in the eyes of many. To serve the poor with Mary to that extent, he added the name Maria to his name. He used to say, “The sick and the old are my favorite.” Fr. Angelo was able to infuse his friends with the missionary spirit everywhere in the world; he was able to realize, through his circular letters, a spiritual and affective link that made them feel missionary and as part of a whole family. We would like to remember the depth of his spirituality in a talk he made with Jesus: “Jesus, I thank you for your rich favours. I thank you for having introduced your Mother to me: I love her so much. Do you know, perhaps more than you! But she is happy and so all three of us are happy. And then, Jesus, I’m asking you with all my heart to please forgive me for all the evil I have done, and I did a lot!…And I make the intention of improving. I promise it to you always, with your holy help. Please bless me! I promise to lead a life suitable to you until the day we will meet in your Holy Kingdom. Amen!” Now Father Angelo has arrived in his Father’s home, in communion with Jesus and Mary, and will not forget us. His prayer of intercession will help all of us to realize our own vocation by answering God with loving generosity.

2004-36

The Province of the United States of America recommends to our fraternal prayers our dear Brother, DONALD HEBELER, who died in the service of the Blessed Virgin Mary on December 27, 2004, in Dayton, Ohio, in the 81st year of his age and the 52nd year of his religious profession.

Donald J. Hebeler was born on May 11, 1924, to John and Mathilda Wirth Hebeler in Amsterdam, New York. The family moved to his mother’s ancestral home near Cincinnati in Mt. Healthy, Ohio, where Brother Donald grew up with his brothers, Kenneth and Frank, and his sisters, Jacqueline, Marjorie and June. He attended Assumption Grade School and Mt. Healthy High School. Following a call to religious life that began during his college years, Brother Donald entered the novitiate in Marcy, New York. He professed his first vows on April 5, 1953, in Marcy and his perpetual vows on August 15, 1956, in Dayton.

Before entering the Society of Mary, Brother Donald served as a stenographer during World War II. He was drafted on January 27, 1943, and assigned to the Army Air Transport Command, a branch of the U.S. Army Air Corps. Stationed in Army air bases in Africa and Iran, he attained the rank of sergeant and was awarded a Good Conduct Medal and a World War II Victory Medal for his service.  Following his tour of duty, Brother Donald graduated from Xavier University in Cincinnati in 1949 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration; he then worked as a junior accountant at the Gruen Watch Company in Cincinnati. In 1957, he received a master’s degree in accounting from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

A gentle, soft-spoken, orderly man, Brother Donald’s accounting, secretarial and meticulous organizational skills were at the heart of his Marianist ministries. He served as an assistant to the comptroller at the University of Dayton; a secretary for the General Administration in Rome, Italy; a secretary for the former Marianist Provincialate in Dayton and both an administrative assistant to the dean and academic advisor for the School of Business Administration at the University of Dayton. Brother Donald also was a secretary for Marianist international meetings in Pallanza, Italy; LaParra, Spain; San Antonio, Texas, and Fribourg Switzerland.

His profound interest in American Marianist history and facility with the French and Italian languages made him an excellent research assistant and archivist for various projects in Dayton, Rome and Nairobi, Kenya. He also was the organist and business manager for the Marianist Alumni Hall community in Dayton and served Marianist brothers at The Franciscan at St. Leonard Center in Centerville, Ohio.

“Brother Donald was responsible for filling out the mosaic of Marianist history,” said Father Paul Vieson. “He was very detail oriented, always picking up and following through on little things and specific pieces of information. He did everything quietly, efficiently and well.” Brother John Lucier said Brother Donald didn’t have an enemy in the world. “He was kind, patient, understanding and faithful – a very good Marianist.” “He always had a welcoming smile and an unassuming manner,” added Brother William Callahan. “He will be greatly missed.”

Brother Donald was hospitalized with internal bleeding and died of cardiac arrest. May he rest in peace.

2004-35

The Region of Switzerland and its Sector Togo recommend to our fraternal prayers our dear Brother, FRANÇOISJOSEPH PRALONG, priest, who died in the service of the Blessed Virgin Mary on December 8, 2004, at Sion, Switzerland, in the 83rd year of his age and the 66th of his religious profession.

François Pralong was born at Chermignon (Valais), on May 19, 1922. He was the oldest of a family of nine children. At the age of 14, he entered the postulate at Martigny. At 16, François began his novitiate in Belgium, at St-Remy-Signeulx. One year later, on September 12, 1939, he consecrated himself to God in the Society of Mary. On August 4, 1945, the young brother gave himself forever to God and made alliance with Mary. Before entering the Seminary Regina Mundi in Fribourg (1948), young François Pralong pursued his secondary studies in Belgium and in Fribourg, and taught for five years at the industrial school in Sion.

Ordained a priest on July 12, 1953, Father François returned to Sion a year later to teach in the primary school and in the normal school for elementary-school teachers. From 1976 to 1982, Fr. Pralong was responsible for the community in Martigny and taught religion in the Orientation Cycle. Then, his superiors asked him to return to the community in Sion where he continued teaching religion and rendered numerous services to his brothers (director of the Chaminade community from 1987 to 1996), even while suffering from Parkinson’s disease. At the beginning of November 2002, Father Pralong was hastening to join the members of the Legion of Mary assembled at Chaminade, missed a step and fell head first against the wall of the stairwell. He was hospitalized, then taken to Maison St-François.

His zeal urged him to take part in many church activities. During the 60’s, Fr. Pralong was the instigator of the pilgrimage made by many young people of the normal schools in Sion to the statue of Christ the King at Lens. He was active in the Legion of Mary and organized sessions for young “legionaries” from French-speaking Switzerland at the Marianist chalet in Planchouet. He also participated in Synod 72 in the diocese of Sion and the diocesan pastoral council. Deeply engaged in liturgy, he animated numerous Masses and was not afraid to put religious words to profane songs or to add verses to religious songs. He was also always looking for new melodies in order to vary the different celebrations and animate them with his guitar. Each year, he loved to spend his vacation with his relatives at the “Mayen”, the family chalet.

The last wishes of Fr. François Pralong are a praise for the gifts the Lord gave him, the help received from his fellow brothers, his directors and his superiors, the priests who shared the sacerdotal ministry with him, the members of the Legion of Mary and his family. The two songs he wished for his burial reveal his Marian soul and his constant search for God: Toi Notre-Dame, nous te chantons, toi notre Mère, nous te prions (You Our Lady, we sing to you; you our Mother, we pray to you) et Trouver dans ma vie Ta presence (To find your presence in my life).

His return to the house of the Father on the feast of the Immaculate Conception is a celebration of life, eternal life, which he entered in the company of Mary. In fact, on a paper Fr. Pralong left on his bed, we can read the title of a song that he wanted to compose: Vive la vie! (Long live life!)

2004-34

The Province of the United States of America recommends to our fraternal prayers our dear Brother, John D. Mulligan, priest, who died in the service of the Blessed Virgin Mary on December 5, 2004, in Dayton, Ohio, in the 76th year of his age and the 58th year of his religious profession. John Donald Mulligan was born on June 25, 1929, in Cleveland, Ohio, to Patrick and Elsie Dunn Mulligan.  He grew up in the city with his sister, Dorothy, and brothers, Thomas, Robert, Eugene, Patrick, and William. He attended St. Anne’s School and Cathedral Latin High School in Cleveland. Following a call to religious life he said was strong his entire life, Father John professed his first vows on August 17, 1947, in Beacon, N.Y., and his perpetual vows on August 17, 1951. He was ordained to the priesthood on July 14, 1957. Father John earned a bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Dayton in 1950 and a master’s degree in religious education from The Catholic University of America in 1963. He also received a Certificate of Theological Studies from the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley in California in 1978. Father John spent more than 20 years in Dayton ministries. He was spiritual director of the Marianist Scholasticate, a theology instructor at the University of Dayton, editor of Mary Today magazine and both director and spiritual director of the Marianist Mission. As an instructor, administrator, counselor and preacher, Father John’s ministries took him across the country and to Europe and Puerto Rico. He served as a teacher at North Catholic High School in Pittsburgh, Pa.; a teacher at Colegio Ponceño in Ponce, Puerto Rico; assistant director of novices in Utica, N.Y.; director of novices in Charlottesville, Virginia.; spiritual director of the Marianist seminary in Fribourg, Switzerland; rector of the Marianist seminary in St. Louis, Missouri; provincial of the former Marianist Province of New York; director of the Institute of Spirituality and Worship at the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley and both assistant pastor and pastor of St. Joseph’s parish in Sykesville, Maryland. Fellow brothers said Father John was an outgoing, warm, compassionate man who loved to tell jokes, travel and play Scrabble on the Internet. “He always began his homilies with a joke or two,” said Marianist Father Patrick Tonry. “Father John had a marvelous ability to accept people as they are and a genuine sense of caring and faith. I used to kid him that he must have been ordained with motor oil because he loved to travel so much.” “He took groups of people on pilgrimages to special places of devotion in Europe and the Holy Land,” said Marianist Father Richard Knuge. “The trips were extremely well organized and managed. Father John always was considerate of people’s needs.” “I’ll miss his giving personality and sense of humor,” said Marianist Brother Donald Winfree. “Father John was such an engaging person. He bonded with others so easily. My friends became his friends.” “Father John was a man who maintained strong faith despite personal trial,” added Father John McGrath. “He was gentle, intelligent and articulate.” Father John died of heart and respiratory complications. May he rest in peace.

2004-33

The Province of France recommends to our fraternal prayers our dear Brother, MAURICE BRISSINGER, who died in the service of the Blessed Virgin Mary on November 18, 2004, in Mittelwihr (Alsace), in the 74th year of his age and the 57th year of his religious profession.

Maurice Brissinger was born on January 31, 1931 at La Bresse (Vosges). He made his first vows on September 12, 1948 at Antony and his perpetual vows on Decembr 9, 1957 at Saint-Dié.

To summarize the life of Maurice Brissinger in a few lines would border on the magical for this Brother presents such special riches and original qualities. To be born in the Vosges and at La Bresse, the cradle of a number of Marianists, is a trump card to begin with. The Brothers of Mary have their title of nobility in this mountain fortress, from which have come religious of remarkable virtue and professionalism.

 Maurice joins very young. At 17, after his novitiate, he desires to be a working Brother, a cabinet-maker. His initiation takes place at Antony and Gy before his military service in West Germany in 1954. His period of formation is short. He becomes interested in the Boy Scouts of Bigou (Bro. Brunold). He is in a hurry to get to work. Saint-Dié welcomes him as prefect and treasurer from 1957 to 1969. From that time on, he gives his full measure. Maurice feels called to found a house where anyone can come, from any country with no distinction of religion. All kinds of languages must get along there. Maurice knows how to welcome on a large scale. He is a driver. The “dynamic of the temporary” is one of his slogans. He has faith in Providence. He puts his all into the realization of his plan. He has a gift for getting people interested and finding people to help in his building projects. During those projects, the people build, they animate social gatherings in the evenings, they sing with the participation of a few professionals who are often his friends. He also interests a few bishops in supporting his work. The Vic is a group of buildings erected through the years by volunteers and with memorable names. Maurice is very careful to welcome everyone. Each one contributes what he can. Providence will provide! He recuperates furniture, tools and building materials, which he recycles.

 Maurice reigns over this entire domain for more than thirty years. He has a charism for animating and for getting volunteers. He gathers devoted experts around himself. Little by little, the capacity of the place grows… Security problems are noticed. Then the Friends of the Vic come to his help and get organized to take up the challenge of the security, of making the environment better, and of gaining respect for the right to work. Far from running out of steam, the work continues its course. In 2000, at the request of his Superiors, Maurice is obliged to relinquish the direction of his work, but not without difficulty.

 Maurice is the founder of the Vic. He will be remembered for his care to receive everyone, especially, the poorest people, the handicapped and the “marginalized” of every kind. At the Vic, they listen, accompany, dialogue, sing, pray, and work pro Deo free of charge.. Dishwashing sessions, fireside talks, evening parties, walks in the forest, camping trips throughout Europe, and even a work session in Ivory Coast… nothing stops the founder. Maurice is known from Penn-ar-Bed to Vladivostock. His beautiful beard of varying dimensions is his well-known identification.

 A jovial character, a tenor voice, an unlimited gift of himself, a lasting stubbornness, good health, a spirit of faith, a will for independence, a sense of the Church and of the Marianist Family, care to surround himself with people of conviction… these are so many facets of his personality. His family, his brother Pierre and his congregation always support him in spite of a few differences about the future of the work. A devoted, vigilant governing board has guided the project. The tragic end of Maurice, run over by an automobile, is like his life. Go ahead… confidently, but forgetting some of the rules of prudence.

2004-32

The Province of Madrid recommends to our fraternal prayers our dear Brother, JOSÉ ANTONIO FERNáNDEZ ZUBIGARAY, priest, who died in the service of the Blessed Virgin Mary on November 7, 2004, in Madrid, Spain, in the 82nd year of his age and the 64th year of his religious profession.

José Antonio Fernández Zubigaray was born August 26, 1923, in Vitoria (Alava). He was the last of six children. He was confirmed on June 21, 1924, He began his initial studies at Colegio Santa María in his native city where his contact with the Marianist religious inspired his religious vocation. He made his novitiate in Elorrio and professed his first vows on November 25, 1939. Six years later, on Augst 15, 1945 he made his definitive commitment to God and the Society of Mary.

After finishing the scholasticate in Segovia and Carabanchel Alto, he began his mission in education with the students of the First Grade in the schools of Madrid and Zaragoza. After some years in the seminary he was ordained a priest in Fribourg on July 23, 1950.

As a priest he continued working as a teacher and chaplain in the schools in Madrid and Cádiz. For two years he traveled to Spanish villages interviewing future postulants and their families. After a renewal period in Rome he began a period of six years as the Director and superior of a house of prayer which had just opened in La Parra (Avila) in the building which a few years before had been the novitiate. From 1982 to 1997 he returned to Cádiz where he did pastoral work in the Oratory of St. Philip Neri and the Gateway to the Sea hospital, the most important health center in the city. When he was 75 he reitred to the community of the Pillar school in Madred and four years later he was moved to the Province infirmary where he died on the morning of Sunday the 7th. A severe blood infection terminated an organism already weak from so many years of illness.

Father José Antonio was a dynamic person, whole-heartedly doing his work with an enor-mous desire to do good with all his capabilities, very conscious of his role as a religious and priest, completely dedicated to his ministry. He was a forceful and persuasive preach- er and spoke freely. We remember the Provincial Chapters held in La Parra. He always presided at one of the Eucharists and in his homily told us: you are not the best, nor the smartest, nor the most handsome; and then he would encourage us to continue serving the Province. José Antonio deeply loved the Church, the Society of Mary and every Marian- ist. This love is what enabled him to give himself fully to the mission.

His great dynamism made it difficult for him to accept his limitations and value opinions different from his own. Sometimes his forcefulness in preaching was seen by others as a desire to impose rather than propose the truth he was speaking.

Now is the time to recall his admirable gifts, to determine to imitate him and give thanks to God for a life so dedicated to the mission of announcing the gospel. His defects, com-mented on with the same freedom he showed when he spoke, are not important now. We know that the love of the Father is above all of his limitations.

Many persons in his family of Marianist religious and especially those he started on the road to the postuate in the city of Cádiz remember and admire him. Our prayer is one of thanksgiving for his life, and a petition to the Father to help us imitate his missionary zeal and dedication to the work.

2004-31

The Province of Zaragoza recommends to our fraternal prayers our dear Brother, MAURO CURIEL ACERO, who died in the service of the Blessed Virgin Mary on November 6, 2004, in Barcelona, Spain, in the 80th year of his age and the 63rd year of his religious profession.

Mauro Curiel Acero was born on January 15, 1925 in Villanueva de Puerta (Burgos), the son of Lorenzo and Agustina. On September 30, 1938 he went to the Postulate in Escoriaza. He began his novitiate in Elorrio (Vizcaya) on September 11, 1941 and made his first profession in the same place on September 12, 1942. After his profession he went to Segovia to begin his studies in the scholasticate, and then went to Carabanchel Alto (Madrid) where he continued as a scholastic during 1943 and 1944. The chronology of his life can be summed up in the following way: – in 1945 and 1946 he was at Our Lady of the Pillar school in Madrid; – in 1947 he enrolled to fulfill his military service and was sent to Tetuán, Africa; – from 1949 to 1952 he was at Santa María school in Vitoria; During that time, on August 15, 1948 he made his perpetual profession in Escoriaza; – in 1952 he taught at different places in the French Congo; – in September of 1953 he was changed to Santa María in Vitoria where he stayed until 1957; – from 1957 to 1965 he was at Santa María Catholic School in San Sebastián; – in 1965 he moved to Madrid to work in the bookstore of the S.M. Press and was there until 1969; – from 1969 to 1975 he was stationed at Our Lady of the Pillar school in Logroño; – he spent the years 1975 to 1977 studying in Fribourg, Switzerland; – after leaving Fribourg he was at the publishing house in Madrid until 1978; – from that year to 1982 he helped out at the Novitiate in Zaragoza; – in 1982 he went to the parish of St. Christopher in Barcelona where he remained until he died in the service of the Blessed Virgin on November 6, 2004. Mauro was a man with a great interest in culture and a tireless worker. One of his out-standing characteristics was the gratitude he felt toward everyone around him. He sought out personal relationships and gave himself to everything with his whole heart. In the parish of St. Christopher he worked principally at animating the liturgy, especially with the singing. From the time he learned of the cancer which caused his death, he lived his illness with a real spirit of faith and was constantly thanking his Brothers in the community for the dedicated care he was given during this time. May the Lord and our mother, the Virgin of the Pillar, receive him and may he rest in peace.

2004-30

The Province of the United States of America recommends to our fraternal prayers our dear Brother, PAUL BOECKERMAN, who died in the service of the Blessed Virgin Mary on October 22, 2004, in Dayton, Ohio, in the 87th year of his age and the 68th year of his religious profession.

Paul Boeckerman was born on April 13, 1918, to Henry and Clara Buschwoller Boeckerman in Dayton, Ohio. He grew up in the city with his brothers, Carl and John, and his sister, Freda, and attended Our Lady of the Rosary School. He entered the novitiate at Mount St. John in Dayton, Ohio — professing his first vows on August 15, 1937, and his perpetual vows on August 19, 1942.

Brother Paul received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Dayton in 1940 and a master’s degree from Ohio State University in Columbus in 1947. He also took graduate courses at Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., and John Carroll University in Cleveland, Ohio. His work at John Carroll University enabled him to receive an Ohio High School Principal’s Certificate in 1962.

A well-respected, insightful educator, Brother Paul taught at Hamilton Catholic High School in Hamilton, Ohio; Colegio San Jose in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico; Holy Trinity High School in Brooklyn, N.Y.; Trinity College in Sioux City, Iowa; St. Joseph College in Yokohama, Japan; Purcell High School in Cincinnati, Ohio; Chaminade High School in Mineola, N.Y.; and St. Joseph High School in Cleveland.

School administration was an important part of his ministry. Brother Paul was principal of North Catholic High School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, president and principal of Cathedral Latin High School in Cleveland, assistant registrar and registrar for the University of Dayton, a liaison for the University of Dayton’s extension program in Nairobi, Kenya, and administrative assistant for St. Joseph College in Yokohama, Japan.

“Brother Paul was a straightforward, no-nonsense type of person, who loved to read and listen to classical music,” said Marianist Brother James Vorndran. “He also embraced unconventional ideas and approaches to challenges,” Brother James continued. “One of his favorite books was ‘Sadhana: A Way to God, Christian Exercises in Eastern Form’ by Jesuit priest Anthony de Mello. Brother Paul was interested in Buddhist thought and in the merging of eastern and western religious traditions.”

In remarks commemorating the 50th anniversary of Brother Paul’s religious profession, a fellow brother wrote: “Those who know him can attest that Brother Paul has generously given of the talents God bestowed on him to carry on the work of Mary, through the Society, that was asked of him. In this, his Golden Jubilee year, we would like to see him and hear him witness to the blessings that have marked his religious life. But that chance doesn’t seem to be in the offing: his life and apostolate in Yokohama, Japan, seem to be his first priority. So we can but wish Brother Paul ‘Ad multos annos!’ Carry on, Brother Missionary!”

Brother Paul died from complications associated with congestive heart failure, renal failure and emphysema. May he rest in peace.

2004-29

The Region of Austria/Germany recommends to our fraternal prayers our dear Brother, KARL BUCHINGER, who died in the service of the Blessed Virgin Mary on October 22, 2004, in Freistadt, Austria, in the 97th year of his age and the 79th year of his religious profession. Karl Buchinger was born on July 22, 1908 in Ried in the area of the Riedmark, Upper Austria, the third of nine children in a railway worker’s family. His brother Franz was also a Marianist. In 1920 he arrived at the Postulate at the Marianum in Freistadt.  After the novitiate he made his first vows at Greisinghof on December 8, 1925 and professed perpetual vows August 8, 1929 in Freistadt. Brother Buchinger was a master cabinetmaker. His first assignments were 1927/28 at the Marien Institute in Graz, 1929/30 in Fritzlar (Germany), 1932/33 in Eisenstadt, and from 1933 to 1939 in Belfort (France). After the occupation of France by Hitler’s Germany, he was imprisoned in the Dachau concentration camp. Some months later he was called up into the German Army. He hardly spoke at all about the terrible time in Dachau. After his release from a prisoner of war camp in Italy he came to Graz. In 1949/50 he worked on the construction of the new General Administration building in Rome, and then returned to Graz where he took over the business management in 1952. In 1964 he was called to be the business manager of the Albertus Magnus School in Vienna. From 1971 up until the closing of the house, he was business manager in Graz. The evening of his life he spent at the Salesianum in Linz. He moved in 1998 to the home for the elderly at Pregarten where he received sympathetic care. Brother Buchinger was an extremely well informed, hard-working, and unpretentious person. He had a dietary regimen which he followed very exactly, and he was convinced that that was what kept him alive. He was a very thrifty business manager with a lot of technical expertise, planning ability, and spirit of invention. Thanks are due to him, for example, for the central heating system in our houses in Vienna and Graz. He spoke French, Italian, and English, which he learned through his own personal study. Even with all that, his becoming more and more hard of hearing bothered him greatly and was a problem for those around him as well. Every Sunday during his years in Linz he went up to the Postlingberg with “his” moped and afterwards visited the brothers in the nursing home. He was a faithful and exacting religious who loved the Society of Mary and gave himself unreservedly to its service. After a fall he was taken to the Freistadt Hospital where, strengthened by the Holy Sacraments, he died on October 22, 2004.

2004-28

The Province of France recommends to our fraternal prayers our dear Brother, SERGE GAETAN HOSPITAL, priest, who died in the service of the Blessed Virgin Mary on October 18, 2004, in Antony in the 65th year of his age and the 46th year of his religious profession.

Serge Hospital was born on February 18, 1940, at Delle in the Territory of Belfort, near the Swiss border. From his birth, he benefited from two cultures, Latin and German. An only son, he received an education in which rigor and filial love of his parents went hand in hand. He made his first profession on September 12, 1959, at La-Tour-de-Sçay and his perpetual profession on October 4, 1964. His ordination by Archbishop Lallier of Besançon took place in Delle, on March 21, 1970. That same year, he earned a licentiate in theology from the University of Fribourg in Switzerland.

After his seminary, he was sent to Belgium as chaplain at the Collège in Rèves where he stayed four years. On his return to France and after one year at Antony, he was appointed novice-master at Art-sur-Meurthe, a position he held until 1999, at which time the development of the Centre Chaminade in Bordeaux was confided to him. The last stage of service to the Society of Mary was his appointment as vice-provincial in 2001.

Father Serge Hospital was a great Marianist figure. He was more of a reference than a personality. His main qualities can be summed up in the following terms: attention to others, being a good listener, exactness of thought, knowledge of the fundamental writings of the Society of Mary, a spirit of openness that took into account the aspirations of the young all the while holding to the basics of the past, coherence in his life and his writings, artistic qualities that he showed in his manual skill and his musical formation (piano and organ).

The years he was novice-master were the most remarkable of his life. Several generations of young men benefited from his competence and his talents. Many articles on spirituality in Marianist magazines or others bore his signature and through them one can notice the clarity of his writing and the wealth of his knowledge of Marianist texts, which he knew how to share. In other respects, he was careful to interpret the texts well and to be faithful to the true spirit of Father Chaminade. On several occasions, he pointed out the necessity of getting the sources of the Marianist spirit out of the sand in which they were stuck. Serge was a spiritual master who had a keen sense of human virtues. The discernment of vocations, the accompaniment in difficulties, prudent advice, regular correspondence to encourage, a sense of humor, a sense of celebration, briefly a string of qualities with a touch of mischievousness, a lot of good common sense and realism.

He could defend and argue his opinions. Some found him obstinate on a few very precise subjects like the work of the Working Brothers or on the use of the active members of the Province. His long tenure as a member of provincial Councils and spiritual direction helped him to consider the cases and problems with faith and realism. He was also a defender of the Fraternités Marianistes and the other branches of the S.M.

To his credit, too, we can add the “Chemins de Saragosse,” the Formation Guide…

The Province of France is very happy to have another intercessor before the Lord and Mary. Serge was a model of religious life, with exceptional human and relational qualities as well as spiritual. Today, near his Master, he has the necessary distance to look back at what he did, with his pipe at the corner of his mouth and playing a game of cards.

2004-27

The Province of the United States of America recommends to our fraternal prayers our dear Brother, JOHN J. JANSEN, who died in the service of the Blessed Virgin Mary on October 9, 2004, in Dayton, Ohio, in the 89th year of his age and the 72nd year of his religious profession.

John Jansen was born on April 10, 1916, in Brooklyn, New York., to John and Teresa Schoenfelder Jansen. He grew up in the borough of Brooklyn with his sisters, Teresa and Frances, and his brother, Joseph. Brother John attended St. Barbara’s Elementary School in Brooklyn and the Marianist Preparatory School in Beacon, New York. In 1932, he entered the novitiate at Mount St. John in Dayton – professing his first vows on August 15, 1933, and his perpetual vows on August 9, 1937. Two of his cousins also joined the Marianists: Father Anthony Jansen, who serves in Lusaka, Zambia, and the late Brother Joseph Jansen.

Brother John received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Dayton and a master’s degree and doctorate from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. He pursued graduate studies in chemistry at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland and in management at Ohio State University in Columbus, Rose College in Oklahoma City and Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton. Fellow brothers said his love of learning was boundless. He was an admired and respected teacher, administrator and leader.

Brother John taught in elementary, secondary, undergraduate and graduate schools: Holy Rosary in Dayton, Cathedral Latin High School in Cleveland, Chaminade High School in Dayton and the University of Dayton. He briefly acted as principal of Chaminade High School.

In the classroom, Brother John was described as engaging, entertaining and down to earth. “He was a poet and a dreamer; a pragmatist and a humorist,” said former student Father Gene Contadino. “He wasn’t afraid to laugh in class and make personal comments about himself that let us know he didn’t stand above us. He abused the King’s English with grunts and groans and run-on sentences, but I was glued to his content because I knew he was in touch with the world I was living in.”

“Brother John was dramatic to his fingertips – he was theater in himself,” said fellow brother and longtime friend Father Norbert Burns. “Give him a challenge and each time he’d come up with something different, something new.”

In the former Cincinnati Province, Brother John served as Assistant Provincial/Inspector throughout the 1960s. He also served as the Province’s vocation director, president of Bergamo Center for Lifelong Learning at Mount St. John in Dayton, project director of the Law Enforcement Administration for the Southern Ohio Conference on Higher Education, and project director for educational programs at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton.

“I called him an energetic, feisty saint,” Father Norbert said. “Brother John should be remembered for his intelligence, humanity, compassion and faith.”

Brother John died from complications associated with congestive heart failure, renal failure and emphysema. May he rest in peace.

2004-26

The Province of the United States of America recommends to our fraternal prayers our dear Brother, JOSEPH BECKER, who died in the service of the Blessed Virgin Mary on September 24, 2004, in Honolulu, Hawaii, in the 94th year of his age and the 76th year of his religious profession.

Joseph Becker was born on May 10, 1911, to John and Catherine Kalmbacher Becker in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he grew up with his brothers, Myron and Raymond, and his sister, Agnes. “One night, before I fell asleep – I was 13 then – I felt great peace and joy as I was aware that God was calling me to become a Marianist brother,” Brother Joseph said. He entered the novitiate at Mount St. John in Dayton, Ohio, in 1928, professing his first vows on August 15, 1929, and his perpetual vows on August 15, 1935.

Brother Joseph received a bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Dayton in 1934, a master’s degree in English from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., in 1947 and a doctorate in English from Case Western Reserve University in 1955.

An English teacher who loved to quote Shakespeare, Shelley and Browning, Brother Joseph’s ministry was devoted to education. He taught at St. Augustine Elementary School in Cincinnati; Hamilton Catholic High School in Hamilton, Ohio; Chaminade High School in Dayton; St. James High School in San Francisco; and St. Joseph High School in Alameda, Calif. Brother Joseph was principal of St. Joseph from 1947 to 1951.

“Brother Joe was a much-loved and respected teacher, well known for being a tough but fair grader,” said Father Bill O’Connell, a former student of Brother Joseph’s at St. Joseph High School. “He used to tell us, ‘A means excellent, and there aren’t too many people willing to work to be excellent.’”

Brother Joseph moved to Hawaii in 1955 and was one of five Marianist brothers who founded Saint Louis Junior College, which started with only 31 male students. His efforts helped transform the institution into the four-year, coeducational Chaminade College of Honolulu two years later, renamed for Blessed William Joseph Chaminade. In his 25 years as an English professor there, Brother Joseph also wrote the lyrics to the school’s alma mater and assisted in the creation of its official seal, with the motto: Vita in Verbo, or “Life in the Word.” The college became Chaminade University in 1977.

Fellow brothers, former students and friends describe Brother Joseph as a Renaissance man – a poet, painter and writer who coauthored “New Wars: The History of the Brothers of Mary in Hawaii 1883-1958.” Linda Iwamoto, a Chaminade University English professor hired by Brother Joseph in 1968, said he used proceeds from his paintings of seascapes and the Madonna and Child to help poor families.

In remarks commemorating his 75th year of profession as a brother, Brother Joseph wrote, “I strive to become more like Jesus and serve others through the help of our Blessed Mother. I will happily continue to do God’s will as long as I live.”

“With all his accomplishments, it’s important to remember he was an ardent devotee of Our Lady,” said Father John Bolin, who knew Brother Joseph for many years in Hawaii. “He shared our Marianist filial piety with everyone who touched his life.”

Brother Joseph died of cancer. May he rest in peace.

2004-25

The Province of the United States of America recommends to our fraternal prayers our dear Brother, John KELLEY, priest, who died in the service of the Blessed Virgin Mary on September 20, 2004, in Dayton, Ohio, in the 83rd year of his age and the 65th year of his religious profession.

John J. Kelley was born on April 21, 1922, in Cleveland, to Joseph R. Kelley and Katherine Hynes Kelley. Called Jack by his friends and family, he grew up in Cleveland with his sisters, Rita Marie and Lenore. He attended St. Ignatius and Our Lady of Angels grade schools and graduated from Cathedral Latin High School in 1939. Father John entered the novitiate at Mount St. John in Dayton in July 1939. He professed his first vows on August 25, 1940, at Mount St. John and perpetual vows on August 26, 1945, at the University of Dayton. He attended the seminary at Fribourg, Switzerland, and was ordained into the priesthood on July 12, 1953.

Father John said his call to religious life began in fifth grade. Two events greatly influenced his vocation: the profession of his cousin, Marianist Brother Adrian McCarthy, and the death of Father John’s best friend, which caused him to reflect and seek spiritual guidance. The Kelley children also were inspired by their parents’ faith. A few years after Father John made his first vows, Rita Marie became a Franciscan Sister.

Father John received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Dayton and a licentiate in philosophy and a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Fribourg in Switzerland. The Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati awarded him a fellowship in 1973, enabling him to explore his profound interest in interfaith dialogue.

Much of Father John’s ministry was devoted to education. He taught religion and business courses at the University of Dayton and was instrumental in the development of the “Religion in Life” series. Father John also taught at North Catholic High School in Pittsburgh; Holy Trinity High School in Brooklyn, N.Y.; Hamilton Catholic High School in Hamilton, Ohio, and Cathedral Latin High School in Cleveland. During the mid-1970s, he was a religion and philosophy instructor at Kenyatta University in Nairobi, Kenya.

Father John served as a chaplain at the University of Dayton, program director for the Bergamo Center for Lifelong Learning, a Marianist retreat center in Dayton, and chaplain at St. John’s of Rockaway Beach, a Marianist-run residential home for boys in Rockaway Park, N.Y. At St. John’s, he also did ecumenical work for the Brooklyn Diocese on Catholic and Jewish relations.

“As a son of Abraham, my ministry has invited me to carefully examine the basic questions of faith and the demands it places on today’s world,” Father John said. “As a Marianist, I use my energies and gifts to work for peace and reconciliation.”

Fellow brothers described Father John as intellectual, scholarly and a tireless advocate of social justice. He published a book, “Freedom in the Church: A Documented History of the Principle of Subsidiary Function,” and wrote numerous articles on the topic of subsidiarity – which states that decisions should be made at the level where they’re carried out, not by a higher authority.

Father John was well known for his involvement in the Christian-Jewish Dialogue in both Dayton and Rockaway Park. The organization works to promote interfaith understanding and cooperation and to end prejudice. “Jack was deeply concerned about anti-Semitism,” said Marianist Father Thomas Stanley. “He traveled to Germany to persuade the director of the Oberammergau Passion Play to stop portraying Jews in a negative light.”

Father John died after a short illness. May he rest in peace.

2004-24

The Province of Madrid recommends to our fraternal prayers our dear Brother, MELQUíADES GONZáLEZ BRIZUELA, who died in the service of the Blessed Virgin Mary on August 18, 2004, in Madrid in the 66th year of his age and the 43rd year of his religious profession.

Melquíades González Brizuela was born on June 30, 1939 in Soller (Mallorca). A few years later his family moved to Cádiz where he spent his childhood and adolescence. He was a student at St. Philip Neri school, one of the oldest Marianist schools in Spain. On finishing his high school he began studies for an Industrial Technical Engineer degree. It was at this time that he received the gift of a vocation to the Marianist religious life. He made his novitiate in La Parra (Avila) and professed first vows on November 1, 1961. Four years later, on August 15, 1965 he made his definitive commitment to God through his perpetual profession.

On finishing his university studies he taught in Jerez de la Frontera (1964-68), Cádiz (1968-83) where he spent a good part of his active life always doing good, Ciudad Real (1983-84) and finally at Santa María del Pilar in Madrid. Here he continued his educational work with his loved students until in 1993 a stroke left him with half of his body paralyzed and he was obliged to give up teaching which up to that time he had carried out with great dedication and creativity in mathematics and technical skills. His students remember him as unique and unforgettable.

Besides his educational activity in the classroom he dedicated his art, human spirit and big heart to education in his free time founding and directing groups of Scouts, animating the leadership groups and developing educational activities of which many have permanent memories. He was “always ready”, trying to leave the world a better place than he found it.

In his last years, with enormous desire to live, he struggled against the situation to which his sickness had brought him. He had great difficulty in maintaining self-esteem but he managed to do so through perseverance and patience. In the first months he went to the community of Sichem (the Province infirmary). When he got better, he returned to Santa María del Pilar where he had his friends and acquaintances who offered him life and companionship.

Little by little his strength weakened. It became more and more difficult to move about independently. Last December he fell and broke his hip. His physical deterioration became more evident. On leaving the hospital he returned to the Sichem community. Some months later he was hospitalized again. His general condition was complicated by a staff infection which forced his isolation from the rest of the sick. Until his final moments he showed his good humor, his desire to be loved and cared for, and his abandonment into the hands of God. On Saturday, September 18, when the Society of Mary was celebrating the memory of our martyrs Carlos, Fidel and Jesús, he finished his pilgrimage on this earth and began the definitive journey to the Father.

Like everyone else, Melquíades had his difficulties and failings. But above all he loved his vocation as a Marianist religious and his work as a teacher. Few religious in the Province have dedicated the time to the Scouts that he did and with the enthusiasm he showed. The funeral and burial were a clear manifestation of the many friends he left here on earth: Marianist religious, acquaintances from Cádiz, teachers at Santa María del Pilar, parents and alumni and a good number of former Scouts who paid their final respects and prayed for him on his journey to his final resting place.

2004-23

The Province of France recommends to our fraternal prayers our dear Brother, ANTOINE HERRMANN, who died in the service of the Blessed Virgin Mary on August 29, 2004, in Saint Hippolyte, in the 97th year of his age and the 81st year of his religious profession.

Antoine Herrmann was born in Alsace at the beginning of the century, into a family of 10 children, more exactly at Stili on the 01 June 08 under German occupation.  The terms of the Concordat were still followed.  So, very early, he became familiar with languages since the language of Goethe was imposed at school and the language of Molière at home.  In addition, the Alsatian dialect served as a barrier to “Teutonic” pressure.

The life of Antoine Herrmann was lived very simply and without interruption.

He was sent to Tunis in 1937 and stayed there until 2002.  A long service in the Ecole Secondaire Libre in Tunis and for the Church in Tunisia.  He lived through the great demonstrations of the power of the Catholic Church (the Eucharistic Congress) before independence, the arrival of President Bourguiba, and the time when the same Church went into hiding as Islam developed.  After the colonists left and the nationalizations were over, the Church in Tunisia became organized, thanks to very active Bishops and the perseverance of men of conviction.  Bro. Antoine Herrmann was among the latter.

He was professor of letters and excelled with the students.  His Alsatian ancestry had given him a sense of order, punctuality and authority.  He spoke literary Arabic and succeeded in obtaining the “licence ès lettres” in Arabic, with Father Michel.

Bro. Antoine Herrmann had the qualities of a brilliant professional person and the charms of a simple brother in community.

He was very distinguished, rather reserved, but with a penetrating gaze, efficient, erudite at times, self-educated; he loved to study the fundamental texts of Christians and Muslims.  Neither Greek nor Hebrew had any secrets for him.  His personal library testifies to his erudition.

Bro. Herrmann was the memory of the Society of Mary in Maghreb countries.  A few months before he died, a history of our presence in Tunisia and the region around Tripoli was published.  He was the main collaborator in this work.

He respected Islam and the politics of the country and tried his best to adapt himself to the Muslim country where he had decided to spend his life.  He worked at bringing the two cultures together and wanted to inculcate tolerance in his students in spite of bad memories of the events at the time of Independence.

Elegant, always well-dressed, distinguished, he inspired respect by his tall, thin silhouette and his full head of hair.

For three years, he had been suffering from loss of balance and was not at all sure on his feet, so he retired to St. Hippolyte, closer to his native countryside and his former director, Bro. Pierre Christophe.

On the day of his death, the 29 August 2004, the events of the day were marked by sad news about the Muslim world.  May the years of devotedness Bro. Herrmann spent in the service of the youth of Tunis bring peoples and cultures together for a better world where peace will reign everywhere.

2004-22

The Province of the United States of America recommends to our fraternal prayers our dear Brother, RAYMOND DOTZLER, who died in the service of the Blessed Virgin Mary on August 23, 2004, in Cupertino, California, in the 92nd year of his age and the 74th year of his religious profession.

Raymond Dotzler received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Dayton in 1936, majoring in English, with minors in German and mathematics. He also completed a course in German from Case Western Reserve University. Most of his ministry was spent in education. Brother Raymond taught English, math, mechanical drawing and German at a wide variety of schools in the United States and abroad, including Holy Redeemer School in Detroit; Purcell Marian High School in Cincinnati; Cathedral Latin High School in Cleveland; Saint Louis School in Honolulu; St. Joseph High School in Alameda, Calif.; Archbishop Riordan High School in San Francisco; St. Paul’s College in Altona North, Australia; Chaminade College Preparatory in West Hills, Calif.; Matero Boys Secondary School in Lusaka, Zambia, and St. Anthony High School in Wailuku, Hawaii. In addition to teaching, he helped with fundraising drives and coaching — occasionally serving as athletic director. Clear, meticulous, quiet and tough are words used to describe Brother Raymond’s teaching style. “He never raised his voice, and he never became angry,” remembered former student Anthony Pantaleoni, now principal of Kotas/Pantaleoni Architects in San Francisco. “One look let you know your work wasn’t good enough. He always inspired you to do better.” Pantaleoni said Brother Raymond’s mechanical drawing course spurred his interest in architecture. During his retirement at Saint Anthony in Maui, Brother Raymond collected school supplies, textbooks and clothing for areas in Africa suffering from great need. According to Marianist Brother Jim Dods, Brother Raymond mailed at least 15 to 20 boxes of supplies to Africa each year. Marianist Brother John Samaha added, “Simple things made Brother Raymond the happiest: warm family relationships, community life, contact with students, helping others and the beauty of nature. His life was grounded in the basics of Christ. He was very consistent and lived by an established routine.” Nicknamed “Bucky” by some of his fellow brothers after a former professional baseball player, Brother Raymond loved baseball. He was an avid Brooklyn Dodgers fan and supported the team even after it moved to Los Angeles. He grieved when the Dodgers lost and exalted when they won. In his later years, he switched his allegiance to the New York Yankees. Brother Raymond died from complications associated with diabetes. May he rest in peace.

2004-21

The Province of the United States of America recommends to our fraternal prayers our dear Brother, John f. mueller, priest, who died in the service of the Blessed Virgin Mary on August 20, 2004, in Dayton, Ohio, in the 94th year of his age and the 76th year of his religious profession. John F. Mueller was born on April 21, 1911, in Bucyrus, Ohio, to John S. Mueller and Frances B. Faulhaber Mueller. He grew up in Cleveland with his sisters, Jane and Francis, and attended St. Catherine’s and St. Coleman’s grade schools and Cathedral Latin High School. Religion was an important part of the Mueller household. Father John entered the novitiate at Mount St. John in Dayton in 1928 ­‑ professing his first vows on Aug. 15, 1929, and his perpetual vows on July 11, 1933. He attended the seminary at Fribourg, Switzerland, and was ordained into the priesthood on July 27, 1941. Father John had wanted to become a priest since childhood and fulfilled that desire in the Marianist community. Francis became an Ursuline sister. In preparation for his roles as teacher, chaplain and school administrator, Father John received several academic degrees: a bachelor’s from the University of Dayton, a Licentiate in Sacred Theology (S.T.L.) from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., and both a master’s and Ed.D. from Columbia University in New York. His service in education spanned decades and touched the lives of thousands of students.    Father John taught religion, English and Latin at Chaminade High School in Dayton and Trinity College in Sioux City, Iowa. At Chaminade High School in Mineola, N.Y., he taught religion, English and Spanish. Father John spent numerous years in Puerto Rico as chaplain and sub-director of Colegio Ponceño in Ponce; superintendent of Catholic schools in San Juan; and president of the Catholic University of Puerto Rico in Ponce. He was associate pastor and principal of St. John elementary school in Albion, Mich., for 10 years. In remarks commemorating his 70th year of profession as a brother, Father John said the opportunity to give himself in service to others was central to his life as a Marianist. He added: “I have to say, everything has come to me with Mary.” These sentiments were just as heartfelt during his 75th celebration of vows. “Father John was dedicated to his faith,” remembered Marianist Brother Jim Vorndran. “He prayed the Office every day and the Rosary several times a day.” Small pleasures were important as well. “Father John was dedicated to the daily newspaper crossword puzzle,” said Brother Jim. In retirement, Father John served as chaplain for various Marianist communities, including a tenure as chaplain and treasurer at the Governor’s Island community in Huntsville, Ohio. He subsequently moved to Mercy Siena Village, an assisted living and nursing care facility in Dayton. Father John died from complications associated with congestive heart failure. May he rest in peace.

2004-20

The Province of Madrid recommends to our fraternal prayers our dear Brother, JULIáN MARTíNEZ ALBAINA, who died in the service of the Blessed Virgin Mary on August 7, 2004, in Cullera (Valencia) in the 81st year of his age and the 63th year of his religious profession.

Julián Martínez Albaina was born October 18, 1923 in Ladrera in the Province of Burgos. He entered the Postulate in Vitoria in December of 1936. He made his novitiate in Elorrio and professed first vows there on September 12, 1941. He continued his studies in Segovia and Caerabanchel Alto (Madrid). Some years later, in 1953, he completed his Licentiate in History. Before that, in 1947, he made his perpetual profession.

From the time he made first vows, Julián intended to be faithful to his Marianist vocation. He had more than 60 years of efforts, tenacity and giving himself to his mission, 50 of them totally dedicated to the teaching activity. He was a teacher in Escoriaza, Pillar school in Madrid, Ciudad Real, Jerez de la Frontera, Cádiz, Tetuán, the Rodríguez Fabrés Foundation in Salamanca, and finally from 1971 to 1993 at Santa María del Pilar. During all this time he was dedicated uninterruptedly to the work of teaching with the exception of five years from 1964 to 1969 when he was the administrator of the school in Jerez. His licentiate enabled him to give classes in History. Through work and dedication he was also a good teacher of Latin and Greek.

 When he turned 70 he slowed down the usual rhythm of his classes but continued doing whatever he could, from substituting for a sick teacher to helping to do computer work. After breakfast ever day he went to the Teachers’ Room in case someone would need him for something. At the end of the day he spoke with satisfaction about the work he had done during the day. He continued with all of the force of character he had showed in his younger and later years to continue being useful for whatever was at hand.

Like many other people, as he aged Julián became more human: he knew how to appreciate what was worth while, recognized serenely his limitations, but at the same time wanted to be useful and offer his services to others.

Julián  is one of those persons who knew how to work into the new ways of information when it would seem that his age would not help him in this new learning. His youthful spirit and his constancy made it possible. He was happy with the progress he had made. He was overjoyed at being able to respond by e-mail to the congratulations of the Provincial for his 60th anniversary of religious profession.

The collaboration with the summer course in Dublin is another example of his perseverance: for 30 years he accompanied the Spanish students who took advantage of the months of July and August to learn English. He shared in the educational activities and the welfare of the whole group.

He always enjoyed good health. In the summer of 2000 when he was spending some days in Cullera (Valencia) with his brother Marcos and his sister-in-law Ana, he had to be urgently operated on for an internal hemorrhage which brought him to the brink of death. After recovering from his illness he once again showed his vitality and energy. He was very careful about his health. Rain or shine, hot or cold, he walked every afternoon in Retiro park very close to the Santa María del Pilar community in Madrid where he lived.

This summer he wanted to spend some days again with his brother. On Saturday the 7th he went to the beach in the morning. A heart attack took his life while he was still at the edge of the water. The emergency services could not revive him. We know that Julián is now closer to the Father who always loved him and was very near to him all his life.

2004-19

The Province of France recommends to our fraternal prayers our dear Brother, ÉLOI BOULE, who died in the service of the Blessed Virgin Mary on July 25, 2004, in Lavaur, France, in the 90th year of his age and the 72nd year of his religious profession.

Eloi Boule – First vows, September 12, 1932, at Saint Rémi Signeulx; perpetual vows, September 8, 1946. On March 3, 1915, Eloi Boule was born in the deep France of the Aveyron. Born into a family of 5 children, in modest conditions, his schooling did not last very long. The noise of the cannons of the First World War did not reach this region where the countryside sheltered large families, which furnished religious orders and dioceses with excellent vocations. The Aveyron, in the heart of France, has always been a breeding-ground for the Society of Mary. The “Langue d’Oc” was used in spite of the pressure from Paris to speak only French. The public schools still blush with shame for participating in suppressing the local language in the countryside to the benefit of French. At the beginning of the century, it was necessary to unify the country.

Eloi Boule was a true worker, a worker par excellence. He mastered wood, iron and many other materials, which he worked and transformed into master-pieces. Who doesn’t remember his “weave your own” pictures and his works in iron? He created, he brought to life, he invented. The workshop was his favorite natural milieu. His southern accent embellished his speech and gave a special flavor to any conversation. He took care of the upkeep in our houses. Painting, pottery work, decorations, automobile mechanics held no secrets from him. The professional quality of his work was seconded by an artistic quality… He could easily have entered the Lépine competition.

Montauban, Réquista, Reyregoux and Fiac were the communities in which he lived and worked. His life was spent entirely south of the Loire River, which shows the importance of his southern roots and, somehow, his apprehension to having to live in “Nordic countries.” He himself joked about this fact. The southern sun fashioned his character, in which the joy of living was predominant. This actuality was respected up to the end since he died at Fiac on July 25, 2004, and went to join his fellow brothers in that haven of peace, the cemetery in Fiac.

He was a prisoner of war in Germany, during a good part of World War II and it was then that he forged his final personality and character. Eloi was a model working brother, rich in acknowledged manual competence and human qualities.

With a staunch faith, a silent interior life, a life of labor in the service of others, Eloi was a charming and devoted fellow brother. Mary was at the heart of his life. He liked to recite the Little Office of the Immaculate Conception and the rosary while working in his shop, away from noise. Meditation on Mary and her presence was the environment in which he lived. After several stays at Montauban, he was put in charge of the farm at Peyregoux in 1951. But his farming experience did not last long. Work in the fields, plowing, cultivation and caring for grapevines suited him less. It was then at Fiac where he showed what he was capable of, from 1955 on. A half century of stability in that community allowed him to show all the facets of his personality.

He was not an intellectual or an extrovert. The world of silence and prayer was better for him. His fellow brothers remember, above all, the following characteristics: a charming fellow brother, hard-working and devoted. A great servant of the Society of Mary, and blessed with ideal health! His dark hair at the age of 89 remains a mystery.

Thank you, Eloi, for the talents that you knew how to share with your fellow brothers.

2004-18

The Province of the United States of America recommends to our fraternal prayers our dear Brother, GEORGE h. dURY, who died in the service of the Blessed Virgin Mary on June 17, 2004, in Dayton, Ohio, in the 99th year of his age and the 79th year of his religious profession. George H. Dury was born on March 18, 1906, in Columbus Ohio, to John B. and Mary Fischer Dury. He was one of five boys in the Dury household. Brother George attributes his call to religious life as being profoundly influenced by his parents’ devout Catholic faith and a special relationship they had formed with two Marianist brothers who taught school in Ohio. At age 15, he entered the postulate at Mount St. John in Dayton, Ohio, and professed first vows on August 15, 1925, and final vows on August 15, 1929, both at Mount St. John. Brother George attended the University of Dayton and received a bachelor’s degree in 1930. He completed a master’s degree in religious education from Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C., in 1948. Beginning in 1927, Brother George taught in high schools in Pennsylvania, Ohio and New York. His subjects included algebra, geometry, religion, English, Latin, German, history, speech and moderator of the band program.  His longest tenure was at Cathedral Latin high school in Cleveland, where he taught for eight years. After 35 years of teaching, he told his father that he was taking a three-year missionary assignment in Africa. That assignment turned into a 30-year stay during which he became the first director of Chaminade Secondary School in Karonga, Malawi, Africa. Small in stature – Brother George was less than 5 feet tall – he was known for undertaking large-scale projects and for his creative leadership. Working closely with the villagers of Karonga, he launched a massive reforestation program called Chaminade Forest and Wildlife Preserve. At age 80, he enlisted the help of local villagers in planting more than 800,000 sweet gum eucalyptus trees. He also taught the students and local people how to construct and use fuel-efficient clay stoves. “Life systems on this earth make this planet habitable,” he wrote. “It is not a question of priorities, but of responsibilities. Do we have to wait until tragedy brings response? The world is our only home.” In 1992, Brother George returned to the United States where he lived at the Marianist novitiate community. “He was a friendly, loveable kind of guy who attracted people to him,” said Brother Joe Markel, who lived at the novitiate and enlisted Brother George’s help in planting trees on the novitiate grounds. “I remember him staying up all hours of the night. He had a tireless, indomitable spirit.” Throughout his life, Brother George often spoke of God’s grace guiding him. “In all of this [life] … I was open to God’s amazing grace, as Mary was open to God. God’s grace allows me to see things in a happy way. I enjoy life.”  Last year, as part of its 40th anniversary celebration, Chaminade Secondary School established an endowment in Brother George’s name. In addition, a new library at the Chaminade Mission (MIRACLE) in Malawi was dedicated to Brother George. Brother George, the oldest living Marianist in the Province of the United States, died peacefully at Mercy Siena, a nursing care and assisted living facility in Dayton, Ohio. May he rest in peace.

2004-17

The Region of Switzerland and its Sector Togo recommend to our fraternal prayers our dear Brother, PIERRE CATTIN, who died in the service of the Blessed Virgin Mary on May 26, 2004, at Sion, Switzerland, in the 72nd year of his age and the 55th of his religious profession.

Pierre Cattin was born at Le Canon, Swiss Jura, on August 11, 1932. He was the seventh of a family of ten children. At the age of 13, he entered the postulate at Martigny. At 16, Pierre began his novitiate at the chateau at Middes (canton of Fribourg). A year later, on August 15, 1949, he consecrated himself to God in the Society of Mary. On August 15, 1954, the young Brother gave himself to God forever and made alliance with Mary. In 1952, at the end of his professional formation at the Normal School in Sion (Primary Teacher’s diploma), his superiors sent him to Monthey from 1952 to 1958 to teach in the primary school.

After the publication of the encyclical Fidei Donum by Pope Pius XII, in autumn 1958, Pierre Cattin was sent, with Bro.Auguste Augustin and Fr. Stefan Höin, to the new mission founded by the Marianists of Switzerland in Togo, at Lama Kara, as it was called at the time. For 33 years, he devoted himself to teaching and participated actively in the development of the school founded two years before. Collège Chaminade grew into a secondary school with a full range of studies. Bro. Cattin also assumed responsibility of the community and of the school. The Togolese government recognized Bro. Pierre’s merits by naming him an Officier de l’Ordre du Mono (January 13, 1980). The French government gave him the honor of Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques (January 28, 1981) and made him an Officier dans l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques (July 28, 1989).

In 1991, failing health did not allow Pierre to return to his dear Togo. He had to remain in Switzerland, take care of his health at Sion, and then was assigned to Fribourg. He was in charge of the accounts for the community of St. Raphael. In 1996, the Superior General named him vice-provincial, a charge which he fulfilled until 2000. Finally, he accepted the responsibility of the community of Sion, but also kept the accounts for our community in Fribourg. During all his activities in Switzerland, Bro. Cattin took an interest in whatever happened in Africa: he participated actively in the GRIM (Group of Missionary Institutes in French Switzerland), loved to talk about his missionary activity, regularly received news from Collège Chaminade and was attentive to events in Togo.

It is by looking closely at the way of acting of our confrere that we can, little by little, discover his love for the Society of Mary and our Founders. His devotedness knew no bounds. He was constantly on the lookout for ways of giving importance to the Marianist heritage in Switzerland and in the whole world. He encouraged the development of the “Fraternités”, loved to meet lay people and celebrate with them and regularly participated in the pilgrimages of the Marianist World Day of Prayer. He was also interested in the history of the Society of Mary in Switzerland and took care of the Marianist archives for the Region of Switzerland.

Worn out by life, Bro. Pierre felt his strength diminish. He complained of pains by rubbing his stomach and, from time to time, whispered: “Soon, all done in!” On Friday, March 12, 2004, he was hospitalized for tests. On the Monday of Holy Week, the verdict was ruthless: “Cancer of the liver, only a miracle can save me!” he announced to his fellow Brothers, who were visiting him in the hospital. At each hospital visit, the patient asked for news about his fellow Brothers. He spent the last weeks of his life between the hospital and the community, preparing, in faith, for the dramatic letting go.

2004-16

The Region of Chile recommends to our fraternal prayers our dear Brother JOSÉ MIGUEL CAÑABATE, priest, who died in the service of the Blessed Virgin Mary on April 29, 2004, in Santiago, Chile, in the 75th year of his age and the 59th of his religious profession. José Miguel Cañabate was born in Vitoria, Spain on September 29, 1929. He entered the novitiate in Elorrio in 1944 and made his first vows in November of 1945, and his perpetual vows on August 15, 1951. He was ordained a priest on July 18, 1958 in Fribourg where he did his seminary studies. He earned a Licentiate in Philosophy from the University of Madrid (1953) and one in Theology at the University of Fribourg 1959) both of which served him well all his life in his professional and pastoral work. He was a teacher in successive years in Cádiz, Madrid and Tangiers. After his studies in Fribourg he returned to Madrid in 1959. Beginning in 1960, the rest of his life was spent in Chile, in Santiago and Linares, the two cities where he lived out his Marianist life. His educational and pastoral work took place in the schools of Miguel León Prado, Instituto Linares, and San Miguel, and in the parish of San Miguel. He was a teacher, chaplain, director and pastor. His pastoral dynamism led him to collaborate with the Catechetical Institute and the Higher Institute of Youth Ministry, and with the Capuchin fathers in the formation of teachers in Araucania. From 1994 to 1998 he worked in the formation of the scholastics and the novices. He spent his last years as a chaplain of the community in Linares and animator of the Marianist Lay Community. José Miguel made a deep impression on the Marianist Family in the Chilean church. José Miguel was profoundly human. Behind his seriousness and brusqueness was hidden a sensitive heart, full of compassion, tenderness and depth. He knew how to cultivate human and pastoral friendships and created strong and lasting bonds. He knew how to accompany and enjoy the family celebrations of many friends and parishioners. He was also a shepherd who knew how to accompany in difficult times of sickness, of marriage crises, of economic problems and even persecution. In some way he knew how to be “all to all to win them for God.” He was outstanding as an educator, apostle and religious priest. He had an evident tendency to work with youth with whom he always maintained a spontaneous empathy. He was a retreat preacher, spiritual director, counselor of those engaged, and a missionary with the university students on their summer missions. He was a family counselor for many marriages and an exceptional speaker in the meetings of parents in the schools. His pastoral initiative led him to always explore new fields and new ways of doing things. An optimist by nature, he changed obstacles into challenges for his pastoral creativity. As an educator and a priest, he knew how to read the human heart. He was also a Marianist at heart. He loved the Society very much. He constantly kept himself informed and read everything that was published. His interest led him to respond thoroughly to all the questionnaires, send propositions to the Chapters and maintain cor- respondence with many religious. He was an animator of the Marianist Family, pushed for the arrival of the Marianist Sisters to Chile, and collaborated in many ways with the Marianist Lay Community. He was always concerned about native vocations and gave a lot of help to the Chilean Brothers. His sickness, a bone cancer which metastasized, was a trial for him, especially in the last days. The Lord considered him worthy to “complete in his body the sufferings of Christ”. “If the grain of wheat does not fall to the ground and die, it bears no fruit.” May the gift of his life, which he gave so fully, bear fruit in the Marianist life in Chile which he loved so much. From heaven he will be our vocation recruiter.

2004-15

The Province of Zaragoza recommends to our fraternal prayers our dear Brother, TOMáS SáNCHEZ ALVARADO, who died in the service of the Blessed Virgin Mary on April 24, 2004, in Valencia, Spain, in the 76th year of his age and the 56th year of his religious profession.

Tomás Sánchez Alvarado was born on September 1, 1928 in Santurce-Ortuella (Vizcaya). His parents were Julio and Josefa. On September 4, 1945 he entered the Postulate in Escoriaza. He began his novitiate in Elorrio on September 11, 1947 and made his first profession in the same place on September 12, 1948. After the novitiate he went to Carabanchel (Madrid) for his scholasticate studies. He had the following degrees: a title in Teaching which he received in September of 1951 from the Normal School in Guadalajara, and a diploma in French from the University of Bordeaux-Toulouse.

 He lived his life in the Society in the following way:

From 1951 to 1953 he was the professor of a second year class at Colegio Santa María del Pilar in Zaragoza. In August of 1953 he professed perpetual vows. From 1953 to 1958 he taught first year students at Colegio Santa María in Vitoria. From 1959 to 1961 he as at Our Lady of the Pillar school in Valencia. He spent 1962 in Castelgandolfo (Italy) at the second novitiate. From 19633 to 1965 he returned to the school in Valencia. From 1966 to 1969 he was once again at Santa María del Pilar in Zaragoza. In 1970 he moved to San Sebastián where he taught at Santa María until 1973. He spent 1974 and 1975 at St. Albans in England, studying English. The rest of his life, from 1976 to 2004, was spent at Our Lady of the Pillar in Valencia.

As noted above, Tomás went to the Father on April 24, 2004.

During the twenty-eight years he spent at Our Lady of the Pillar school in Valencia, Tomás always took an active interest in the missions which he spread to the whole large school com-munity. He made the students conscious of the need to support missionary projects of the Marianist Family. Those in Colombia and Togo benefited most from his help. He knew how to channel everyone’s generosity in favor of the missions in the Third World. He went from class to class selling knick-knacks and taking advantage of the big opportunities of the year, always with a missionary intention.

Our school in Valencia is going to miss this religious, but it will also continue cultivating in the students the missionary vision which he promoted. May the Lord and His Mother receive him and accompany him on his journey to the Father’s banquet.

2004-14

The Province of Madrid recommends to our fraternal prayers our dear Brother, AGUSTíN ALONSO MARTíNEZ DE BAROJA, who died in the service of the Blessed Virgin Mary on April 17, 2004, in Madrid in the 92nd year of his age and the 75th year of his religious profession.

Agustín Alonso was born on May 5, 1912, in Peñacerrada (Alava), Spain, into a very religious family. Three of his nephews, Pedro, Mauro and Javier, followed his footsteps into the Marianist life and are still actually in the Province of Madrid. Agustín entered the Postulate in Vitoria in October of 1924 and four years later began his novitiate in Elorrio (Vizcaya) where he also made his first profession in 1929.

After three years of scholasticate in Vitoria and Segovia, he began what would be a long and fruitful life as an educator. He started in Tetuán and Ciudad Real where the Spanish civil war caught him by surprise. He made his perpetual vows in Vitoria on September 5, 1936. After the war he finished his studies and continued teaching. In 1942 he earned a Licentiate in Sciences from the University of Zaragoza. The schools in Vitoria, Valencia, Ciudad Real, and Madrid (the Pillar, Santa María del Pilar and St. Anne and St. Raphael) are all witnesses to his careful and beneficial work both as a teacher and as a Director.

He was the Provincial Inspector (the equivalent of today’s Assistant for Education) from 1960 to 1970. These were years in which the Province noticeably increased its educational activity. During this time he began the school in Pola de Lena, the new building of the S.M. Press, and the residence for university students. The work on the new Pillar school in Jerez de la Frontera was finished as well as the Santa María del Pilar complex in Madrid. The schools in Ciudad Real, Pillar (in Madrid) and Amorós all had new buildings. These were also the years when we began working in parishes. There was also an educational presence in Salamanca and Burgos, in collaboration with the diocesan hierarchy, which unfortunately no longer exists. In all of these works, Don Agustín  as a member of the Provincial Council and especially as Inspector played an important role. They were years in which the amount of activity of the Province and its prestige in  educational work increased. Don Agustín also experienced the tensions which arose in Spain around the political transition.

After more than fifty years of educational activity he began to feel the weight of age. Little by little his daily work diminished. When he felt it was no longer prudent to continue as a regular teacher, he continued giving special classes to students who needed extra help. He also continued working as a catechist with the older students.

His health began to fail, and in the year 2000 it was necessary to transfer him definitively to the community of Siquem, the Province infirmary. At the beginning he found it difficult to accept this because he felt very identified with the Pillar community in Madrid in which he had spent the last 20 years. But he acclimated to his new situation and lived the last years of his religious life joyfully. Prayer, reading and correspondence with his family and friends filled up his time. He waited patiently for the moment when God would finally call him.

The years had weakened him, but no one thought of an immediate death. On April 17, during the Octave of Easter, in the middle of the afternoon a pulmonary embolism took his life from this world. On his table was a letter from Fr. David Fleming who had just written to him to congratulate him and give thanks to God for his 75 years of religious life which he would have completed next September 5. And so he began his journey to the Father. He was accompanied by the Psalm 117 which he had prayed during the Eucharist that morning: “Give thanks to the Lord for He is good, and his mercy is everlasting…I give you thanks because you have heard me and have been my salvation.”

2004-13

The Province of the United States of America/Ireland recommends to our fraternal prayers our dear Brother, JOHN SULLIVAN, who died in the service of the Blessed Virgin Mary on April 16, 2004, in London, England, in the 48th year of his age and the 15th year of his religious profession.

John Joseph Sullivan was born May 3, 1956, in Dublin, Ireland, one of six children born to John and Maura Sullivan. He attended St. Paul’s, a Christian Brothers School in Dublin, where he received an Honours Leaving Certificate. Before joining the Marianists, he worked in security for several firms in Dublin. Brother John found a pamphlet on the Society of Mary when visiting a church in Kilkenny, Ireland, and followed up his interest in 1986 by entering a Marianist aspirancy program in Dublin. As an aspirant, he worked in drug rehabilitation, specializing in treatment programs for inmates at four Dublin prisons. The following year, Brother John entered the novitiate in Dayton, Ohio. His novicemaster, Father William Behringer, believes Brother John’s interest in serving the homeless and less fortunate drew him to religious life. “He was concerned about the poor and marginalized and was deeply sensitive to those suffering from addiction,” he said. In April 23, 1989, Brother John professed first vows at the Church of the Apostles in Ballybrack, County Dublin. “I would like to help people stay out of prison rather than help put them in,” he said at his vow ceremony. He continued his work in drug counseling and ongoing training in rehabilitation studies. He also worked part-time at the Church of the Apostles in parish ministry. After he professed final vows in Dublin on September 23, 1993, Brother John served at Coolmine Induction Center, a drug rehabilitation program, and continued his work in parish ministry. He also was actively involved with the St. Vincent de Paul Society as vice president of the night shelter.

On June 23, 1997, Brother John was involved in a three-car collision southeast of Dublin in which two fatalities occurred. Brother John sustained multiple injuries. Upon recuperating in the fall of 1997, he joined the staff of Blackrock College, a boy’s preparatory school in Dublin, where he worked part-time on the pastoral team. From 1999 to 2001, he also served as chaplain of Trinity House School, which is part of Oberston Boys and Girls Center, a juvenile detention facility in Lusk. Until last summer, Brother John worked at St. Michael’s College doing outreach and retreat programs with adolescents. He also worked as a volunteer with the “Carer for AIDS Housing Project.” In his free time, Brother John enjoyed exercising, boxing, kick boxing, theatre and reading.

Brother John had a heart for troubled youth and a knack for reaching kids who were in trouble. Leonard Howard, principal of St. Michael’s College, wrote: “His principle contribution was his success in reaching out to the weaker, the less disciplined, the more troubled student.” Although Brother John decided not to continue work at St. Michael’s due to organizational changes, the staff and leadership were sad to see him go. “He is a dedicated, talented Christian . . . generous and loyal . . . and will be sadly missed,” wrote Mr. Howard.

Brother John died from a heart attack while visiting London during a school break. At the time of his death he was working as a chaplain for Tallaght Community School, a high school for students from disadvantaged neighborhoods in west Dublin. He began the position in September 2003. Pat Coffey, principal of the school, noted how outgoing and friendly John was, and that he quickly made friends with the faculty and students. “John made a huge impact in such a short time here. You’d have thought he had been here for the last 20 years,” he said. Brother John is survived by his parents, four younger sisters and a younger brother. He will be missed by his family, friends and the Marianist Family. May he rest in peace.

2004-12

The Region of Japan, the Province of Madrid and the Sector of Brazil recommend to our fraternal prayers our dear Brother, ICHIRO PAUL MIKI HASEGAWA, priest, who died in the service of the Blessed Virgin Mary on April 8, 2004, in Marília, Brazil, in the 70th year of his age and the 52nd year of his religious profession.

Ichiro Paul Miki Hasegawa was born on June 28, 1934 in Tokyo, the second of eight children of the couple, Benedict Shuuji and Rose Teruko. This was an ideally Catholic family and three of the eight children joined the religious life.

When he entered Morning Star School (Gyosei) in Tokyo at the age of eleven, he had his first contact with the Society of Mary. He entered the Akebono postulate (now Chaminade) in April 1950. Two years later, he began his novitiate and made his first vows in March 1953. In March 1954, he registered at Sophia University in Tokyo, where he took courses in Latin and philosophy until 1958. At the end of his studies, he was sent to Bright Star School (Meisei) in Osaka and began his life as a teacher, in charge of a class of twelve-year-old children. The children called him “Onii-chan,” the name given to a friendly “Big Brother.” He made his perpetual profession on August 2, 1959 in Tokyo and was sent to Fribourg in October 1961 for theological studies. But, as the result of an accident that caused a blow to his head, he was obliged to interrupt his studies and return to Japan in July 1964. After a stay in Sapporo as a teacher, he again registered at Sophia University, in the theology department, to continue his studies and be ordained a priest on July 6, 1969.

In March 1970, he terminated his studies and was named chaplain of Scholastics at the Chaminade house in Tokyo, then director of the same house in 1971. When he was free of that job in 1974, he was named recruiter for the province and traveled throughout Japan to contact and direct pupils and former Catholic pupils of our schools in Japan. In 1979, he became chaplain of the Daughters of Mary in Chofu (Tokyo), then, in 1981, he left for Brazil as the second Marianist missionary after Father Aoki.

From his youth he had wished to work as a missionary in Brazil, above all for the Brazilians of Japanese descent, because several of his relatives lived in Brazil, among whom a priest in charge of a medical center for lepers.

Because of his very humble, serious character, Paul Miki, during his whole life, tried to respond sincerely to everyone who came to him. He certainly did not have the gift of tongues, but his sincerity compensated more than enough for that.

2004-11

The Province of Madrid recommends to our fraternal prayers our dear Brother, VICENTE APAOLAZA, who died in the service of the Blessed Virgin Mary on March 15, 2004, in Madrid in the 88th year of his age and the 70th year of his religious profession. Vicente Apaolaza Vélez de Mendizábal was born on July 24, 1916 in Landa (Alava), Spain. He entered the Postulate at Escoriaza in September of 1930, and three years later began his novitiate in Elorrio (Vizcaya) where he also made his first profession. During the Spanish Civil War he was recruited into the Infantry Regiment in Huesca where he remained until 1939 when the war ended. He made his perpetual profession in August of 1941. After some years in Spain, in 1945 he was sent to the Marianist works in Argentina where he joined the school in Buenos Aires as an English teacher. Some years later, in 1955, he continued his mission in Chile where he set down “roots”. While he was always a Spaniard, Chile more and more took over his heart. He stayed until 1975 except for two years, 1958 to 1960, when he was in Cleveland as a Spanish teacher. He spent a year in Rome renewing his theology and spirituality, and in 1976 he was incorporated once again into the Province of Madrid. He was an English teacher in the schools in Cádiz, St. Ann and St. Raphael (Madrid), and Valladolid. He stopped teaching in 1985 when he was 70 years old. He continued working in the Province mission as an assistant in the Provincial archives. In 1994 poor health prevented him from continuing this work, and he was sent to the Province infirmary. Meticulous and steady, he was a tireless worker both as a teacher and as an archives assistant. His illness grew worse and little by little he lost consciousness. The last years he was bed ridden without any apparent reactions and with little response to any stimulus. It was a time when the mystery of life became apparent in him. We don’t know what he felt and lived during that time, but we know that God was with him and that he was loved by the Father. We have recognized that the value of life is in our situation as sons of God. To accompany Vicente during his illness has helped us to realize better the greatness of every human existence even when it seems to be without meaning and shows the limitations of human misery. When it was least expected, the candle that had been dying slowly finally went out. In the final hours of Monday, March 15, he started his final journey to the Father. The life of Vicente, or Vinny as he was affectionately known, was a very simple life, guileless, spontaneous and immediate. He never wished anyone ill and few can recall ever seeing him angry. It was pleasant to talk to him. He always kept a lively remembrance of his time in Chile. He had been happy there, and continued to be. He gave affection and evoked it in return. He was a good man, in the best sense of the word. He always wanted to see the positive side of things. Sometimes he was a bit naïve, perhaps because he thought that everyone was a good as he. Rereading the letters he wrote after his return to Spain, one can see that it was his deep desire to live his religious vocation faithful to the call of the Father and very close to his Brothers in their life and mission. He was filled with God, and now he fully rejoices in Him.

2004-10

The Region of Austria/Germany recommends to our fraternal prayers our dear Brother, JOSEF GOSSENREITER, who died in the service of the Blessed Virgin Mary on March 13, 2004, in Fulda, Germany, in the 71st year of his age and the 54th year of his religious profession.

Josef Gossenreiter was born on February 24, 1934, at Schenkenfelden, Austria. He was born in a family of farmers, the seventh of nine siblings. He went to primary school during the years of World War II (1940 -1946). It was through the Marianum the he first made acquaintance with the Marianists. He spent the year of his Novitiate at Greisinghof. He then continued his formation at the Marianum, in Vienna, and received a diploma as an elementary school teacher there.

Br. Gossenreiter pronounced Perpetual Vows on July 22, 1956, dedicating his life to the Marianist Family. He always felt deeply concerned about the development and the needs of our Congregation; Br. Gossenreiter was assigned to be part of the Provincial Chapter several times. He continued his studies at Graz, where he studied Linguistics and Geography. He received a Ph.D. and a diploma as a middle school teacher.

During the years of his studies, he served as educator at the Marieninstitut of Graz. He was greatly appreciated by his fellow Brothers for his breadth of mind and his well-balanced temper. One of his most demanding challenges was the decision to go to Korea as a missionary. He began to study the language at Vienna and then in Korea. Br. Joseph remained almost steadily in Seoul and in Mopko for 20 years (1965 – 1986), with only a few interruptions. The Marianist high school at Mopko saw years of great development during his leadership. He was able to integrate himself into a completely different culture and in a new environment and contemporarily transmitted the foundations of Marianist education. He was loved and greatly esteemed by his Korean Brothers, which had him keep in touch with them long after his return to Europe. His departure from Korea was not easy for him. His refinement and reservedness were an expression of the culture that had been so closely part of his life during his years in Korea. He was a missionary with his heart and soul. Brother Gossenreiter was sent to Fulda in 1987. In 1988, he served as Director of the Marianum that was attended by 1,000 students. This task was also an important challenge, with all the difficulties that it implies. He also demonstrated a most valued cooperation when the school was transformed into an Institute.

Unfortunately poor health conditions began to hinder him. The symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease were increasing. He also had to undergo prostate surgery in the fall of 2003. He quit his service as Director of the school and retired in February 2002. Brother celebrated his 70th birthday with his Brothers in February 2004. His health conditions grew worse very rapidly with a severe lesion of the stomach and an inflammation of the aortic valve. Josef Gossenreiter died after undergoing surgery on March 13, 2004.

2004-09

The Province of the United States of America recommends to our fraternal prayers our dear Brother, ALBERT JOSEPH SUTKUS, who died in the service of the Blessed Virgin Mary on February 8, 2004, in San Antonio, Texas, in the 85th year of his age and the 53rd year of his religious profession.

Albert Joseph Sutkus was born on December 21, 1919, in Waukegan, Illinois, to Anthony and Anna Zupkus Sutkus. He attended St. Bartholomew grade school and the public high school in Waukegan. He studied philosophy at Loyola University in Chicago for one year and then joined his father in the real estate business. A religious vocation, however, was always of interest to him. When a friend told him about the Marianists, he contacted the Province vocations office. In 1950, Brother Al entered the novitiate in Galesville, Wisconsin, at the age of 30.

On February 2, 1952, Brother Al professed first vows in the Society of Mary; he professed final vows on July 13, 1957.  After earning a bachelor’s degree in business from St. Mary’s University in San Antonio in 1954, Brother Al began his teaching career at St. Mary’s High School in St. Louis, followed by one year at Assumption High School in East St. Louis, Illinois. The next five years he taught at Cathedral High School in Belleville, Illinois. His subjects included religion, geography and business, as well as moderating the photography club. Though he enjoyed teaching, he found his voice did not hold up for a full day’s teaching load. In 1960 he was assigned to the Vianney High School community in St. Louis and worked for the former St. Louis Province development office.

In 1962, Brother Al was transferred to St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, where he spent the remainder of his religious life. While at St. Mary’s, Brother Al began a long association with Holy Rosary parish and its work with the poor. He also set up a religious goods enterprise in a vacant band room on campus, and made thousands of rosaries that he either sold or sent to Marianist missions and other organizations.

For 15 years, Brother Al collaborated with Brother Herbert Leies in his ministry to the poor of San Antonio. When Brother Leies retired, Brother Al continued to care for individuals and to serve as a liaison to many charitable organizations. He obtained food staples from local supermarkets, food banks and from his own community to distribute to the aged, to rehabilitation programs and to poor families. Coordinating a large volunteer network, he distributed cheese to more than 2,000 families under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Through the St. Vincent de Paul Society, he continued ministering in the local parish and its neighborhoods.

Brother Al also worked with prisoners incarcerated in the Bexar County Jail. He once quipped he spent more time in jail than any other Marianist but couldn’t fix any traffic tickets. In recognition of his care and compassion, he was nominated in 1985 for the “Call to Brotherhood Award” in the category of “Healer” presented by the National Assembly of Religious Brothers.

In April 1997, Brother Al was awarded the “Guardian Angel Award” by the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and San Antonio’s diocesan paper Today’s Catholic. Among many who provided input regarding the award was a mother who recalled that after her father died, Brother Al often checked in on her. “He knew I was a single parent and was caring for my handicapped brother,” she said. “Brother Al taught our family the true gift of giving from the heart.”

In the mid-1990s, Brother Al retired from active ministry due to failing health. In 2002, he quietly celebrated his 50th anniversary as a Marianist. Last year, he was diagnosed with inoperable lung and brain cancer. Brother Al died peacefully at the Marianist Residence on the campus of St. Mary’s University.

He is survived by his two sisters, Florentine Sikich of Libertyville, Illinois, and Lucille Lewis of Denver, Colorado, and was preceded in death by his brother, Leo Sutkus of Waukegan, Illinois. May he rest in peace.

2004-08

The Province of France and the Region of Congo/Ivory Coast recommend to our fraternal prayers our dear Brother, MULENDU ANACLET NAKAHOSA, who died in the service of the Blessed Virgin Mary on February 8, 2004, in Kinshasa, Dem. Rep. of Congo, in the 32nd year of his age and the 4th year of his religious profession.

Mulendu Anaclet Nakahosa was born on February 11, 1970, at Mutelo, in the region of Kitwit (Democratic Republic of the Congo, called Zaire at the time), the third of eight children of the couple Jean-Baptiste and Romaine. His father made a career as teacher and school principal at Pay-Pongila, about six hundred kilometers east of Kinshasa. That is where Anaclet also made his secondary studies. A young man of enormous vitality, sometimes given to fighting, and at the same time very fervent. Anaclet joined several young Christian groups, in particular, the Mass servants and, a little later, the Focolari, where his vocation matured. François, his younger brother by two years, had already begun formation for the priesthood (he will be ordained a Jesuit priest in July 2004) when Anaclet revealed his own desire to give himself to God in the religious life. Like many young people “from the interior”, he went to Kinshasa to find his place in life and, especially, what Congregaton to join. For a year he tried the formation as a farmer then he entered the postulate of the Brothers of Charity, at Bukavu, and began his novitiate at Kasaï. Unfortunately, this novitiate experienced difficulties and was closed in the course of the year and all the novices sent away.

Anaclet returned to Kinshasa where he met the Marianists, who had been established there since 1994. After his postulate in Brazzaville – 1997-1998 – he was a novice in Abidjan, where he made his first vows on June 26, 2000. He was oriented towards a formation as a teacher of English. After a few months of intensive study of that language in Kinshasa, he left for the scholasticate in Nairobi. There he was a hard-working student and, at the same time, a serious, zealous, dynamic religious. He made many friends and the Congolese students in Kenya elected him president of their association.

In March-April, 2003, he became very ill. A very bad case of the flu, it was thought. When he got over it, it was not thought necessary to examine him for anything else. But he had hardly begun his vacation in Kinshasa in July, when he was brought low by a much more serious illness, cancer of the liver. His Superiors, thinking that he could be operated on, sent him to a specialized clinic in Bordeaux. On the day of his admission, September 19, he learned that his case was hopeless. From that moment on, his way of the cross – and also of grace and sanctification – was played out in three stages: at the clinic until November 14, hospitalized at home at the Maison Chaminade – his room was just above the Founder’s – until January 3, 2004, the date when he returned to Kinshasa, five weeks at Limete, where he died on February 8 about 3:00 pm, surrounded by his family and many members of the Marianist Family. The latter had just said the Three O’clock Prayer, united at the foot of the cross, in the Hope of the Resurrection, with Mary and St. John.

“The cross?” the Provincial wrote at the time, “Anaclet carried it, with a lot of faith and hope and I was one of the witnesses of his impressive journey along that long and painful preparation for the passage from earthy life to heavenly life!” “That’s very true!” say not only the Marianists of Bordeaux, the chaplains, the nursing staff, but also visitors from afar – even from Rome, from Nairobi, from the USA, from Canada – and his many correspondents, whom he contacted through various forms of communication and whom he comforted as much as they comforted him by their intense prayer and their signs of friendship. His fellow-brother and friend Jean Bosco wrote from Nairobi: “Encouragement and courage were regularly in the mouth and on the lips of Anaclet. In every conversation, by telephone or e-mail, he would say: ‘Bosco, I love you and be brave!’” And he sketched a brief portrait of Anaclet: “A handsome fellow, a good man, orderly, obliging, jovial, brave, capable of initiative, conscientious in his work, even scrupulous, because he was afraid of making a mistake; a man of faith, a soldier of Mary, etc.”

The 4th station of his way of the cross was probably the unforgettable evening of October 11, when he was able to escape from the clinic for a few hours in order to make his perpetual vows in the chapel of the Madeleine, surrounded by many Brothers, among whom Fr. Armbruster celebrating his 50th jubilee as a priest and Bro. Jean-Paul, his 25th jubilee of profession, while his brother François officiated as deacon and blessed Anaclet in the name of his family. “My prayer had always been to ‘die’ a Marianist religious,” he wrote shortly afterward, full of joy.

“Sick, Anaclet became known in a short time, not only to the entire Marianist world, but he also caused an extraordinary outpouring of prayer. How many have been confronted, because of him, by the redoubtable question: what does it mean to die young? Is it better to be cured than to leave for the beyond? What are we asking Fr. Chaminade to obtain for Anaclet, after all: a bodily cure or sanctity?” a fellow-brother wrote. His brother François: “Anaclet did nothing extraordinary! He lived simply like every good religious. The last seven months of his earthly journey remain the most beautiful and the most important time of his life. That long and difficult trial of union with the passion of Christ gave Anaclet the chance to live his Faith intensely and in a radical way… and to understand the deep and decisive meaning of the promise to follow Christ, Poor, Humble, Suffering, Chaste and Obedient…” And Anaclet: “To be united with Christ is not the task of a priest or religious only, but of every baptized person; the destiny/vocation of all of us is the journey toward sanctity.”

2004-07

The Province of the United States of America recommends to our fraternal prayers our dear Brother, John T. Kurz, who died in the service of the Blessed Virgin Mary on January 27, 2004, in San Antonio, Texas, in the 85th year of his age and the 65th year of his religious profession.

John Kurz was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on August 11, 1919, to Nicholas and Anna Murray Kurz. John and his older brother, Nicholas, attended St. Barbara’s grade school in St. Louis, where they developed an avid interest in athletics. Nicholas was killed in the Pacific while serving in the U. S. Navy during World War II. John attended Chaminade College Prep his freshman year, and transferred the next year to McBride High School, where he graduated in 1938.

Brother John entered the novitiate of the Society of Mary on September 4, 1938, just after his 19th birthday. He professed first vows at Maryhurst in St. Louis on September 5, 1939, and his perpetual vows on August 5, 1943, at Marynook in Galesville, Wisconsin. He received his bachelor’s degree in education at the University of Dayton in 1941, and attended Saint Louis University during the summers to obtain his master’s degree in sociology in 1952.

Brother John was devoted teacher and educator. “He was enthusiastic about teaching, and about the students,” said Father Joe Uvietta, who worked with Brother John when he taught in St. Louis. “He was strict – a consummate teacher who was demanding — but never unfair,” said Father Joe. “He really cared about the students, and they respected him.”

Of the 47 years of his religious life working in education, Brother John taught in schools in Missouri, Texas, Illinois and Wisconsin. He spent several years at St. Louis schools: Chaminade College Prep and St. Mary’s High School, as well as St. John Vianney, where he taught more than 10 years intermittently from 1970 to 1991. He also taught at Messmer and Don Bosco High Schools in Milwaukee, and St. Joseph in Victoria, Texas. Brother John taught business classes as well as typing, bookkeeping and social studies courses. He also coached football, basketball, wrestling, baseball, and boxing and served as athletic director of Don Bosco High School. During his tenure at Don Bosco, the following was written about him: “If there is any quality that stands out in Brother John Kurz, it is a spirit of jovial friendliness. Under a rough, hearty exterior he has a truly warm and kindly heart.”

Brother John served as community director at four Marianist communities throughout his lifetime. In 1964, he was vocation recruiter at Maryhurst for the former St. Louis Province. During his career, Brother John served as principal at three schools: St. Joseph High School in Texas; Roncalli High School, Pueblo, Colorado; and Nolan Catholic High School (formerly Our Lady of Victory School) in Fort Worth. One of his highest tributes appeared in the Victoria daily newspaper: “. . . to the 700-odd boys in the school, Brother John, who knows them all by their first names and knows and asks about their own brothers and sisters, is as close to being a real flesh-and-blood brother as any non-related person can get.” Brother John’s last teaching assignment was at St. John Vianney, where he retired in 1991.

Brother John lived at the Marianist Residence on the campus of St. Mary’s University in San Antonio from 1993 until his death. He continued to communicate with former students by mail, phone and personal visits and he participated in the Residence’s “Adopt-a-Brother” volunteer program with the University.

Brother John died of complications of renal failure at the Marianist Residence. He is survived by several cousins in the St. Louis area and a cousin in Augusta, Georgia. May he rest in peace.

2004-06

The Province of the United States of America recommends to our fraternal prayers our dear Brother, JOHN SHEEHY, who died in the service of the Blessed Virgin Mary on January 25, 2004, in San Antonio, Texas, in the 68th year of his age and the 50th year of his religious profession.

John Joseph Sheehy was born February 27, 1936, in Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland, to William and Helen McGarry Sheehy. His father, a shoemaker, immigrated with young John and their family to the United States in 1951. At 15, John enrolled at Central Catholic High School in East St. Louis, Illinois.

In 1952 he entered the postulate at Maryhurst in St. Louis and a year later was admitted as a novice into the Society of Mary. After his first profession of vows at Galesville, Wisconsin, on August 15, 1954, he entered the Scholasticate at Maryhurst and later enrolled at St. Mary’s University in San Antonio. There he obtained a bachelor’s degree in History and English in 1957. Brother John professed final vows in St. Louis on August 21, 1960. He attended St. Louis University for post-graduate studies in European and American history during the summers of 1963 to 1967. In 1971, Brother John became a naturalized citizen of the United States.

Brother John began his secondary teaching career at Central Catholic High School (1957-61) in San Antonio under the leadership of Brother Andrew Cremer. His subsequent assignments, except for a year at St. Michael’s in Chicago (1965-66), were in St. Louis at three high schools: St. Mary’s (1961-63, 1989-98), Chaminade (1963-65, 1969-86) and McBride (1966-69). Brother John taught religion, English, social studies and world history and served as moderator for the schools’ newspapers and yearbook. By 1986 he was semi-retired from teaching and retired full time from the classroom in 1990.

Brother John was an avid sports enthusiast, reader and conversationalist. He eagerly engaged others in friendly debate on issues ranging from sports to politics to theology. “He was a dedicated educator with an avid interest in politics,” recalled Father Tim Dwyer, who was a member of Brother John’s first profession class. While in St. Louis, Brother John worked on the campaign of Senator Thomas Eagleton.

After being diagnosed with congestive heart failure and other health problems in 1999, he was assigned to the Marianist Residence in San Antonio. “I very much admired how he dealt with his illness,” said Father Tim. “He always had a good perspective.”

Brother John died from complications of heart failure at the Marianist Residence in San Antonio. He would have celebrated his 50th anniversary of his religious profession this year. Brother John is survived by a sister, Theresa Sheehy, of Herculaneum, Missouri, and Alan Carron, a brother-in-law, of Tryon, North Carolina, and several nieces and nephews.

2004-05

The Province of Zaragoza recommends to our fraternal prayers our dear Brother, DANIEL LASAGABáSTER ARRATíBEL, who died in the service of the Blessed Virgin Mary on January 21, 2004, in Zaragoza in the 95th year of his age and the 78th year of his religious profession.

Daniel Lasagabáster Arratíbel was born July 9, 1909 in Aozaraza (Guipúzcoa). His parents were Faustino and Margarita. On September 28, 1921 he went to the Postulate in Escoriaza. He began his novitiate on September 1, 1925, in Elorrio and made his first profession in the same place on September 5, 1926.

After his profession he went to Vitoria to begin his studies in the scholasticate. He received the following degrees: Bachelor in Letters from the University of Valladolid in September of 1930, and a Licentiate in History from the University of Zaragoza. which he received shortly after the end of the civil war.

 He carried out his teaching career in the following places and years: – Colegio Nuestra Señora del Prado in Ciudad Real in 1928-1929 – Colegio Santa María in Vitoria from 1930 to 1933 where he also prepared for military service. – the Postulate in Escoriaza from 1935 to 1942, teaching the third year postulants, except that in 1937, during the civil war, he was recruited but remained in Vitoria where he fulfilled the required military duties. – in September of 1942 he moved to Segovia to teach in the scholasticate – Colegio Nuestra Señora del Pilar in Jerez de la Frontera (Cádiz) from 1943 to 1949 – Colegio Nuestra Señora del Pilar in Tangiers from 1949 to 1951 – Colegio Sagrado Corazón in Tetuan from 1951 to 1954 – Colegio El Pilar in Valencia from 1954 to 1958 – Colegio Santa María del Pilar in Zaragoza from 1958 to 1960 – the years 1960 to 1966 were spent in personal reflection and prayer in various monasteries in Spain – Colegio Nuestra Señora del Pilar in Logroño from 1966 to 1969 – Colegio Santa María in Vitoria from 1969 to 1970 where he worked in the library – Colegio Santa María del Pilar in Zaragoza from 1970 to 2004 when he died in the service of the Blessed Virgin on January 21.

Daniel was a restless person and a tireless worker, with a passion for the person of William Joseph Chaminade and our origins. He researched the historical background of our Founder, above all during the time of his exile in Zaragoza. Devotion to Mary was evident in his left, especially under the title of Our Lady of the Pillar. He studied the history of this devotion with enthusiasm and eagerness. Of his various writings we cite especially: The environment of William Joseph Chaminade exiled in Zaragoza 1797-1800. This book brings to life before our eyes the Zaragoza of those days and the activities of its inhabitants. It enables us to accompany the Founder to the most typical places of the city.

The History of the Holy Chapel of the Pillar is the result of an in-depth and serious study of manuscripts and collections of papers dealing with the tradition in the Library of the Basilica.

May the Lord and Our Mother, the Virgin of the Pillar, receive him and may he rest in peace.

2004-04

The Region of Switzerland and its Sector Togo recommend to our fraternal prayers our dear Brother, JOST SCHRANZ, who died in the service of the Blessed Virgin Mary on January 16, 2004, at Zürich, Switzerland, in the 83rd year of his age and the 66th of his religious profession.

Jost Schranz was born on October 15, 1921, in Altdorf, in the canton of Uri, in the heart of Switzerland, as the first son of Jost and Franziska, nee Indergand. After him, another son would be born and a daughter. After attending the school for boys at Altdorf, which at that time was in the hands of the Marianists, he was recruited by the principal, Bro. Bernard Schumacher, and sent to the postulate in Martigny in 1935. Two years later, he entered the novitiate at St.-Remy-Signeulx where Fr. Hilzendeger was the novice-master. He made his first vows on September 24, 1938.

After attending the Normal School in Sion and obtaining his primary teacher’s diploma, he began his life as a teacher at Brig in 1941. He made his perpetual vows on July 31, 1943, in Fribourg. He became ill and, at first, spent some time in Montana, then passed his convalescence in Martigny, at the same being prefect of the postulate and professor of German at the Collège Ste-Marie. From 1946-1950, he was again at Brig as teacher in the 5th and 6th primary classes. After the death of Bro. Bernard Schumacher in 1950, then principal of the school for boys at Altdorf, Bro. Schranz was named by his superiors to succeed him. As Headmaster, he taught 7th and 8th primary classes at first. Then he prepared to teach in secondary school. In 1959, after obtaining that diploma from the University of Fribourg, he joined the Catholic Secondary School on Sumatrastrassse in Zurich founded in 1949, and he taught there until his retirement in 1987. Even after retiring, he continued to replace his colleagues, to give courses in English and make-up courses and to supervise the students during recreations.

In the summer of 2003, the community on Sumatrastrasse was given up and the three brothers who lived there moved to the community in Dietikon. Bro. Schranz was happy in this new environment, and continued going to Zurich to render his services at the school on Sumatrastrasse and in the parish. A minor health problem in the following November did nothing to foretell such an unpredictable death. He died very rapidly from pneumonia which was not detected or cared for soon enough. May God and the Virgin Mary be his joy now!

For the records: How did Bro. Schranz find his way to us? He told it in the following way. Bro. Schumacher belonged to the old school of teachers. For certain faults the stick was foreseen. One day, during recreation, Jost Schranz did something that deserved punishment. So, Bro. Schumacher said to him: “After class, come and see me in the ‘Urnerstübchen’ (that is what he called the little room where corporal punishments took place). Jost went there somewhat fearfully. What a surprise he had when Bro. Schumacher, instead of beating him, asked him: “Have you ever thought of becoming a Marianist?” We don’t have to tell you that, on that day, Jost did not receive a punishment.

Bro. Jost Schranz had the soul of a teacher. During his many years at the secondary school, he taught mathematics and languages above all. He felt at ease amongst the students. He taught with enthusiasm and great ability. He knew how to interest the young. With a touch of humor he was able to wield authority in a very natural way.

Bro. Schranz was gifted for languages. Besides French, he learned Italian, then English. Because of his preference for English, he spent several summer vacations in England to perfect his use of that language. We don’t have to tell you that he put lots of enthusiasm into the English courses that he gave at the secondary school in Zurich and to the people who wanted to become familiar with that tongue. Even after retiring, he continued to give private lessons.

During his whole life, he continued forming himself. He took advantage of vacations to take courses. Besides he loved to read, to listen to conferences and concerts, and to see interesting films.

Bro. Schranz took care of his health. In order to stay in form, he practiced sports: cycling, skiing, walking; he liked to take long hikes in the mountains with his fellow brothers and friends.

Although he did not show it, our fellow brother was deeply religious. He searched for God. He loved to preside at Laudes and Vespers in community and during retreats using melodies adapted to singing the psalms. For many years, he presided at the recitation of the rosary in the parish church and he fulfilled the office of reader, too.

Bro. Jost Schranz has now passed the gates of eternity. Mary certainly welcomed him with the words written on the tombstone of the Marianists in Sion: “They gave themselves to me for life; I will be their joy in eternity.”

2004-03

The Region of Japan recommends to our fraternal prayers our dear Brother, IWAMATSU SIMON HIKAZUDANI, who died in the service of the Blessed Virgin Mary on January 8, 2004, in Tokyo, in the 101st year of his age and the 81st year of his religious profession.

Simon Iwamatsu Hikazudani, son of Tomijira and Jiwa Hikazudani, was born at Kuroshima, Nagasaki, on October 27, 1903.  In April 1915, he was a student at Collège Sainte Marie in Nagasaki, and then entered the postulate of the Society of Mary.  From then on, as a working Brother, he discreetly consecrated his entire life to the service of his fellow Brothers and of his neighbor.

He began his novitiate in 1921 and made his first profession on April 1, 1923.  After his profession, he took care of the kitchen work at Collège Sainte Marie and made his perpetual vows on August 20, 1928.  In April 1930, he was at Star of the Sea School (Kaisei) in Nagasaki, faithfully carrying out different services for his Brothers.  In October of the same year, he was put in charge of the printing press at Maison Chaminade in Tokyo.  From 1933 to 1941, he was cook at Collège Sainte Marie in Nagasaki, before being put in charge of different tasks in the Brothers’ residence at Morning Star School (Gyosei) in Tokyo in January 1942.  From 1942 to 1944, the government called Bro. Hikazudani to work in a war factory.  After he was liberated from this work in 1944, he took care of the novitiate of the Province of Japan newly installed at Kiyose.  In April 1951, he was at the Marianist house in Nagasaki as sacristan and in charge of the school store.  Because of tuberculosis, he was hospitalized in November 1966 in Sakuramachi hospital in the suburbs of Tokyo, and followed a convalescence of two and a half years (from September 1967 until February 1970) at the Marianist residence in Oiso.  After his cure, he was put in charge of various occupations and was sacristan at the residence of the Star of the Sea School (Kaisei) in Nagasaki, but from then on, he often suffered from pneumonia and was hospitalized each time.  In June 2000, he entered the Chaminade retirement home in Tokyo.

 On October 27, 2003, he celebrated his 100th birthday.  But as a result of complications from pneumonia, he died peacefully on January 8, 2004.

 He spent his 100 years humbly and discreetly, without a dazzling career, however he was an exemplary religious.  He was loved by all the nurses, while he was hospitalized, because of his joyful, humble disposition, and above all, because of his smile, which he always had.  As one nurse said, it was rather the nurses who received encouragement and consolation from him simply because he was there.

2004-02

The Province of the United States of America recommends to our fraternal prayers our dear Brother, EDWARD KIEFER, who died in the service of the Blessed Virgin Mary on January 7, 2004, in San Antonio, Texas, in the 57th year of his age and the 38th year of his religious profession.

Edward Bernard Kiefer was born April 2, 1947, in Ferguson, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis, the oldest of three children born to Edward and Hilda Albers Kiefer. He attended Sts. John and James grade school in Ferguson and St. Thomas Aquinas High School in nearby Florissant. Bro. John Kurz, vocation director for the St. Louis Province, sparked Ed’s interest in the Marianists. After graduating from high school in 1965, he entered the novitiate in Galesville, Wisconsin, and professed first vows there on August 22, 1966.

Bro. Ed graduated from St. Mary’s University in 1970 with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics. Shortly after graduation, he served as a math teacher at St. Joseph’s High School in Victoria, Texas, followed by a teaching assignment in Wisconsin. Bro. Ed professed final vows at Our Lady of the Pillar parish in St. Louis on August 5, 1972. In 1975, he returned to St. Louis and became director of the youth retreat team at the Marianist Apostolic Center (now the Marianist Retreat and Conference Center) in Eureka, Missouri, and taught math the following two years at St. John Vianney High School.

Bro. Ed moved to Fort Worth in 1978 where he served as vice principal at Nolan Catholic High School. During this time, Bro. Ed completed a master’s degree in religious education from St. Mary’s University. From 1982-1988 he was assigned to the pastoral ministry team at St. Mary of the Assumption parish in Fort Worth.

After studying a year in California at the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley, Bro. Ed moved to Louisiana to work for the New Orleans Archdiocese. Beginning as associate director for the catechumenate, he was later promoted to director of the Office of Religious Education for the Archdiocese, which included more than 100 elementary and secondary schools under his leadership.

Bro. Ed was known throughout the Archdiocese as a “servant leader.” In nominating Bro. Ed for the National Conference for Catechetical Leadership’s 2004 distinguished service award, John Valenti of the diocese of Jackson, Mississippi, wrote: “Ed is one of the most humble persons I have ever met. When he first arrived in New Orleans and no religious education position was available, he took a job driving a bus for a local Catholic school. [He embodied] the qualities of a true leader: inclusive, fair and compassionate.”

During his years in New Orleans, Bro. Ed served as community director of the Madeleine House, an extended lay and professed Marianist community, which he co-founded with Fr. Bernard Lee. Fr. Bernie fondly recalls Bro. Ed’s commitment to the community. “He was delighted to be a part of a community in which professed Marianists lived in half the house, and lay Marianists in the other half. He had such a remarkable relationship with the children in the house – and they with him.”

Most recently, Bro. Ed served as a member of the Committee of the 2002 Inaugural Assembly of the Province of the United States and was serving on the Province Directory Committee at the time of his death.

In the fall of 2002, Bro. Ed was diagnosed with melanoma – a form of skin cancer which required numerous surgeries and treatment therapies. Bro. Ed died from complications of melanoma at the St. Joseph’s Healthcare Center at the Marianist Residence on the campus of St. Mary’s University in San Antonio.

“For 30 years, Ed’s kindness, concern and prayer for me never wavered,” said Bro. Jim Barrette, who was invited to become a Marianist by Bro. Ed and became a lifelong friend. “Ed was committed and tenacious about all the relationships in his life.”

In his letter for vows Bro. Ed wrote: “I think that it was through Mary that God has given me this vocation to the Society and that I should therefore dedicate my life to God for the honor of her.” Bro. Ed is survived by two sisters, with whom he had a close relationship: Pam Boswell of Redlands, California, and Linda Mitchell of St. Peters, Missouri.

We thank God for his dedication and the gifts he graciously shared – the gifts of teaching, a compassionate heart and tireless leadership. May he rest in peace.

2004-01

The Province of Zaragoza recommends to our fraternal prayers our dear Brother, PEDRO-MARíA GONGUETA URIZARBARRENA, who died in the service of the Blessed Virgin Mary on January 4, 2004, in Valencia, Spain, in the 65th year of his age and the 48th year of his religious profession.

Pedro Gongueta Urizarbarrena was born on June 7, 1939 in Elorrio (Vizcaya), where the Marianists had a novitiate from 1924 to 1970. His parents were Emilio and Emilia. On September 29, 1951 he went to the postulate in Escoriaza. He entered the novitiate in Elorrio on September 11, 1955 and made his first profession there the following year on September 12. On Augusut 15, 1963, he made his perpetual profession in Vitoria.

After his first profession he went to Zaragoza to study in the scholasticate. He obtained the degrees of Bachelor in June of 1958 at the Institute in Huesca, and a Licentiate in History at the University in Valencia.

He carried out his teaching career at the following places: Colegio Santa Maria in Vitoria from 1959 to 1965, teaching small children; Colegio Santa Maria del Pilar in Zaragoza from 1966 to 1968 where he taught first year students; Colegio El Pilar in Valencia from 1968 to 1977. In 1977, after Christmas vacation, he was assigned temporarily to the community at the Provincial Administration in Madrid as an assistant. From 1977 to 1980 he was at Colegio El Pilar in Valencia, and from 1980 to 1985 at Colegio Santa Maria in Vitoria. From 1985 to 1988 he taught at Colegio Nuestra Señora del Pilar in Logroño, and from the latter year until his death in 2004 he was at Colegio El Pilar in Valencia.

1997 was a very difficult year for Pedro because the medical team, after amputating a leg as a result of acute diabetes, declared him handicapped. He died in the service of the Blessed Virgin on January 4, 2004.

Pedro, like the Magi and all humans, had traveled far in his lifetime. For Pedro, in spite of his relatively few years, the road was especially long, hard and burdensome, above all in the last ten years of illness with constantly growing complications. But Pedro had followed the star. In fact, Pedro knew how to discover in his life the numerous stars that the Lord placed in his path: the faith transmitted by his parents, the love of his older siblings, the Marianist vocation which allowed him to walk through life with Mary’s hand to whom he consecrated his life, his fellow Marianists in the various communities he lived in whom he loved and who loved him. In his last years the most precious stars have been his friends, his university companions, his colleague professors, and his friends among his students. They have all loved him and shown him much affection. They have been the true stars which have motivated him to continue on the road. He would certainly laugh at these words about his journey. But the stars have also been his almost unexplain-able suffering which he accepted with more and more patience. Finally, Pedro, guided by the stars that God has placed on his road has arrived like the Magi to Jesus and has pros-trated himself at his feet and profoundly adored him saying, “You, Lord, are my Lord and my God.”

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