Marists All: Issue #5 May 1988
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ISSUE # 5
May 1988
FROM BR. THOMAS KELLY: ('53): The Marists All newsletter arrived in
Sargodha, Pakistan, just before Christmas, and I could not think of a more
welcomed Christmas gift. Reading through the list of names of those who
receive the newsletter brought back many fond memories of our days sweating
under the lash of Tee Mike on the project, as well as the many years so many of
us worked together at our various schools.
How come Pakistan? Let me bring you up to date. After leaving the Mount in
1979, I spent three years teaching at Marcellin College in Auckland, New
Zealand. There I had several long talks with Br. Richard Dunleavy, now
Assistant General, exploring the possibility of joint ventures among the English
speaking provinces. Last April, talk moved to action when I received a call from
Rome asking me to attend a meeting in Islamabad with the Bishop of
Rawalpindi who is asking the Marist Brothers to start and administer and, to
some degree, staff a new school in Sargodha. Thus, we have agreed to conduct
an educational complex that will consist of an elementary and secondary school
and of a hostel; the school will accommodate 600 boys and the hostel
200.Tuition will be charged to help defray the running expenses of the school,
about $2.80 per student per month; the real cost will be three times that. Until
hostel facilities are available, the school will try to finance student
transportation; five cents a day will provide a student with a "tonga" ride, horse
and cart style, from village to school.
Poverty conditions are so extreme in the villages that our real hope for success
can only be achieved if we have the students live at the school. Our site will be a
training and resource center for teachers working in surrounding village schools,
where the literacy rate is negligible. The diocese of Islamabad-Rawalpindi has
provided land, German Bishops will pay construction costs of the classrooms,
the Marist Brothers' Generalate in Rome has donated $5000, and the students of
the Marist Brothers School in Kobe, Japan, have adopted our children. The
Poughkeepsie province has contributed $1000, as have the students and faculty
of the Mount and CCHS, Lawrence. Family and friends are also helping. We
face the immediate problem of finding funds to pay the salaries of two teachers,
about $120 each per month, and we must look for benefactors who will help
with the costs of constructing the hostel. Your small help with books or
transportation or your larger help with construction may be sent to Br. Pat Magee
at the Mount, 4300 Murdock, Bronx, 10466.
Keep us in your prayers, and I hope that many of the "Marists All" community
will write; a letter from the States is always a great treat. (Catholic Church,
College Rd., Sargodha, Pakistan)
CONGRATULATIONS to Br. Sean Sammon, Br. Ken Hogan, and the
Poughkeepsie Province for the fine inaugural issue of the new publication of the
province entitled: Today's Marist Brother.
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GMC PICNIC: All are invited to the annual Greater Marist Community picnic
to be held this year at the Mount at the garth and ball field areas. It is scheduled
for Saturday, September 17th, from noon to 5 or 6 p.m. Indoor facilities are
available in case of rain. Bring your own beverage and a pot-luck dish for a
shared meal. Gus Nolan would like to have a clue of how many to expect. It
would be helpful if you dropped him a note at the college; his phone: 914-454-
6116.
FROM BR. JOE BELANGER ('43): There are currently six Brothers at Marist
College. At 77, Nilus is supposedly retired, but he is daily consulted for this or
that infrastructure. He lives at the top of Champagnat Hall, where he keeps busy
from morning till the wee hours of the night working with electronic gear and
with satellite reception, and writing Memories on his PC. As keen as ever, he has
no thought of moving until carried out!
Cornelius Russell ('47), seventy years old on February 29, is teaching three
courses. Joe Bell is still going strong with two French and two English courses
per semester, running foreign film programs, finding host families for summer
residence of children of Spanish friends from Madrid, and doing research in
Twelfth Century French literature. He now lives in Champagnat 834 (914-471-
6387). Dr. Ziggy Rancourt ('48) is carrying a full load of math, and has turned
the Gate House into a model chalet. Donald Kelly ('61) has a full load of math
and computer science, and Joe Sacino ('73) a full load of business; Joe is also
commuting regularly to St. Peter's for a PhD in business. Connie, Don, and Joe
S. all live in Canterbury Gardens, some five miles from campus, where they each
have a rent free apartment in exchange for availability to the two hundred odd
students who also live there.
Ernie Belanger has been living in Madrid for the past twenty years with his wife
Alicia and their two children Amaya, 14, and Diego, 12. Ernie teaches
computers at the American School of Madrid and has just co-published a book
on LOGO in Spanish. His expertise in Computers in Education is regularly
called upon in Casablanca, Vienna, Brussels, and all over Spain. (Sres de
Belanger, 240 Castellana 8-D, 28046 Madrid, Spain)
FROM BUD (Kevin Anthony) NOLAN ('51): I just re-read Marists All, #4. I
very much appreciate what you have been doing in promoting good
communications for all these good people. I have been teaching English at
Orangeburg, N. Y., ever since I left the order back in 1969, and I have been
living in Orange County for the past sixteen years. My wife, who used to teach,
is now a nurse at St. Luke's Hospital in Newburgh, My kids, Christie, 16, and
Matt, 14, are also doing well. My daughter is a varsity runner, and my son has
more expensive tastes, skiing and tennis. I am in regular contact with Declan,
Larry Sullivan, and Jack Redmond, and I enjoy hearing how lots of other people
I have known are doing. (RD 4, Box 563, Sycamore Drive, New Windsor, New
York, 12550)
FROM BILL CARROLL ('61): After leaving the Brothers in '68, I worked for
Catholic Charities while completing an MSW. Next followed four years working
for the New York City agency which funded and monitored drug rehabilitation
agencies. Frustration with major bureaucracy, coupled with the desire of my wife
at the time for living in the country, led to my return to the Hudson Valley. I
started in 1976 as assistant to the director of a Poughkeepsie agency providing a
variety of services to disabled people. I was in the right place at the right time
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when he left in 1978; I have been the Executive Director of Rehabilitation
Programs since then.
Part of me hesitated in writing this letter, as I am divorced and felt like an
exception in reading past newsletters. However, since that's the way it is and I
have been happily involved with another woman for three years, I said the hell
with it! Although I have no children, my immediate family includes four cats.
Playing "hoop" is still one of my things, and I remember the "Out the Door by
Four" boys, and coming late for afternoon office at the College. I see Br. Don
Kelly pretty often since he's back at Marist College, and Jack Meehan
occasionally. (Box 388, Pleasant Valley, N. Y., 12569; 914-635-3040; better
chance, wk: 485-9993)
FROM BOB (Martin Felician) SLATTERY ('50): I was tempted to begin with
"Laudetur Jesus Christus," but I suppose that would be an almost forgotten
custom, In fact, however, that phrase sums up, with its reply, my daily thoughts.
I am in fine health, working full time and hard at Col1age Champittet, a mixed
Catholic "high school" run by the Canons Regular of the Grand St. Bernard (you
know, the dogs), Teaching English and religion in French is quite different from
the old days. I have had very little contact with my Brothers since moving to
Switzerland (letters from Ken V., a visit to Fribourg, a visit from Rene Roy),
although my parish elementary school is run by the Marist Brothers.
So many memories were awakened by the newsletters! (I did not receive #2 so
I'm sending a check to cover the postage .. editor's note: for $200!) Among my
memories: Friday night dances at CCHS followed by basketball the next day on
a Saturday fast; starting a track team at Lourdes from scratch; the hundreds of
cassocks I mended (I have an old Singer still); the miles of cord I made (anyone
want a length?); the old hymns: "Oh Mother, I could weep for mirth .,." (If
anyone could dig up an old Laudate and/or the Marist Hymn Book, I'd love to
have them); the skating rink and cranberry bog at Tyngsboro; picnics by the river
at Esopus (I took out some old pictures when I received the first Marists All;
what memories!); moving day, by truck.
Br. Marie Feliciani and his fresh strawberries (accompanied by impromptu
French lessons); old Br. Philip and his Tyngsboro rose garden; Br. Marcel Henry
and his "surprise" visits to the classes in Lawrence; Br. Peter Hilary and his
"What did you do with the razor blades I gave you last month?"; Br. Leo Camille
"Mon frere, prononcez 'phoque, phoque, phoque!'"; Br. Paul Ambrose ... always
Brother Master for me, And, and, and, ad infinitum. Seeing the names of those I
worked with, and former teachers and students, is like stirring up an ant hill of
memories.
As after being dispensed from my vows (I prefer that expression to "leaving the
Brothers") I taught in Westchester for six years, and then after a summer in Paris,
decided to move to Europe. I found a position in Switzerland in a school that
closed two years later; the first few summers I returned to the States where I had
a summer job as Escort-Interpreter for the Department of State with Operations
Crossroads Africa, After several years of part time jobs in several schools and an
eventful eight months as head cook (!) in a Swiss restaurant, I settled down in
the school where I teach now (twenty-five minutes by bus from home). I have
remained single, so my work absorbs almost all my time. I have acquired a third
"home country" for my holidays: Crete. If ever anyone passes by in July or
August, the little village of Pitsidia in the south central part of Crete (see
National Geographic: August, 1986), do stop by; go to the seashore village of
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Matala and ask for Bob, the Swiss-American (also known as Papou or Yeros). I
have built a house down there for my retirement, half finished. Let me finish by
saying, once a Marist always a Marist. My best to all, and pray for me. (rue des
Cretes 5, 1018 Lausanne, Suisse; phone: 021-36,34.32)
FROM BR. PAT MAGEE ('43): Your Marists All has been well received by the
monks of Champagnat Hall here at the Mount. In fact, it was duplicated so that
more would have a chance to read it at their leisure. It has had a meaningful
impact on all of us. I have shared it with Tom Morgan who has been with the
Brothers at both St. Agnes High and at the Mount for many, many years. He has
met many Brothers in the passage of time. He would like to be on your mailing
list, (Mount, 4300 Murdock Avenue, Bronx, N. Y., 10466)
FROM BR. LEONARD VOEGTLE ('50): Feel like a professional mourner of
late.I returned from settling Dad's affairs in Florida on January 27 to learn that
Mike (Jerry, Godwin Anselm) O'Keefe ('42) had finally succumbed to his long
illness.A few days after his burial, we got word that Jean Reid, provincial of
Iberville, had died in his sleep: massive stroke at 59. He was a good friend, so I
was pleased to be asked to represent the Esopus province with Steve Urban;
George Fontana and Pat McNamara went for Poughkeepsie. Despite the sadness
of the occasion it was good to see many old friends again: some from
scholasticate days, like Yvon Maurice and Andrew Donatian, and others I'd
known in Rome or from my visits to Africa, plus several who'd taught at Molloy,
such as Jean Jacques Perreault and Guy de la Sablonniere.
Now I'm starting to catch up with the avalanche of sympathy cards. The support
and affirmation of Marist friends is a magnificent testimony to our brotherhood
at times like this; many of those expressions of solidarity and prayer were
prompted by the notice in Marists All, so thanks. Recently Sarge's brother, Guy,
died (Sigibert Leo, '42)., as did Gills brother, Larry Joe's sister, Jim Devine's
sister, Francis Regis' father, Leo Richard's mother, Martin Thomas' sister ...
Edmund Sheehan will be principal in Bayonne next year, Michael Lineen, in
Brownsville, Kevin Handibode in Miami .., I'll be in Rome from mid-May to the
end of June. (1241 Kennedy Boulevard, Bayonne, N. J., 07002)
FROM JIM (Raymond Patrick) MORRISSEY ('50): Jean and I have had three
sons attend Marist College; the youngest is tight walking his way toward
graduation this May. So we have spent many pleasant moments at the College
and watched it grow. Our youngest daughter has one more year of college after
she returns from the American College in Paris, So the undergraduate tuitions
are near the end, but our three grandchildren present another opportunity to start
over. I decided to take advantage of a retirement incentive and leave the Math
Chair at Northport High next June, 1989. I have nothing planned yet, but I have
the strongest feeling that something lies ahead that will be very meaningful.
Jean and I celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary this June. We have been
members for 22 years in the Teams of Our Lady (Equipe Notre Dame), founded
in France after WWII to help married couples advance in spirituality. Groups are
formed of five or six couples and a chaplain, and they meet once a month for a
shared meal, prayer, meditation, and prepared discussion. Our membership in the
Teams has been a great gift in our lives which we would be happy to share
through literature and phone calls. (47 Oakledge Drive, East Northport, N. Y.,
11731; phone: 516-368-1587)
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FROM RICH (Anthony Richard) SCHIAVONE ('55): My history with Marists
includes 52-54 Esopus under Joe Damian; 54-56 Tyngsboro ... fond memories of
J. P. Luke, John Bosco, Richard Anselm; 56-59 Marist College ... Paul Ambrose;
59-62 Molloy; 62-64 .. first group to start Christ the King, lived at Molloy,
commuted to Mater Christi, first coach of track, second place finish in 1963; 64-
69 St. Helena ... great days with Willie Maura, Otto Krueger, Mike Sheridan,
Pat, Jim Maher, etc. 69-86 Mahopac Junior High; 86-88 Real Estate business in
Branford, Ct. on the shoreline. Status: newly engaged, first time; love the
shoreline and sailing in thirty foot boat. Love to hear from those I've shared
much with. (275 Shortbeach Road, East Haven, Ct., 06512; phone: 203-469-
4446)
FROM PAUL MALONEY ('59): Thank you for including me on the Marist
mailing list. It is nice hearing from so many people that I haven't seen or heard
from in over twenty-five years. As for myself, way back in 1964 in a space of
three weeks I graduated from St. John's University, married my lovely wife
Rosemarie, and began work as an IRS agent in Manhattan. In 1968 I transferred
to IRS national office in Washington, where I am today. I work with new tax law
and the effect it has on corporation tax forms.
Rosemarie and I have been blessed with four lovely children: Patricia, 22,
graduated from Georgetown University's School of Nursing in 1987, and is a
registered nurse at Sibley Hospital in Washington; Paul, 19, is in his second year
at Catholic U., and Kristen, 13, and Daniel, 9, are in the eighth and fourth grades
respectively at St. Elizabeth's School, Rockville, Maryland.Over the years I have
taught CCD and done a lot of coaching. I coached my oldest son for three years
in basketball and six years in baseball, and my youngest daughter, two years in
basketball and three years so far in softball. Now my main activity is tennis; I
play whenever I get a body to join me.
Although I was in Marist religious training for only twenty-seven months, it
made a wonderful and lasting impact on me, for which I am very thankful. I
would very much like to hear from those who taught me and from those who
were with me in training. (11519 LeHavre Dr., Potomac, Md., 20854; 301-983-
0905)
FROM MARTY CURTIN ('65): Though I was formally associated with the
Marist Brothers for just four years, the Marist family has been part of my life for
more than I can remember. My uncle, Bernard, continues as a Marist in the
Philippines. He recently celebrated his golden jubilee and I got to see quite a few
Marists at the celebration in Bayonne. My grandfather, Michael, for years lived
at the gatehouse at Esopus. Our introduction to Marists through my family's
visits to him will never be forgotten. It was on those visits that my brothers and I
first learned to hit a golf ball, thanks to a Br. John who was cooking there one
summer. My father had been in the juniorate for some of his high school when it
was in Pksie at St. Ann's Hermitage.
Since I left Marist, I started working for IBM at Endicott, New York. My wife
Livy and I were married in 1971 and now are proud parents of six youngsters
ranging in age from 13 to 4. This past summer we were driving back from
Kingston when we took time to go to Esopus to show the kids where their great
grandfather had lived and to see the rest of the grounds. I had stopped in before
to see Br. John Berchmans when in the area on business.
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Currently my time outside of work is mostly taken up with the children and with
serving on the Catholic school board in our county. Livy is actively involved in
Birthright in our area, serving as a counselor as well as a speaker to area high
school and CCD classes. Hello to all. (206 North Knight Avenue, Endwell, N.
Y., 13760)
FROM BR. ANGUS WILKINSON ('49): May I join the many who have sent
congratulations for the Marists All venture. Currently I'm in a joint project
involving the Marist Fathers and the Marist Missionary Sisters here in Crown
Heights, Brooklyn. The work combines soup kitchen, food pantry, and the like,
along with such things as immigration. A trifle different from the classroom, but
very interesting. Prayers. (St. Francis of Assisi, 319 Maple Street, Brooklyn,
New York, 71225).
FROM TONY UANINO ('64): After teaching at Marist in Chicago, 1968-69,
and leaving the Brothers, I taught at Chaminade High School in Mineola, long
Island, for five years. Then I moved into public education, first at Jericho High
and then I taught computers and math at Northport High, where my department
head was Jim Morrissey, another former Marist and a great, great mentor to
whom I am deeply indebted.
I now live in Florida, having ventured first into a family motel operation and
then into managing four motels for a management company. I was fortunate to
be offered a position with Bellemead Development Corp. as Director of
Operations (sounds impressive, but it's really nitty gritty daily management); life
here has been good to me. Cathy and I are blessed (though, Lord knows, we
sometimes wonder) with three boys and a girl ranging from 16 to 8 years of age,
and we thank the Lord by staying active in our parish.I am on the finance
committee; I help on Church social events; and I am a minister of the
Eucharist.Living in Florida, we have learned to expect visitors every day, and we
love it. Disney bound Marists, here's our current address: (922 Lemon Rd.,
South Daytona, F1., 32019; 904-788-0577).
FROM DICK (Stephen Aloysius) BRANNIGAN ('50): I've been in printing and
publication advertising work for twenty years at the University of Wisconsin,
Oshkosh. Charlie Scott is ninety miles west of here working at what I'm sure he,
in his dubious humility, considers our Mother house, UW, Madison. I'm also in
touch with Bill Powers, his daughter is my godchild, and with Ken Voegtle
whose prodigious efforts to reach out to so many of us is appreciated so much.
I am married with three children, ages 27, 20, and 18. They have fairly good
records so far, none on the police blotter. Relatively good health all around ...
speech impediment cleared up so well that I can actually go out and order what I
want to eat, not just what I am able to pronounce. Things do work out in time.
Piano still a hobby ... fun moonlighting from time to time. I feel that my active
Marist years gave me a spiritual substance that has carried me further than I ever
dreamed it would.
I remember: Saturday morning fasts at Esopus juniorate, then hoeing the dirt
away from cobblestone gutters or scrubbing the worn marble stairway in the
mansion ... the smell of incense in that exquisite chapel overlooking the Hudson
... Brother Edmund teaching us Gregorian chant, pointing a finger at someone
falling asleep in the back row, "Next note, Haggerty!" ... the handball courts ...
making Christmas garlands ... dinner time signals for passing certain foods ...
singing the plaintive Salve Regina, ice hockey in Tyngsboro ... pouring cement
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columns with Brother Nilus for the new chapel in Poughkeepsie ... the first
cassock ... and wondering, when about to become "canonically detached," if I
would ever hear from any of these swell guys ever again, I wonder no longer.
This newsletter is the answer, warm and friendly voices from a never-to-be-
forgotten slice of our common past, I would welcome a handshake out of that
past. (1814 Fairview Street, Oshkosh, WI., 54091)
FROM JOHN (Arnold Damian) CURRY ('35): You cannot imagine the flood of
nostalgia Marists All unleashed in me. Will contribute a few words despite my
ailment: procrastination. I don't dare put the pen down or rewrite this rough
draft; (110 North 17th St., Prospect Pk, N. J. 07513)
FROM ARTHUR (Jude Thomas) LAVIGNE ('56): As was mentioned in the last
issue of the newsletter, Albert (Felix Michael) Shurkus was diagnosed as having
cancer in the spring of 1987, and so had been on total disability from his
theology teaching position at Riviere College in Nashua, N. H. Now we wish to
inform you that on January 20, 1988, Al died quietly and peacefully at his home
in the ever present love of his family. Enclosed is the eulogy that was delivered
at Al's funeral Mass by Doctor Michael Quigley, Al's colleague and friend. With
your permission we'd appreciate being able to share it with Al's extended Marist
family in the next issue of the newsletter.
ABOUT ALBERT "Mike" SHURKUS ('43): Excerpts from a eulogy by Michael
Quigley:
In the lives of all men and women there are special occasions when we are called
upon to give testimony on behalf of our friends. To those of us who have known
him in the twenty years he has been at Rivier College Al Shurkus has
consistently taught an invaluable lesson of how to find peace in daily living, and
how to find in the dark times of life a ray of hope, of humor and joy. To those of
us privileged to work closely with this gentle giant, we know the secret from
whence his great peace of soul and gentle spirit originated; it lies in his profound
Christian faith, his understanding of the ultimate reasons for our earthly
existence, and of how life ought to be lived in harmony with others.
His greatest joy throughout the thirty years of his professional career has been to
spend time inside and out of the classroom with students young and old,
providing them with spiritual insight and understanding essential to living a life
of personal fulfillment and happiness. And over the period of his illness Al
taught perhaps the most effective lesson in his life, how to accept the devastating
loss of health, how to live with intense physical pain and suffering, and how to
face one's own approaching death with serenity. No textbook, no dissertation, no
teacher other than one of Al's spiritual stature could provide us with such an
eloquent lesson. (Mrs. Lucille Shurkus, 4 Mary Vale Lane, Burlington, Mass.,
01803)
RECENTLY DECEASED BROTHERS:
Br. Michael "Jerry" O'Keefe ('42), January 1988
Br. Timothy Mark O'Rourke ('27), March 1988
Br. Reginald Theodore ('44), March 1988
Br. Henry Charles ('08), April 1988
Jerry died in Bayonne after a long illness; he had spent many years in the
Philippines. Mark had been at a nursing home in Florida the last few years.
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Reggie died in the Philippines after serving there many years. Br. Henry Charles
died at the age of 95; he had been retired in Esopus for a number of years. Br.
Henry had been in the first U.S. novice group; he had been a director and a
provincial at a young age, and was master of novices in the early 1940's.
Evelyn Fisher, a well liked art teacher at Marist College, passed away in May of
1987. She was a help to many of the monks over the years. It might be fitting
that we inject this belated news note in our next newsletter.
FROM BR. DOMINIC O'BRIEN ('52): I do appreciate getting the news on so
many of the men with whom I spent the early years of my Marist life. I have
been involved in outside of school religious education since 1971. I was one of
the first DRE's in New Jersey, And I spent a year working with the Glenmary
Society in Appalachia; while in Kentucky, I found the monks most supportive in
every way. Since 1975 I have been in Youth Ministry, the first person hired in
the Archdiocese of Newark with that title. From 1980 to 1986, I worked for the
Archdiocese of Hartford, primarily involved in a variety of retreat programs for
high school and college age youth. The years I spent in that archdiocese were
among the most fulfilling in my career.
Now I am back in parish youth ministry in New Jersey, a very frustrating and
very difficult job. But these are the people who really are the Church of the
future. Right now my biggest project is an archdiocesan rally called Youthfest
'88, at which we hope to gather 600 teenagers in March. Although I have not
lived in community with the Brothers since 1974, I do try to get to all the major
affairs and to an annual retreat. Keep me on the mailing list. (668 Ridgewood
Road, Washington Township, N. J., 07675; phone: 201-664-6519)
FROM JOE OLIVET ('64) : Since I left the order from St. Mary's High in 1969,
life has been a series of ups and downs. I have been an elementary school
teacher in the New York City Public School System since February, 1970. For
five years I was stationed at PS 75 in "Fort Apache", two blocks from that
famous police station. I taught third grade for one term, then physical education
for four years. When the neighborhood burned down in 1975, I was transferred
to another school, PS 107, in the Soundview section of the Bronx. I am still
there. In eighteen years I have taught second, third, and fourth grades. I like to
feel that the motto of Blessed Champagnat "Doing good quietly" has been
fulfilled in my caree.
My personal life has been somewhat stormy. I have been married three times.
Over the years I have moved several times. Currently my wife, Millie, and I
have scraped together every dime we had and bought a modest house in
Middletown, N. Y, I have a son, Joey, now fifteen, from my first marriage; I have
always had custody of him and have raised him by myself. He is now in the
ninth grade in Middletown High School. Millie has a daughter, Yvette; she is
nine. Over the years I have had my ups and downs with religion, too. However, I
feel very comfortable going to Church and being in the fold again. I was quite
shocked to hear that Damian Melville (‘65) had passed away. Can anyone shed
light on the cause? (Br. Damian was killed in an auto accident while working in
Appalacia the summer of 1987) (134 Rockwell Avenue, Middletown, N.Y.,
10940; phone: 914-363-0607)
FROM JERRY (Stephen Luke) COX ('51): Peg and I look forward to receiving
and reading each issue of Marists All. Thank you for keeping us abreast of the
many corners of our Marist world. I think you know that, along with Larry
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Sullivan, I was honored this past Founder's Day for chalking up twenty years at
Marist College.
Last year was not an easy one for Peg and me, since we were both hospitalized
within a month of each other. Stephen, Andy, and Anne Marie had to wonder
about who was caring for whom in this household. While full recoveries and
progress thereto remain top priorities for us, we would like to thank all our
brothers and sisters for their support and prayers. A special thank you to the
provincials of both provinces for remembering and passing the word.(83 Remsen
Avenue, South, Wappingers Falls, N, Y,, 12590)
FROM BR. RONALD PASQUARIELLO ('57): Most of you know that I have
been appointed Executive Director of the Center for Theology and Public Policy
-- a small think tank in Washington, where I have been Senior Fellow for the
past six years. That has kept me wretchedly busy because we have been in such a
serious financial state.
What most of you do not know is that I've just completed the manuscript of a
book: Conversations with Andrew Greeley. Interviewing Andrew was a
fascinating experience. I'm thoroughly convinced that his novels are "parables of
grace," especially after having seen thousands of letters from his readers who
have had religious conversions or have been brought closer to the church after
reading them. The book ought to be out in June. It will be distributed through the
popular book stores: Dalton, Bretano, etc. I've already published three books and
a number of articles. My articles have appeared in America, NCR, Christian
Century, and a number of other journals. They have all dealt with some aspect of
public policy.
Finally, I've had dinner with Luciano Pavarotti. People have for years been
stopping me on the street, asking if I were the singer. There were four hundred
other people at the dinner on January 29, but I managed to get him to pose for a
picture with me, which is now prominently displayed in my office. I do look a
lot like him, though he dyes his hair and beard; I prefer the natural grey look
I have also lost eighteen pounds since the beginning of the new year; eighteen
more would make me very happy, And I've joined a gym, so I'm now into pain.
Keep healthy and prosperous during the new year. I'm glad so many of you are
trying to keep the Marist tradition alive. (3900 Watson Place N.W, Apt G1B,
Washington, D. C., 20016)
FROM REV. CHARLIE HARTLING ('59): Issue #4 of Marists All arrived in
today's mail, and I have to live up to a promise I made myself when #3 arrived,
It has been truly wonderful reading and re-reading about so many familiar names
and places over the past several issues. I don't believe that I've ever ceased being
Marist even though another call from God entered my life over ten years ago. I
can remember telling everyone present at my first Mass that you can take
Charlie out of the Marists, but you'll never take Marist out of Charlie. So much
of who I am and even what I do today is in great measure due to the Marist
Brothers who formed much of my life, from 7th grade in St. Helena's until
Roselle Catholic in 1978.
During my years in Roselle from 1963 to 1978, I found myself working with a
number of dedicated priests in the county CYO retreat program. I was
coordinator of the program, trained spiritual directors and youth rectors, and
generally found myself caught up in retreat work, and eventually heard a call to
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priesthood. The years since ordination have been blessed and happy ones. I have
no regrets about my decision, but I do miss so many of the monks who were
friends and support for so many years. At Holy Spirit parish, I continue to do
youth work and am still involved as Spiritual Director of the County CYO
Office.
My nephew, a freshman at the Mount, keeps me informed of some of the people
that I knew. He was quick to call about Br. Joseph Damian's death, He also raves
about his math teacher, a classmate and friend, Br. Joe DiBenedetto. By the way,
does anyone know of the whereabouts of John "Cookie" Maher? (971 Suburban
Road, Union, N, J., 07083; 201-687-3327)
FROM JOE (Gabriel Francis) HORES ('49): Upon leaving the library at Marist
College in June of 1970, I took a similar job at Pace University, which I kept till
July of 1987. In that time I bought an old brownstone house in Park Slope, one
of the wisest things I ever did. It is income producing in my early retirement.
Now I'm taking Walt Whitman literally "loafing and inviting my soul to loaf."
Hope that quote is accurate, Jerry. My loafing consists of thinking, praying,
meditating, reading scripture daily, music mostly Mozart, good movies ... as the
spirit moves.
I am a member of the Park Slope Methodist Church now. We were featured in
early December on Bill Moyer's "God & Politics" on PBS, and in July of 1986
we became famous when we extended our pulpit to Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua.
I hold a title there, Assistant Pastoral Counselor, though I'm not big on titles. The
ministry is more important. Through Finley, my pastor, I met Rev. Irene
Grumman, a former RC also, who is a Methodist minister, and a chaplain at the
local Methodist Hospital. To Irene I explained my desire to work with AIDS
patients. She introduced me to Eddy, a 35 year old local man, married with
family, none of whom knew he was ill. He'd been a drug addict most of his life.I
visited Eddy twice a week for about six weeks. We became friends. I was with
Eddy on the afternoon before he died and prayed for him. I am now with my
third patient who will shortly be released. I will get an ID card which permits me
to have access to the hospital at any time. All I do is listen to them and offer
whatever help I can give.
My future is not certain yet. I could sell the house, tired of landlording, and
resettle in Florida, but I will decide what to do when the time is ripe. God has
been good. So many recollections of those Marist years. Fortunately most are
really good; so good that I can say as my beloved Piaf sang, "Je ne regrette rien."
(393 10th Street, Brooklyn, N. Y., 11215)
GUS SAYS: I see Clem Martin (Luke Anselm '49) from time to time. His
condition is not good. A general breakdown because of the diabetes; general
strength, eye sight, and general movement all seem to be in decline, but he fights
on; he is a first class person. Prayerful remembrance for him, for Secora, and for
the rest of the family is fitting.
BUSINESS UP DATE: We are most grateful for all contributions to help defray
the costs of this newsletter. We try to make some type of personal
acknowledgement to all contributors. We do not by policy quote allusions to
contributions in the newsletter. There have been several exceptions to this policy,
when reference to contributions affected the tone of the news content of the
correspondence. Expenses of the last issue totaled $194. We now have enough
funds for three more issues. We've had more than enough news for this issue;
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we've even had to cramp and to hold back some of the more recent
correspondence; BUT WILL THERE BE ENOUGH NEWS FOR THE NEXT
ISSUE? Clearly there is a wealth of personal news out there; and as is evident
throughout the newsletter, your friends would be most pleased to hear from you!
Mail to David Kammer, 107 Woodland Drive, Harwinton, Ct., 06791.
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ISSUE # 5
May 1988
FROM BR. THOMAS KELLY: ('53): The Marists All newsletter arrived in
Sargodha, Pakistan, just before Christmas, and I could not think of a more
welcomed Christmas gift. Reading through the list of names of those who
receive the newsletter brought back many fond memories of our days sweating
under the lash of Tee Mike on the project, as well as the many years so many of
us worked together at our various schools.
How come Pakistan? Let me bring you up to date. After leaving the Mount in
1979, I spent three years teaching at Marcellin College in Auckland, New
Zealand. There I had several long talks with Br. Richard Dunleavy, now
Assistant General, exploring the possibility of joint ventures among the English
speaking provinces. Last April, talk moved to action when I received a call from
Rome asking me to attend a meeting in Islamabad with the Bishop of
Rawalpindi who is asking the Marist Brothers to start and administer and, to
some degree, staff a new school in Sargodha. Thus, we have agreed to conduct
an educational complex that will consist of an elementary and secondary school
and of a hostel; the school will accommodate 600 boys and the hostel
200.Tuition will be charged to help defray the running expenses of the school,
about $2.80 per student per month; the real cost will be three times that. Until
hostel facilities are available, the school will try to finance student
transportation; five cents a day will provide a student with a "tonga" ride, horse
and cart style, from village to school.
Poverty conditions are so extreme in the villages that our real hope for success
can only be achieved if we have the students live at the school. Our site will be a
training and resource center for teachers working in surrounding village schools,
where the literacy rate is negligible. The diocese of Islamabad-Rawalpindi has
provided land, German Bishops will pay construction costs of the classrooms,
the Marist Brothers' Generalate in Rome has donated $5000, and the students of
the Marist Brothers School in Kobe, Japan, have adopted our children. The
Poughkeepsie province has contributed $1000, as have the students and faculty
of the Mount and CCHS, Lawrence. Family and friends are also helping. We
face the immediate problem of finding funds to pay the salaries of two teachers,
about $120 each per month, and we must look for benefactors who will help
with the costs of constructing the hostel. Your small help with books or
transportation or your larger help with construction may be sent to Br. Pat Magee
at the Mount, 4300 Murdock, Bronx, 10466.
Keep us in your prayers, and I hope that many of the "Marists All" community
will write; a letter from the States is always a great treat. (Catholic Church,
College Rd., Sargodha, Pakistan)
CONGRATULATIONS to Br. Sean Sammon, Br. Ken Hogan, and the
Poughkeepsie Province for the fine inaugural issue of the new publication of the
province entitled: Today's Marist Brother.
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GMC PICNIC: All are invited to the annual Greater Marist Community picnic
to be held this year at the Mount at the garth and ball field areas. It is scheduled
for Saturday, September 17th, from noon to 5 or 6 p.m. Indoor facilities are
available in case of rain. Bring your own beverage and a pot-luck dish for a
shared meal. Gus Nolan would like to have a clue of how many to expect. It
would be helpful if you dropped him a note at the college; his phone: 914-454-
6116.
FROM BR. JOE BELANGER ('43): There are currently six Brothers at Marist
College. At 77, Nilus is supposedly retired, but he is daily consulted for this or
that infrastructure. He lives at the top of Champagnat Hall, where he keeps busy
from morning till the wee hours of the night working with electronic gear and
with satellite reception, and writing Memories on his PC. As keen as ever, he has
no thought of moving until carried out!
Cornelius Russell ('47), seventy years old on February 29, is teaching three
courses. Joe Bell is still going strong with two French and two English courses
per semester, running foreign film programs, finding host families for summer
residence of children of Spanish friends from Madrid, and doing research in
Twelfth Century French literature. He now lives in Champagnat 834 (914-471-
6387). Dr. Ziggy Rancourt ('48) is carrying a full load of math, and has turned
the Gate House into a model chalet. Donald Kelly ('61) has a full load of math
and computer science, and Joe Sacino ('73) a full load of business; Joe is also
commuting regularly to St. Peter's for a PhD in business. Connie, Don, and Joe
S. all live in Canterbury Gardens, some five miles from campus, where they each
have a rent free apartment in exchange for availability to the two hundred odd
students who also live there.
Ernie Belanger has been living in Madrid for the past twenty years with his wife
Alicia and their two children Amaya, 14, and Diego, 12. Ernie teaches
computers at the American School of Madrid and has just co-published a book
on LOGO in Spanish. His expertise in Computers in Education is regularly
called upon in Casablanca, Vienna, Brussels, and all over Spain. (Sres de
Belanger, 240 Castellana 8-D, 28046 Madrid, Spain)
FROM BUD (Kevin Anthony) NOLAN ('51): I just re-read Marists All, #4. I
very much appreciate what you have been doing in promoting good
communications for all these good people. I have been teaching English at
Orangeburg, N. Y., ever since I left the order back in 1969, and I have been
living in Orange County for the past sixteen years. My wife, who used to teach,
is now a nurse at St. Luke's Hospital in Newburgh, My kids, Christie, 16, and
Matt, 14, are also doing well. My daughter is a varsity runner, and my son has
more expensive tastes, skiing and tennis. I am in regular contact with Declan,
Larry Sullivan, and Jack Redmond, and I enjoy hearing how lots of other people
I have known are doing. (RD 4, Box 563, Sycamore Drive, New Windsor, New
York, 12550)
FROM BILL CARROLL ('61): After leaving the Brothers in '68, I worked for
Catholic Charities while completing an MSW. Next followed four years working
for the New York City agency which funded and monitored drug rehabilitation
agencies. Frustration with major bureaucracy, coupled with the desire of my wife
at the time for living in the country, led to my return to the Hudson Valley. I
started in 1976 as assistant to the director of a Poughkeepsie agency providing a
variety of services to disabled people. I was in the right place at the right time
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when he left in 1978; I have been the Executive Director of Rehabilitation
Programs since then.
Part of me hesitated in writing this letter, as I am divorced and felt like an
exception in reading past newsletters. However, since that's the way it is and I
have been happily involved with another woman for three years, I said the hell
with it! Although I have no children, my immediate family includes four cats.
Playing "hoop" is still one of my things, and I remember the "Out the Door by
Four" boys, and coming late for afternoon office at the College. I see Br. Don
Kelly pretty often since he's back at Marist College, and Jack Meehan
occasionally. (Box 388, Pleasant Valley, N. Y., 12569; 914-635-3040; better
chance, wk: 485-9993)
FROM BOB (Martin Felician) SLATTERY ('50): I was tempted to begin with
"Laudetur Jesus Christus," but I suppose that would be an almost forgotten
custom, In fact, however, that phrase sums up, with its reply, my daily thoughts.
I am in fine health, working full time and hard at Col1age Champittet, a mixed
Catholic "high school" run by the Canons Regular of the Grand St. Bernard (you
know, the dogs), Teaching English and religion in French is quite different from
the old days. I have had very little contact with my Brothers since moving to
Switzerland (letters from Ken V., a visit to Fribourg, a visit from Rene Roy),
although my parish elementary school is run by the Marist Brothers.
So many memories were awakened by the newsletters! (I did not receive #2 so
I'm sending a check to cover the postage .. editor's note: for $200!) Among my
memories: Friday night dances at CCHS followed by basketball the next day on
a Saturday fast; starting a track team at Lourdes from scratch; the hundreds of
cassocks I mended (I have an old Singer still); the miles of cord I made (anyone
want a length?); the old hymns: "Oh Mother, I could weep for mirth .,." (If
anyone could dig up an old Laudate and/or the Marist Hymn Book, I'd love to
have them); the skating rink and cranberry bog at Tyngsboro; picnics by the river
at Esopus (I took out some old pictures when I received the first Marists All;
what memories!); moving day, by truck.
Br. Marie Feliciani and his fresh strawberries (accompanied by impromptu
French lessons); old Br. Philip and his Tyngsboro rose garden; Br. Marcel Henry
and his "surprise" visits to the classes in Lawrence; Br. Peter Hilary and his
"What did you do with the razor blades I gave you last month?"; Br. Leo Camille
"Mon frere, prononcez 'phoque, phoque, phoque!'"; Br. Paul Ambrose ... always
Brother Master for me, And, and, and, ad infinitum. Seeing the names of those I
worked with, and former teachers and students, is like stirring up an ant hill of
memories.
As after being dispensed from my vows (I prefer that expression to "leaving the
Brothers") I taught in Westchester for six years, and then after a summer in Paris,
decided to move to Europe. I found a position in Switzerland in a school that
closed two years later; the first few summers I returned to the States where I had
a summer job as Escort-Interpreter for the Department of State with Operations
Crossroads Africa, After several years of part time jobs in several schools and an
eventful eight months as head cook (!) in a Swiss restaurant, I settled down in
the school where I teach now (twenty-five minutes by bus from home). I have
remained single, so my work absorbs almost all my time. I have acquired a third
"home country" for my holidays: Crete. If ever anyone passes by in July or
August, the little village of Pitsidia in the south central part of Crete (see
National Geographic: August, 1986), do stop by; go to the seashore village of
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Matala and ask for Bob, the Swiss-American (also known as Papou or Yeros). I
have built a house down there for my retirement, half finished. Let me finish by
saying, once a Marist always a Marist. My best to all, and pray for me. (rue des
Cretes 5, 1018 Lausanne, Suisse; phone: 021-36,34.32)
FROM BR. PAT MAGEE ('43): Your Marists All has been well received by the
monks of Champagnat Hall here at the Mount. In fact, it was duplicated so that
more would have a chance to read it at their leisure. It has had a meaningful
impact on all of us. I have shared it with Tom Morgan who has been with the
Brothers at both St. Agnes High and at the Mount for many, many years. He has
met many Brothers in the passage of time. He would like to be on your mailing
list, (Mount, 4300 Murdock Avenue, Bronx, N. Y., 10466)
FROM BR. LEONARD VOEGTLE ('50): Feel like a professional mourner of
late.I returned from settling Dad's affairs in Florida on January 27 to learn that
Mike (Jerry, Godwin Anselm) O'Keefe ('42) had finally succumbed to his long
illness.A few days after his burial, we got word that Jean Reid, provincial of
Iberville, had died in his sleep: massive stroke at 59. He was a good friend, so I
was pleased to be asked to represent the Esopus province with Steve Urban;
George Fontana and Pat McNamara went for Poughkeepsie. Despite the sadness
of the occasion it was good to see many old friends again: some from
scholasticate days, like Yvon Maurice and Andrew Donatian, and others I'd
known in Rome or from my visits to Africa, plus several who'd taught at Molloy,
such as Jean Jacques Perreault and Guy de la Sablonniere.
Now I'm starting to catch up with the avalanche of sympathy cards. The support
and affirmation of Marist friends is a magnificent testimony to our brotherhood
at times like this; many of those expressions of solidarity and prayer were
prompted by the notice in Marists All, so thanks. Recently Sarge's brother, Guy,
died (Sigibert Leo, '42)., as did Gills brother, Larry Joe's sister, Jim Devine's
sister, Francis Regis' father, Leo Richard's mother, Martin Thomas' sister ...
Edmund Sheehan will be principal in Bayonne next year, Michael Lineen, in
Brownsville, Kevin Handibode in Miami .., I'll be in Rome from mid-May to the
end of June. (1241 Kennedy Boulevard, Bayonne, N. J., 07002)
FROM JIM (Raymond Patrick) MORRISSEY ('50): Jean and I have had three
sons attend Marist College; the youngest is tight walking his way toward
graduation this May. So we have spent many pleasant moments at the College
and watched it grow. Our youngest daughter has one more year of college after
she returns from the American College in Paris, So the undergraduate tuitions
are near the end, but our three grandchildren present another opportunity to start
over. I decided to take advantage of a retirement incentive and leave the Math
Chair at Northport High next June, 1989. I have nothing planned yet, but I have
the strongest feeling that something lies ahead that will be very meaningful.
Jean and I celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary this June. We have been
members for 22 years in the Teams of Our Lady (Equipe Notre Dame), founded
in France after WWII to help married couples advance in spirituality. Groups are
formed of five or six couples and a chaplain, and they meet once a month for a
shared meal, prayer, meditation, and prepared discussion. Our membership in the
Teams has been a great gift in our lives which we would be happy to share
through literature and phone calls. (47 Oakledge Drive, East Northport, N. Y.,
11731; phone: 516-368-1587)
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FROM RICH (Anthony Richard) SCHIAVONE ('55): My history with Marists
includes 52-54 Esopus under Joe Damian; 54-56 Tyngsboro ... fond memories of
J. P. Luke, John Bosco, Richard Anselm; 56-59 Marist College ... Paul Ambrose;
59-62 Molloy; 62-64 .. first group to start Christ the King, lived at Molloy,
commuted to Mater Christi, first coach of track, second place finish in 1963; 64-
69 St. Helena ... great days with Willie Maura, Otto Krueger, Mike Sheridan,
Pat, Jim Maher, etc. 69-86 Mahopac Junior High; 86-88 Real Estate business in
Branford, Ct. on the shoreline. Status: newly engaged, first time; love the
shoreline and sailing in thirty foot boat. Love to hear from those I've shared
much with. (275 Shortbeach Road, East Haven, Ct., 06512; phone: 203-469-
4446)
FROM PAUL MALONEY ('59): Thank you for including me on the Marist
mailing list. It is nice hearing from so many people that I haven't seen or heard
from in over twenty-five years. As for myself, way back in 1964 in a space of
three weeks I graduated from St. John's University, married my lovely wife
Rosemarie, and began work as an IRS agent in Manhattan. In 1968 I transferred
to IRS national office in Washington, where I am today. I work with new tax law
and the effect it has on corporation tax forms.
Rosemarie and I have been blessed with four lovely children: Patricia, 22,
graduated from Georgetown University's School of Nursing in 1987, and is a
registered nurse at Sibley Hospital in Washington; Paul, 19, is in his second year
at Catholic U., and Kristen, 13, and Daniel, 9, are in the eighth and fourth grades
respectively at St. Elizabeth's School, Rockville, Maryland.Over the years I have
taught CCD and done a lot of coaching. I coached my oldest son for three years
in basketball and six years in baseball, and my youngest daughter, two years in
basketball and three years so far in softball. Now my main activity is tennis; I
play whenever I get a body to join me.
Although I was in Marist religious training for only twenty-seven months, it
made a wonderful and lasting impact on me, for which I am very thankful. I
would very much like to hear from those who taught me and from those who
were with me in training. (11519 LeHavre Dr., Potomac, Md., 20854; 301-983-
0905)
FROM MARTY CURTIN ('65): Though I was formally associated with the
Marist Brothers for just four years, the Marist family has been part of my life for
more than I can remember. My uncle, Bernard, continues as a Marist in the
Philippines. He recently celebrated his golden jubilee and I got to see quite a few
Marists at the celebration in Bayonne. My grandfather, Michael, for years lived
at the gatehouse at Esopus. Our introduction to Marists through my family's
visits to him will never be forgotten. It was on those visits that my brothers and I
first learned to hit a golf ball, thanks to a Br. John who was cooking there one
summer. My father had been in the juniorate for some of his high school when it
was in Pksie at St. Ann's Hermitage.
Since I left Marist, I started working for IBM at Endicott, New York. My wife
Livy and I were married in 1971 and now are proud parents of six youngsters
ranging in age from 13 to 4. This past summer we were driving back from
Kingston when we took time to go to Esopus to show the kids where their great
grandfather had lived and to see the rest of the grounds. I had stopped in before
to see Br. John Berchmans when in the area on business.
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Currently my time outside of work is mostly taken up with the children and with
serving on the Catholic school board in our county. Livy is actively involved in
Birthright in our area, serving as a counselor as well as a speaker to area high
school and CCD classes. Hello to all. (206 North Knight Avenue, Endwell, N.
Y., 13760)
FROM BR. ANGUS WILKINSON ('49): May I join the many who have sent
congratulations for the Marists All venture. Currently I'm in a joint project
involving the Marist Fathers and the Marist Missionary Sisters here in Crown
Heights, Brooklyn. The work combines soup kitchen, food pantry, and the like,
along with such things as immigration. A trifle different from the classroom, but
very interesting. Prayers. (St. Francis of Assisi, 319 Maple Street, Brooklyn,
New York, 71225).
FROM TONY UANINO ('64): After teaching at Marist in Chicago, 1968-69,
and leaving the Brothers, I taught at Chaminade High School in Mineola, long
Island, for five years. Then I moved into public education, first at Jericho High
and then I taught computers and math at Northport High, where my department
head was Jim Morrissey, another former Marist and a great, great mentor to
whom I am deeply indebted.
I now live in Florida, having ventured first into a family motel operation and
then into managing four motels for a management company. I was fortunate to
be offered a position with Bellemead Development Corp. as Director of
Operations (sounds impressive, but it's really nitty gritty daily management); life
here has been good to me. Cathy and I are blessed (though, Lord knows, we
sometimes wonder) with three boys and a girl ranging from 16 to 8 years of age,
and we thank the Lord by staying active in our parish.I am on the finance
committee; I help on Church social events; and I am a minister of the
Eucharist.Living in Florida, we have learned to expect visitors every day, and we
love it. Disney bound Marists, here's our current address: (922 Lemon Rd.,
South Daytona, F1., 32019; 904-788-0577).
FROM DICK (Stephen Aloysius) BRANNIGAN ('50): I've been in printing and
publication advertising work for twenty years at the University of Wisconsin,
Oshkosh. Charlie Scott is ninety miles west of here working at what I'm sure he,
in his dubious humility, considers our Mother house, UW, Madison. I'm also in
touch with Bill Powers, his daughter is my godchild, and with Ken Voegtle
whose prodigious efforts to reach out to so many of us is appreciated so much.
I am married with three children, ages 27, 20, and 18. They have fairly good
records so far, none on the police blotter. Relatively good health all around ...
speech impediment cleared up so well that I can actually go out and order what I
want to eat, not just what I am able to pronounce. Things do work out in time.
Piano still a hobby ... fun moonlighting from time to time. I feel that my active
Marist years gave me a spiritual substance that has carried me further than I ever
dreamed it would.
I remember: Saturday morning fasts at Esopus juniorate, then hoeing the dirt
away from cobblestone gutters or scrubbing the worn marble stairway in the
mansion ... the smell of incense in that exquisite chapel overlooking the Hudson
... Brother Edmund teaching us Gregorian chant, pointing a finger at someone
falling asleep in the back row, "Next note, Haggerty!" ... the handball courts ...
making Christmas garlands ... dinner time signals for passing certain foods ...
singing the plaintive Salve Regina, ice hockey in Tyngsboro ... pouring cement
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columns with Brother Nilus for the new chapel in Poughkeepsie ... the first
cassock ... and wondering, when about to become "canonically detached," if I
would ever hear from any of these swell guys ever again, I wonder no longer.
This newsletter is the answer, warm and friendly voices from a never-to-be-
forgotten slice of our common past, I would welcome a handshake out of that
past. (1814 Fairview Street, Oshkosh, WI., 54091)
FROM JOHN (Arnold Damian) CURRY ('35): You cannot imagine the flood of
nostalgia Marists All unleashed in me. Will contribute a few words despite my
ailment: procrastination. I don't dare put the pen down or rewrite this rough
draft; (110 North 17th St., Prospect Pk, N. J. 07513)
FROM ARTHUR (Jude Thomas) LAVIGNE ('56): As was mentioned in the last
issue of the newsletter, Albert (Felix Michael) Shurkus was diagnosed as having
cancer in the spring of 1987, and so had been on total disability from his
theology teaching position at Riviere College in Nashua, N. H. Now we wish to
inform you that on January 20, 1988, Al died quietly and peacefully at his home
in the ever present love of his family. Enclosed is the eulogy that was delivered
at Al's funeral Mass by Doctor Michael Quigley, Al's colleague and friend. With
your permission we'd appreciate being able to share it with Al's extended Marist
family in the next issue of the newsletter.
ABOUT ALBERT "Mike" SHURKUS ('43): Excerpts from a eulogy by Michael
Quigley:
In the lives of all men and women there are special occasions when we are called
upon to give testimony on behalf of our friends. To those of us who have known
him in the twenty years he has been at Rivier College Al Shurkus has
consistently taught an invaluable lesson of how to find peace in daily living, and
how to find in the dark times of life a ray of hope, of humor and joy. To those of
us privileged to work closely with this gentle giant, we know the secret from
whence his great peace of soul and gentle spirit originated; it lies in his profound
Christian faith, his understanding of the ultimate reasons for our earthly
existence, and of how life ought to be lived in harmony with others.
His greatest joy throughout the thirty years of his professional career has been to
spend time inside and out of the classroom with students young and old,
providing them with spiritual insight and understanding essential to living a life
of personal fulfillment and happiness. And over the period of his illness Al
taught perhaps the most effective lesson in his life, how to accept the devastating
loss of health, how to live with intense physical pain and suffering, and how to
face one's own approaching death with serenity. No textbook, no dissertation, no
teacher other than one of Al's spiritual stature could provide us with such an
eloquent lesson. (Mrs. Lucille Shurkus, 4 Mary Vale Lane, Burlington, Mass.,
01803)
RECENTLY DECEASED BROTHERS:
Br. Michael "Jerry" O'Keefe ('42), January 1988
Br. Timothy Mark O'Rourke ('27), March 1988
Br. Reginald Theodore ('44), March 1988
Br. Henry Charles ('08), April 1988
Jerry died in Bayonne after a long illness; he had spent many years in the
Philippines. Mark had been at a nursing home in Florida the last few years.
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Reggie died in the Philippines after serving there many years. Br. Henry Charles
died at the age of 95; he had been retired in Esopus for a number of years. Br.
Henry had been in the first U.S. novice group; he had been a director and a
provincial at a young age, and was master of novices in the early 1940's.
Evelyn Fisher, a well liked art teacher at Marist College, passed away in May of
1987. She was a help to many of the monks over the years. It might be fitting
that we inject this belated news note in our next newsletter.
FROM BR. DOMINIC O'BRIEN ('52): I do appreciate getting the news on so
many of the men with whom I spent the early years of my Marist life. I have
been involved in outside of school religious education since 1971. I was one of
the first DRE's in New Jersey, And I spent a year working with the Glenmary
Society in Appalachia; while in Kentucky, I found the monks most supportive in
every way. Since 1975 I have been in Youth Ministry, the first person hired in
the Archdiocese of Newark with that title. From 1980 to 1986, I worked for the
Archdiocese of Hartford, primarily involved in a variety of retreat programs for
high school and college age youth. The years I spent in that archdiocese were
among the most fulfilling in my career.
Now I am back in parish youth ministry in New Jersey, a very frustrating and
very difficult job. But these are the people who really are the Church of the
future. Right now my biggest project is an archdiocesan rally called Youthfest
'88, at which we hope to gather 600 teenagers in March. Although I have not
lived in community with the Brothers since 1974, I do try to get to all the major
affairs and to an annual retreat. Keep me on the mailing list. (668 Ridgewood
Road, Washington Township, N. J., 07675; phone: 201-664-6519)
FROM JOE OLIVET ('64) : Since I left the order from St. Mary's High in 1969,
life has been a series of ups and downs. I have been an elementary school
teacher in the New York City Public School System since February, 1970. For
five years I was stationed at PS 75 in "Fort Apache", two blocks from that
famous police station. I taught third grade for one term, then physical education
for four years. When the neighborhood burned down in 1975, I was transferred
to another school, PS 107, in the Soundview section of the Bronx. I am still
there. In eighteen years I have taught second, third, and fourth grades. I like to
feel that the motto of Blessed Champagnat "Doing good quietly" has been
fulfilled in my caree.
My personal life has been somewhat stormy. I have been married three times.
Over the years I have moved several times. Currently my wife, Millie, and I
have scraped together every dime we had and bought a modest house in
Middletown, N. Y, I have a son, Joey, now fifteen, from my first marriage; I have
always had custody of him and have raised him by myself. He is now in the
ninth grade in Middletown High School. Millie has a daughter, Yvette; she is
nine. Over the years I have had my ups and downs with religion, too. However, I
feel very comfortable going to Church and being in the fold again. I was quite
shocked to hear that Damian Melville (‘65) had passed away. Can anyone shed
light on the cause? (Br. Damian was killed in an auto accident while working in
Appalacia the summer of 1987) (134 Rockwell Avenue, Middletown, N.Y.,
10940; phone: 914-363-0607)
FROM JERRY (Stephen Luke) COX ('51): Peg and I look forward to receiving
and reading each issue of Marists All. Thank you for keeping us abreast of the
many corners of our Marist world. I think you know that, along with Larry
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Sullivan, I was honored this past Founder's Day for chalking up twenty years at
Marist College.
Last year was not an easy one for Peg and me, since we were both hospitalized
within a month of each other. Stephen, Andy, and Anne Marie had to wonder
about who was caring for whom in this household. While full recoveries and
progress thereto remain top priorities for us, we would like to thank all our
brothers and sisters for their support and prayers. A special thank you to the
provincials of both provinces for remembering and passing the word.(83 Remsen
Avenue, South, Wappingers Falls, N, Y,, 12590)
FROM BR. RONALD PASQUARIELLO ('57): Most of you know that I have
been appointed Executive Director of the Center for Theology and Public Policy
-- a small think tank in Washington, where I have been Senior Fellow for the
past six years. That has kept me wretchedly busy because we have been in such a
serious financial state.
What most of you do not know is that I've just completed the manuscript of a
book: Conversations with Andrew Greeley. Interviewing Andrew was a
fascinating experience. I'm thoroughly convinced that his novels are "parables of
grace," especially after having seen thousands of letters from his readers who
have had religious conversions or have been brought closer to the church after
reading them. The book ought to be out in June. It will be distributed through the
popular book stores: Dalton, Bretano, etc. I've already published three books and
a number of articles. My articles have appeared in America, NCR, Christian
Century, and a number of other journals. They have all dealt with some aspect of
public policy.
Finally, I've had dinner with Luciano Pavarotti. People have for years been
stopping me on the street, asking if I were the singer. There were four hundred
other people at the dinner on January 29, but I managed to get him to pose for a
picture with me, which is now prominently displayed in my office. I do look a
lot like him, though he dyes his hair and beard; I prefer the natural grey look
I have also lost eighteen pounds since the beginning of the new year; eighteen
more would make me very happy, And I've joined a gym, so I'm now into pain.
Keep healthy and prosperous during the new year. I'm glad so many of you are
trying to keep the Marist tradition alive. (3900 Watson Place N.W, Apt G1B,
Washington, D. C., 20016)
FROM REV. CHARLIE HARTLING ('59): Issue #4 of Marists All arrived in
today's mail, and I have to live up to a promise I made myself when #3 arrived,
It has been truly wonderful reading and re-reading about so many familiar names
and places over the past several issues. I don't believe that I've ever ceased being
Marist even though another call from God entered my life over ten years ago. I
can remember telling everyone present at my first Mass that you can take
Charlie out of the Marists, but you'll never take Marist out of Charlie. So much
of who I am and even what I do today is in great measure due to the Marist
Brothers who formed much of my life, from 7th grade in St. Helena's until
Roselle Catholic in 1978.
During my years in Roselle from 1963 to 1978, I found myself working with a
number of dedicated priests in the county CYO retreat program. I was
coordinator of the program, trained spiritual directors and youth rectors, and
generally found myself caught up in retreat work, and eventually heard a call to
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priesthood. The years since ordination have been blessed and happy ones. I have
no regrets about my decision, but I do miss so many of the monks who were
friends and support for so many years. At Holy Spirit parish, I continue to do
youth work and am still involved as Spiritual Director of the County CYO
Office.
My nephew, a freshman at the Mount, keeps me informed of some of the people
that I knew. He was quick to call about Br. Joseph Damian's death, He also raves
about his math teacher, a classmate and friend, Br. Joe DiBenedetto. By the way,
does anyone know of the whereabouts of John "Cookie" Maher? (971 Suburban
Road, Union, N, J., 07083; 201-687-3327)
FROM JOE (Gabriel Francis) HORES ('49): Upon leaving the library at Marist
College in June of 1970, I took a similar job at Pace University, which I kept till
July of 1987. In that time I bought an old brownstone house in Park Slope, one
of the wisest things I ever did. It is income producing in my early retirement.
Now I'm taking Walt Whitman literally "loafing and inviting my soul to loaf."
Hope that quote is accurate, Jerry. My loafing consists of thinking, praying,
meditating, reading scripture daily, music mostly Mozart, good movies ... as the
spirit moves.
I am a member of the Park Slope Methodist Church now. We were featured in
early December on Bill Moyer's "God & Politics" on PBS, and in July of 1986
we became famous when we extended our pulpit to Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua.
I hold a title there, Assistant Pastoral Counselor, though I'm not big on titles. The
ministry is more important. Through Finley, my pastor, I met Rev. Irene
Grumman, a former RC also, who is a Methodist minister, and a chaplain at the
local Methodist Hospital. To Irene I explained my desire to work with AIDS
patients. She introduced me to Eddy, a 35 year old local man, married with
family, none of whom knew he was ill. He'd been a drug addict most of his life.I
visited Eddy twice a week for about six weeks. We became friends. I was with
Eddy on the afternoon before he died and prayed for him. I am now with my
third patient who will shortly be released. I will get an ID card which permits me
to have access to the hospital at any time. All I do is listen to them and offer
whatever help I can give.
My future is not certain yet. I could sell the house, tired of landlording, and
resettle in Florida, but I will decide what to do when the time is ripe. God has
been good. So many recollections of those Marist years. Fortunately most are
really good; so good that I can say as my beloved Piaf sang, "Je ne regrette rien."
(393 10th Street, Brooklyn, N. Y., 11215)
GUS SAYS: I see Clem Martin (Luke Anselm '49) from time to time. His
condition is not good. A general breakdown because of the diabetes; general
strength, eye sight, and general movement all seem to be in decline, but he fights
on; he is a first class person. Prayerful remembrance for him, for Secora, and for
the rest of the family is fitting.
BUSINESS UP DATE: We are most grateful for all contributions to help defray
the costs of this newsletter. We try to make some type of personal
acknowledgement to all contributors. We do not by policy quote allusions to
contributions in the newsletter. There have been several exceptions to this policy,
when reference to contributions affected the tone of the news content of the
correspondence. Expenses of the last issue totaled $194. We now have enough
funds for three more issues. We've had more than enough news for this issue;
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we've even had to cramp and to hold back some of the more recent
correspondence; BUT WILL THERE BE ENOUGH NEWS FOR THE NEXT
ISSUE? Clearly there is a wealth of personal news out there; and as is evident
throughout the newsletter, your friends would be most pleased to hear from you!
Mail to David Kammer, 107 Woodland Drive, Harwinton, Ct., 06791.