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7/2/2021
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Brother John Francis Colbert
29 September 1926 - 8 September 2011
Eulogy by Brother James Devine
On September 4, 1964 I left the
home of my youth in the
Highbridge Section of the Bronx
and traveled on the subway with
my parents to Grand Central
Station to board a Boston bound
New Haven train with the
instructions to get off at Route 128.
After a tearful goodbye, I began the
journey. As the train made its way
up the coast line an acute sense of
homesickness overtook me. Since
my Dad and I were very close, I
began to wonder what life would be
like without his presence.
My wondering thoughts were put to rest when I stepped off the
train at Route 128. The man walking toward me had the same
body structure as my Dad, as well as the same smile and gait.
He put his hand out (he had the same handshake as my father)
and said,“Welcome, James, to the Novitiate. My name is Brother
John Francis”. A very special friendship that lasted 47 years was
given birth at that moment and it has been a beautiful ride. In
the years since that first meeting I have come to know his
brothers and sisters and their respective children and
grandchildren. Yes, a beautiful ride indeed.
In the Novitiate, John introduced me and countless others over
his seven years of Ministry on the staff in Tyngsboro,
Massachusetts to Marist Spirit, the importance of being able to
express oneself in the essay form of writing and the importance
7/2/2021
Brother John Colbert
https://academic2.marist.edu/foy/maristsall/obits/johncolbert.html
2/7
of Literature in ones life. Years later when I lived with John in
community and I was teaching literature, John told me on more
than one occasion what William Faulkner said in his acceptance
speech for the Noble Prize for Literature in 1950. The role of the
poet and the novelist and any writer is to create out of the
agony and sweat of the human spirit something which did not
exist before and that it is the privilege of the writer “to help
mankind endure by lifting the reader´s heart”. I cannot even
begin to imagine how many hearts John lifted in his 84 years
here on earth, 67 of them as a Marist Brother.
John was the quintessential Marist: he was excited about not
only what was happening here in America among the brothers,
but what was happening in other parts of the Marist world. At
the same time he was a beacon of welcome to any Marist
Brother who ran the front doorbell of the house where John was
residing.
I quote William Wordsworth from his Ode on Immortality and
take poetic license to fit this occasion.
What though the radiance that was once ours so bright,
our beloved John Francis Xavier Colbert, now forever
taken from sight. Though nothing can bring back the
hour of splendor in the grass, glory in the flower we will
grieve not but find strength in what remains behind. In
the primal sympathy which having been must always be.
In the soothing thoughts that spring from human
suffering.
Thanks to the faith that sees through death. Thanks to
the human heart by which we live. Thanks to its
tenderness, its joys and its pains.
Find strength in what remains behind. John leaves us a tapestry
of warm and wonderful memories that we will re-live each time
we gather and his name surfaces. He always had us laughing
and often times he had us laughing at himself. I could recall
7/2/2021
Brother John Colbert
https://academic2.marist.edu/foy/maristsall/obits/johncolbert.html
3/7
thousands of events I shared with him that could cause you to
laugh, but in the interest of time, limit it to one that occurred in
Australia.
It was the summer of 1987 and John and I were visiting the
monks DOWNUNDER. The were very gracious to us and our
families were very good to us as well with spending money, so
with some of the cash John purchased two tickets in the
Bedroom Car on the overnight train from Sydney to Brisbane.
John loved to travel by train. When we arrived in our suite we
discovered it was equipped with a shower. Sine John had never
taken a shower on a train; he wanted to seize the opportunity.
So, as I read my novel, John entered the shower and as he
showered sang parts of Ode to Joy by Beethoven. When
finished he opened the curtain and said to me, “James, my
towel please. I am completely refreshed”. I handed him the
towel and returned to my seat. Just at that moment, the
engineer applied the brakes because we were approaching the
station. John loses his balance and comes flying across the
room, naked and wet, and lands on me. With one hand pinned
under John, my novel in the air, I use my free hand to try to
close the blinds behind me because now the train is in the
station whose platform is peppered with awaiting passengers. I
told him if the porter opened the door he was history.
Now you are sad but WE will see you again and on that
day your hearts will be filled with complete joy and that
joy no one will ever again take away from you.— John
16:22
Now I ask you to bear with me for one more minute, as my final
words have to be addressed to my brother directly.
John, in the words of the late Bob Hope, thanks for the
memories. Thanks for the laughs and all the jokes you shared
with us including the three clean ones. Thanks for being a
father figure to me when I really needed one. John, I do not
know what pure spirits look like and I cannot even imagine their
7/2/2021
Brother John Colbert
https://academic2.marist.edu/foy/maristsall/obits/johncolbert.html
4/7
world. I know we call it Heaven and all I have are the words of
Saint Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians.
Eye has not seen, ear heard nor has it even dawned on
man what God has planned for those who love Him.
— 1 Corinthians 2:9
My faith tells me to believe them and I do. However, if it is
appropriate in that Heavenly Kingdom when your soul meets
the soul of my father, would you please give him a big hug for
me? Thanks.
I end with Shakespeare. His character Horatio, speaking at the
death of his beloved Prince Hamlet:
Now smacks your noble heart. So goodnight sweet Prince
and may flights of angels sing thee to thy rest. —Act 5.
Scene 2
John, thank you, thank you, thank you.
Brother James Devine
29 September
1926
born Lawrence MA to Elizabeth (Siddle)
and Francis Colbert
1940-1941
Catholic Central HS, Lawrence MA
(Student)
1941-1942
St. Ann Hermitage, Poughkeepsie NY
(Junior)
1942-1943
Marist Juniorate, Esopus NY (Junior)
1943-1945
Marist Novitiate, Poughkeepsie NY
1944
Received Marist Habit, Poughkeepsie, NY
1945
Professed first vows, Poughkeepsie NY
7/2/2021
Brother John Colbert
https://academic2.marist.edu/foy/maristsall/obits/johncolbert.html
5/7
1945-1948
Marian College, Poughkeepsie NY
(Scholastic)
1948-1949
1950
Professed perpetual vows, Tyngsboro MA
1949-1952
Central Catholic HS, Wheeling WV
(teacher)
1952-1959
St. Joseph Novitiate, Tyngsboro MA
(teacher)
1959-1960
Second Novitiate, St. Paul Trois
Chateaux, France
1960
Professed vow of stability, Tyngsboro MA
1960-1968
Marist Hall, Cold Spring NY (teacher)
1968-1976
Bishop Dubois HS, NYC (teacher)
1976-1978
Cardinal Hayes HS, Bronx (secretary)
1978-1981
Bishops office, Eugene OR (secretary to
the bishop)
1981-1986
St Agnes Boys HS, NYC (secretary to the
principal)
1986-1993
Mount St Michael HS, Bronx NY
(secretary to the principal)
1993-2001
Champagnat Hall, Bronx NY (retired)
2001 - 2008
St. Patrick Home, Bronx NY (retired)
2008 - 2011
Champagnat Hall, Bronx NY (retired)
9 August 2011 died Champagnat Hall, Bronx NY
From Richard Foy: I would like to share some of my fond
memories of John with you. He was two years ahead of me, and
among the first Juniors to adventure to the new Esopus
Juniorate in August 1942. Brother Edmund Alphonse was the
organist and choir director. The only others who could play the
piano and/or organ were Juniors John Colbert and Stan
7/2/2021
Brother John Colbert
https://academic2.marist.edu/foy/maristsall/obits/johncolbert.html
6/7
Galligan. Brother Edmund was absent for Saint Patrick's Day of
1943, and John replaced him as organist. To our shock and
delight, he played a couple of Irish tunes before and during
Mass. I think he had Brother Master's OK, and we enjoyed it
immensely.
When we taught at Saint Ann's Academy, we would sometimes
slip out of an evening to a bar on Third Avenue, a street which
was not so toney as today, with the 3rd Avenue El still running
noisily. The bar had a piano and John would play for an hour or
so. We would all pay for our first beer, and the owner would
treat us to several others.
I divulge this without shame since I later learned that Saint
Champagnat was almost kicked out of the seminary for slipping
out with some of his comrades to a neighborhood wine bar.
Little did I realize that I was following in Champagnat's
footsteps!
John was a simple, loveable person who did not hesitate to tell
us of his gaffs. Once he told us that he was in Macy's and asked
the sales clerk directions to a special department. When she did
not answer him, he discovered she was a mannequin...
May he rest in peace. He gave so much peace and contentment
to his other Brothers. from Rich Foy
From Today's Marist Brother, Advent 2011
Br. John Colbert, a Marist Brother for 67
years, died on August 9, 2001, after
living with the disabilities of a stroke
since 2001. He was 85 years old.
Br. John, born in Lawrence MA, was professed as a Marist
Brother in 1944. After completing his religious and academic
studies at Marist College, Poughkeepsie NY, he served at Marist
7/2/2021
Brother John Colbert
https://academic2.marist.edu/foy/maristsall/obits/johncolbert.html
7/7
John Colbert
Hall in Cold Spring, taught at Bishop
Dubois High School, Cardinal Hayes High
School, St. Agnes Boys High School, all in
New York City, Central Catholic High
School in Wheeling WV and as a teacher
in the Brothers' Novitiate in Tyngsboro
MA. He ended his school ministry in 1993
at Mount St Michael Academy in the
Bronx NY.
Br. John taught his students the importance of literature and
expressing oneself through essays. His love of music and
singing was inspiring! May he rest in peace.
Brother James Devine eulogy taken from the American Marist Newsletter 9/29/2011
Foy comments taken from newsletter #105
Assignment list derived from listing in Rome records. Some mistakes to be corrected.
Most recent version 29 September 2011.
Brother John Colbert
https://academic2.marist.edu/foy/maristsall/obits/johncolbert.html
1/7
Brother John Francis Colbert
29 September 1926 - 8 September 2011
Eulogy by Brother James Devine
On September 4, 1964 I left the
home of my youth in the
Highbridge Section of the Bronx
and traveled on the subway with
my parents to Grand Central
Station to board a Boston bound
New Haven train with the
instructions to get off at Route 128.
After a tearful goodbye, I began the
journey. As the train made its way
up the coast line an acute sense of
homesickness overtook me. Since
my Dad and I were very close, I
began to wonder what life would be
like without his presence.
My wondering thoughts were put to rest when I stepped off the
train at Route 128. The man walking toward me had the same
body structure as my Dad, as well as the same smile and gait.
He put his hand out (he had the same handshake as my father)
and said,“Welcome, James, to the Novitiate. My name is Brother
John Francis”. A very special friendship that lasted 47 years was
given birth at that moment and it has been a beautiful ride. In
the years since that first meeting I have come to know his
brothers and sisters and their respective children and
grandchildren. Yes, a beautiful ride indeed.
In the Novitiate, John introduced me and countless others over
his seven years of Ministry on the staff in Tyngsboro,
Massachusetts to Marist Spirit, the importance of being able to
express oneself in the essay form of writing and the importance
7/2/2021
Brother John Colbert
https://academic2.marist.edu/foy/maristsall/obits/johncolbert.html
2/7
of Literature in ones life. Years later when I lived with John in
community and I was teaching literature, John told me on more
than one occasion what William Faulkner said in his acceptance
speech for the Noble Prize for Literature in 1950. The role of the
poet and the novelist and any writer is to create out of the
agony and sweat of the human spirit something which did not
exist before and that it is the privilege of the writer “to help
mankind endure by lifting the reader´s heart”. I cannot even
begin to imagine how many hearts John lifted in his 84 years
here on earth, 67 of them as a Marist Brother.
John was the quintessential Marist: he was excited about not
only what was happening here in America among the brothers,
but what was happening in other parts of the Marist world. At
the same time he was a beacon of welcome to any Marist
Brother who ran the front doorbell of the house where John was
residing.
I quote William Wordsworth from his Ode on Immortality and
take poetic license to fit this occasion.
What though the radiance that was once ours so bright,
our beloved John Francis Xavier Colbert, now forever
taken from sight. Though nothing can bring back the
hour of splendor in the grass, glory in the flower we will
grieve not but find strength in what remains behind. In
the primal sympathy which having been must always be.
In the soothing thoughts that spring from human
suffering.
Thanks to the faith that sees through death. Thanks to
the human heart by which we live. Thanks to its
tenderness, its joys and its pains.
Find strength in what remains behind. John leaves us a tapestry
of warm and wonderful memories that we will re-live each time
we gather and his name surfaces. He always had us laughing
and often times he had us laughing at himself. I could recall
7/2/2021
Brother John Colbert
https://academic2.marist.edu/foy/maristsall/obits/johncolbert.html
3/7
thousands of events I shared with him that could cause you to
laugh, but in the interest of time, limit it to one that occurred in
Australia.
It was the summer of 1987 and John and I were visiting the
monks DOWNUNDER. The were very gracious to us and our
families were very good to us as well with spending money, so
with some of the cash John purchased two tickets in the
Bedroom Car on the overnight train from Sydney to Brisbane.
John loved to travel by train. When we arrived in our suite we
discovered it was equipped with a shower. Sine John had never
taken a shower on a train; he wanted to seize the opportunity.
So, as I read my novel, John entered the shower and as he
showered sang parts of Ode to Joy by Beethoven. When
finished he opened the curtain and said to me, “James, my
towel please. I am completely refreshed”. I handed him the
towel and returned to my seat. Just at that moment, the
engineer applied the brakes because we were approaching the
station. John loses his balance and comes flying across the
room, naked and wet, and lands on me. With one hand pinned
under John, my novel in the air, I use my free hand to try to
close the blinds behind me because now the train is in the
station whose platform is peppered with awaiting passengers. I
told him if the porter opened the door he was history.
Now you are sad but WE will see you again and on that
day your hearts will be filled with complete joy and that
joy no one will ever again take away from you.— John
16:22
Now I ask you to bear with me for one more minute, as my final
words have to be addressed to my brother directly.
John, in the words of the late Bob Hope, thanks for the
memories. Thanks for the laughs and all the jokes you shared
with us including the three clean ones. Thanks for being a
father figure to me when I really needed one. John, I do not
know what pure spirits look like and I cannot even imagine their
7/2/2021
Brother John Colbert
https://academic2.marist.edu/foy/maristsall/obits/johncolbert.html
4/7
world. I know we call it Heaven and all I have are the words of
Saint Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians.
Eye has not seen, ear heard nor has it even dawned on
man what God has planned for those who love Him.
— 1 Corinthians 2:9
My faith tells me to believe them and I do. However, if it is
appropriate in that Heavenly Kingdom when your soul meets
the soul of my father, would you please give him a big hug for
me? Thanks.
I end with Shakespeare. His character Horatio, speaking at the
death of his beloved Prince Hamlet:
Now smacks your noble heart. So goodnight sweet Prince
and may flights of angels sing thee to thy rest. —Act 5.
Scene 2
John, thank you, thank you, thank you.
Brother James Devine
29 September
1926
born Lawrence MA to Elizabeth (Siddle)
and Francis Colbert
1940-1941
Catholic Central HS, Lawrence MA
(Student)
1941-1942
St. Ann Hermitage, Poughkeepsie NY
(Junior)
1942-1943
Marist Juniorate, Esopus NY (Junior)
1943-1945
Marist Novitiate, Poughkeepsie NY
1944
Received Marist Habit, Poughkeepsie, NY
1945
Professed first vows, Poughkeepsie NY
7/2/2021
Brother John Colbert
https://academic2.marist.edu/foy/maristsall/obits/johncolbert.html
5/7
1945-1948
Marian College, Poughkeepsie NY
(Scholastic)
1948-1949
1950
Professed perpetual vows, Tyngsboro MA
1949-1952
Central Catholic HS, Wheeling WV
(teacher)
1952-1959
St. Joseph Novitiate, Tyngsboro MA
(teacher)
1959-1960
Second Novitiate, St. Paul Trois
Chateaux, France
1960
Professed vow of stability, Tyngsboro MA
1960-1968
Marist Hall, Cold Spring NY (teacher)
1968-1976
Bishop Dubois HS, NYC (teacher)
1976-1978
Cardinal Hayes HS, Bronx (secretary)
1978-1981
Bishops office, Eugene OR (secretary to
the bishop)
1981-1986
St Agnes Boys HS, NYC (secretary to the
principal)
1986-1993
Mount St Michael HS, Bronx NY
(secretary to the principal)
1993-2001
Champagnat Hall, Bronx NY (retired)
2001 - 2008
St. Patrick Home, Bronx NY (retired)
2008 - 2011
Champagnat Hall, Bronx NY (retired)
9 August 2011 died Champagnat Hall, Bronx NY
From Richard Foy: I would like to share some of my fond
memories of John with you. He was two years ahead of me, and
among the first Juniors to adventure to the new Esopus
Juniorate in August 1942. Brother Edmund Alphonse was the
organist and choir director. The only others who could play the
piano and/or organ were Juniors John Colbert and Stan
7/2/2021
Brother John Colbert
https://academic2.marist.edu/foy/maristsall/obits/johncolbert.html
6/7
Galligan. Brother Edmund was absent for Saint Patrick's Day of
1943, and John replaced him as organist. To our shock and
delight, he played a couple of Irish tunes before and during
Mass. I think he had Brother Master's OK, and we enjoyed it
immensely.
When we taught at Saint Ann's Academy, we would sometimes
slip out of an evening to a bar on Third Avenue, a street which
was not so toney as today, with the 3rd Avenue El still running
noisily. The bar had a piano and John would play for an hour or
so. We would all pay for our first beer, and the owner would
treat us to several others.
I divulge this without shame since I later learned that Saint
Champagnat was almost kicked out of the seminary for slipping
out with some of his comrades to a neighborhood wine bar.
Little did I realize that I was following in Champagnat's
footsteps!
John was a simple, loveable person who did not hesitate to tell
us of his gaffs. Once he told us that he was in Macy's and asked
the sales clerk directions to a special department. When she did
not answer him, he discovered she was a mannequin...
May he rest in peace. He gave so much peace and contentment
to his other Brothers. from Rich Foy
From Today's Marist Brother, Advent 2011
Br. John Colbert, a Marist Brother for 67
years, died on August 9, 2001, after
living with the disabilities of a stroke
since 2001. He was 85 years old.
Br. John, born in Lawrence MA, was professed as a Marist
Brother in 1944. After completing his religious and academic
studies at Marist College, Poughkeepsie NY, he served at Marist
7/2/2021
Brother John Colbert
https://academic2.marist.edu/foy/maristsall/obits/johncolbert.html
7/7
John Colbert
Hall in Cold Spring, taught at Bishop
Dubois High School, Cardinal Hayes High
School, St. Agnes Boys High School, all in
New York City, Central Catholic High
School in Wheeling WV and as a teacher
in the Brothers' Novitiate in Tyngsboro
MA. He ended his school ministry in 1993
at Mount St Michael Academy in the
Bronx NY.
Br. John taught his students the importance of literature and
expressing oneself through essays. His love of music and
singing was inspiring! May he rest in peace.
Brother James Devine eulogy taken from the American Marist Newsletter 9/29/2011
Foy comments taken from newsletter #105
Assignment list derived from listing in Rome records. Some mistakes to be corrected.
Most recent version 29 September 2011.
