Obituary-Brother Christopher Robert Weiss

(February 6, 1931 - May 7, 2002)

Brother Christopher Robert Weiss was born on February 6, 1931 and died May 7th, 2002 at the Center for Hope Hospice3 in Elizabeth, New Jersey.  He had retired as a librarian at Roselle Catholic in 1998, but had continued living in the Roselle Marist Community till early in 2002.

Chris had studied Library Science at Catholic university in the early 1960s and had devoted himself to library work from 1962 to 1998 at Molloy, Bayonne, and Roselle, as well as at the Generalate in Rome.

A classmate observed that Chris "was a great reader and observer of the human scene."

BR. DONALD RICHARD remembered Brother Christopher during his eulogy at the Mass of Resurrection in St. Joseph Church, Roselle, NJ on May 10, 2002.

On behalf of the Marist Brothers, I extend sincere condolences to everyone who loved Chris but, especially to Marie, Horace, Alison and Lee.

As quiet and private as he was, Chris made no attempt to hide the strength of his feelings for Marie and Horace and the rest of his family. He loved you very, very dearly.

Chris' sufferings of the last several months punctuated an entire lifetime of sacrifice and of fidelity to his vows. Chris could have been the poster boy for the virtues that St. Marcellin Champagnat hoped would be the hallmarks of the Marist Brothers. Humility, simplicity and modesty are synonyms for Chris -- and, vice versa.. So, I think, Marie and Horace, that you can take great comfort today in knowing two things: first of all, your brother is in Heaven. Secondly, with his typical single-mindedness, he is letting His Creator know how important you are. You and your families have a determined and strong advocate sitting next to God.

There is no end to the number of nice things we could say about Chris at this time. We could review fifty-four years of apostolic and community assignments... which were numerous and varied and interesting and generous and valuable.

We could talk about his delightful sense of humor that was made especially precious because it was so subtle and quiet.

We could talk about his intelligence and the breadth of his knowledge. I can still see him listening to a discussion among some of us on a topic we knew little about. (The kind of discussion I'm very good at!) He never interjected clarification or corrections to our thinking but, more often than not, IF we asked him, HE KNEW THE FACTS, whether it was in the realm of geography, or history, or entertainment.... Whatever... he was up on it!

What really stands out in my mind, though, was his instinctive and constant gratitude. He was thankful for the smallest favor, for any little thing that was done for him. His inability to speak for the last several months was a great source of frustration for him. But, somehow, until his speech stopped completely, he was always able to say "thank you" loud and clear... and he said it often. The very last words I heard him say: "thank you."

And so, today, WE say thank you. We say thank you to God for blessing our lives with this wonderful, quiet man... and we say thank you to Chris for showing us how to live and for showing us how to die.

I offer this as a concluding thought: I don't think we should be mourning, today. I think we should be celebrating... celebrating a man who traveled his entire life journey in the virtues of humility, simplicity and modesty - the hallmarks of Champagnat's IDEAL Marist Brother. Think of it! Chris EMBODIED the virtues that our Founder hoped we would all strive for. What a FANTASTIC accomplishment! Chris, we celebrate you!

Source: Original Marists All Site

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