Obituary-Brother Dennis Herman Liuzzo

(1923 - June 1994)

Brother Denis Herman Liuzzo died at Calvary Hospital, Bronx NY, after a long battle with cancer. Denis, 71, had first professed vows in 1943 and had served the Poughkeepsie and Philippine Provinces. Many members of the USA Provinces and Denis' family gathered for wake services at Mount Saint Michael Academy, Bronx, and Immaculate Conception Church, in the Bronx. On Thursday, June 21 Denis' brother, Rev Vincent Liuzzo, OFMCap, was the principal celebrant at the Mass of Resurrection. Brothers Patrick McNamara, Dermot Healy and Paul Ambrose led a burial service in Esopus that afternoon.

The preceding obit appeared in the August 1994 Newsnotes of the Poughkeepsie Province. The following notice was published in the Advent 1994 issue of Today's Marist Brother.

In the words of Brother Patrick McNamara, provincial, "God doesn't make Brothers like Denis anymore." Brother Denis died at Calvary Hospital, Bronx NY after a long battle with cancer; he was 71 and professed vows in 1943. He had shared his talents as a teacher and a builder with the provinces of Poughkeepsie and the Philippines. He was born in the Bronx where he attended St. Frances of Rome School and Mount St. Michael Academy. He entered the Marist Brothers in 1942 at St. Ann's Hermitage, Poughkeepsie NY. He pronounced first vows a year later and final vows in 1950. Brother Denis earned a bachelor's degree in physics from Marist College in 1950. He taught math and science at Boys' Catholic H.S. in Augusta, Ga from 1946 to 1948 before joining the faculty of Mount St. Michael Academy, Bronx NY. Beginning in 1952, Brother Denis spent 15 years in the Philippines as a teacher, community superior and financial manager. In 1968 he returned to the states and served for 9 years in the Lawrence MA area at Central Catholic H.lS. and at the Marist Brothers Retirement Center.

In 1977 he joined the faculty of St. Agnes H.S. in New York City. he later taught at Cardinal Hayes H.S. Bronx NY before retiring in 1992 because of failing health. Brother McNamara speaks of these final years, "Denis followed the Way of Jesus directly to Calvary and those of us who knew him in the past years knew the suffering he endured, offered for others, and eventually would demand his life. I will remember he man I experienced in the past six year of St. Agnes as a Brother within our community. I will remember his constant bouncing back from four brain operations, each time impatiently awaiting a return to his beloved Cardinal Hayes H.S. I will remember his constant warmth and hospitality to guests in our community, his real example of Marist Family Spirit, and I will remember how he suffered and how he taught each of us to endure."

Source: Original Marists All Site

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