Obituary-Brother Terence Jones

(May 19, 1918 - November 30, 1988)

The following eulogy by Brother Richard Van Houton at the Mass of the Resurrection for Brother Terence Jones, November 30, 1988, is reprinted from the Stanner Alumni News:

On May 19, 1918, Thomas Gerard Jones was born, as Brother Terence would often remind us, on St. Ann's Street in the Bronx. His mother's name was Ann, and so it was inevitable that she would send him to St. Ann's Academy, the predecessor of Archbishop Molloy High School. After graduating with honors, Tom Jones went to St. Ann's Hermitage in Poughkeepsie, where he professed his vows as Brother Terence in 1938.

Father Champagnat, who founded the Marist Brothers, one remarked that "A Brother is a man for whom the whole world is not large enough." He doubt he had a brother like Terence in mind, whose fifty year teaching career was to span seventeen time zones.

He taught grammar school, high school, and college. He taught mathematics, physics, chemistry, Latin, French and English. he was an extraordinary teacher: he challenged the talented, encouraged the fearful, and coaxed the reluctant. Terence developed that booming voice of his as young teacher competing with the construction of the Lexington Avenue subway. But he was all bark and little bite; it genuinely pained him to see us struggle, and a poke in the ribs during a test was always followed by a hint to help us out. Surely, no fictional wizard ever helped so many discover their brain, their heart, or their courage.

An accomplished athlete himself, he also coached: baseball, basketball, rugby, track, swimming, and volleyball. he was moderator — and one hesitates to accuse Terence of moderation in anything — he was moderator of the math club, math team, parents club, and choral groups. And he was founder and moderator for over twenty years of the alumni association that embraces St. Ann's and Molloy's fifteen thousand graduates. Terry seemed to have a warm story to tell about each and every one of them.

He was director of his Marist community, and he organized a year-long celebration of the 150th Anniversary of the founding of the Marist Brothers.

Brother Terence taught in New York, Massachusetts, South Africa, Canada, Guam and Hawaii. He loved the many lands where he taught. And he loved the ocean — he loved ALL of the oceans — and considered an opportunity to swim, surf, or scuba dive in any of them as a foretaste of the hundredfold promised in the gospel. If ever there was a man for whom the hold world was not bug enough, surely it was Brother Terence.

But the measure of Terence's life is not only found in big things. The world was not big enough, but no one was ever too small for Terence's kindness.

No picture of Terence is complete without so many images: Terence took personal care of a St. Ann's graduate — Tom Farley — who was struck with cerebral palsy. For many many years, it was Terence who fed him, bathed him, found him part-time employment, and led him through the labyrinth of government services.

Terence tutored hundreds of students — his students, other people's students, alumni, nephews and children of faculty members.

When Brother Wilfrid was in a nursing home in his nineties, Terence was among his most faithful visitors, and always managed to coax a laugh out of him with a story of their days at the Academy. After Terry's mother passed away, he continued to visit her friends at the nursing home, with gifts of bread he baked himself.

Terence had an Irishman's love of language: he cold tell a story, crack a joke in French, or complete the Sunday Times crossword — in ink. It seems there was only one word not in his vocabulary: he could not say "no" to anyone in need.

Terence loved his family, his Brothers, his students, his alumni, his school. He embraced everyone God sent into his life with an enthusiasm as constant as it was daunting.

In over a hundred alumni newsletters, Terence's closing was always the same: "God Bless All Stanners." Well, Terence, God heard your prayer for us.

Brother Terence: A man larger than life
by Robert Corrigan, Class of 1963.
Reprinted from Stanner Alumni News.

 

To some he was "Terry," to some "Tom Jones," to most of us "Brother Terence," but to all he was larger-than-life, a great, warm, handsome Irishman from the Bronx, a dedicated teacher and a devoted friend.

The description, "a legend in his own time," has been overused to the point of cliché, but in the case of Brother Terence it happens to be true. No one who ever met him can ever forget him. He was a teacher, a coach, a moderator, a music director, a mathematician, an athlete. He was also a world traveler, a storyteller, a social director, a man's man with enough personality left over to charm the ladies. He was loved by everyone in the St. Ann's/Molloy family — his classmates, his students, parents, alumni, and fellow faculty members.

I fall into two of those categories. I've had the opportunity to learn from Brother Terence in the classroom, and then the pleasure of working with him on alumni affairs. Like all of you, I am filled with memories of him:

I remember how he brought a classroom to life with flamboyant teaching style and a voice which certainly needed no microphones.

I remember his enthusiasm for math, and the intriguing mathematical paradoxes he'd present to us.

I remember the great exuberance of his St. Patrick's Day sows, and his early morning rehearsals.

I remember his booming laugh, which was never far from the surface.

I remember his great smile, and his seemingly perpetual tan.

I remember his stories about South Africa and Guam and Hawaii, and how he'd try to convince us he really was working in all those places.

I remember how he energized a room and drew people to him by the sheer force of his personality.

I remember his enthusiasm for both the alumni association and the parents' association.

I remember how he would phone me from time to time at my office, and for a few minutes dispel the tensions and pressures of the day with the goodness and warmth in his voice.

I remember the joy he felt when his students succeeded, and the pain he felt when they suffered.

I remember distinctly his ability to see the good qualities in others, and to overlook their failings.

And perhaps more than anything else about him, I remember Brother Terence's upfront, unabashed faith in God and his love for our Blessed Mother. he was not ashamed to show his faith, and there's no doubt it guided everything he did.

Brother Terence was a man of many accomplishments, but he was the kind of person who woudl always dismiss his own role, preferring to deflect praise to others around him. However, no one at Molloy who sees the magnitude of alumni involvement or parental support can doubt the part he played in making them happen. And no one can deny that the De Chiaro Center is standing today largely because of the foundation he laid over so many years with his network of alumni and parents.

But Brother Terence was not the type to dwell on his own achievements. I think the words of the folk hymn "Wherever You Go," composed by the Benedictine monk Gregory Norbert, fit Brother Terence perfectly:

When the time of our particular sunset comes, our things, our accomplishments won't really matter a great deal, but the clarity and care with which we have loved others, will speak with vitality of the great gift of life we have been for each other.

What a great gift he has been for us: No one loved life more, and no one gave it more. The time of Brother Terence's sunset has come, much too quickly for us. The suddenness of his last illness left us grieving, not only for his suffering, but with the realization that we can not properly say goodbye.

But maybe that is how it should be. We won't say goodbye to Brother Terence: instead, we'll carry him with us — his smile, his spirit, his joy, his faith, his vigor, his laugh, his sense of humor, his love for God, his concern for others, his attitude for prayer, his zest for life. If we can each carry a piece of the goodness he gave us, he will always be with us, and there will be no need to say goodbye.

For many years, Brother Terence closed his alumni newsletter with the prayer, "God bless all Stanners." Today, all Stanners earnestly pray, "God bless Brother Terence.

The following article was reprinted from The Stanner Alumni News, Fall 1987.
Brother Terence 50th Anniversary

 

On July 26, 1987, one of Molloy's interesting, diversified and well traveled Marist Brothers celebrated his 50th Golden Anniversary. This date marks an impressive milestone in the life and ministry of Brother Terence A. Jones. In the 50 years that Brother Terence has spent as a Marist (over 45 of which have been spent teaching), he has traveled, taught, studied and lived life to the fullest.

Brother Terence was born in the Bronx and received a Catholic education at St. Ann's Academy, Molloy's "origin" in Manhattan. He then went on to Catholic University for his B.A. from there to Boston College for his Masters Degree and then to Yeshiva and Columbia Universities where he has done doctoral study.

His career as a teacher spans a wide spectrum of schools. Beginning in Lowell, Massachusetts at St. Joseph's School in 1938, he continued on and taught at St. Ann's Academy in Canada, Central Catholic in Lawrence, Massachusetts, Cardinal Hayes and Mount St. Michael in New York, Marist College in Poughkeepsie, Marist Scholasticate and St. Charles College, both in South Africa. Brother Terence has also spent many summers teaching at the University of Guam and at Damien High School in Honolulu, Hawaii. His largest amount of time, however, has been spent at Molloy. The subjects that he has taught include all levels of high school Mathematics, A.P. Calculus and Finite Math, Latin, French, Chemistry and Physics.

Brother Terence's involvement with athletics and extracurricular activities is just as extensive. Brother had coached varsity baseball, swimming, track, and in South Africa, rugby. Regarding his social activities, Brother Terence has been moderator of the Math team and club, moderator of the Parents' Activity Committee, the ever popular director of his musical reviews back in the 1960s and also a worker for the continued circulation of the Alumni Newsletter. Resulting from this constant dedication to education's continuance was the announcement of Brother Terence Jones Day back on May 8, 1976. Another observance of his ministry was his being named "Stanner of the Year," also in 1976.

Brother Terence's worldwide travel has also made popular subject of conversation at Molloy. Brother has traveled extensively to Tokyo, Istanbul, Athens, Rome, Paris, Brussels, London, Belfast, Australia, New Zealand, and finally the Philippines.

The Stanner Alumni News wishes to note that Brother Terence's anniversary was celebrated at Mount St. Michael in late May. Finally, Brother Terence, we express sincerest thanks for all your contributions to generations of Stanners.

Source: Original Marists All Site

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