Tom Clarke, often referred to as a "Jesuit's Jesuit," was for me a "brother's brother." We were six boys, born of Irish immigrant parents. Tom was fourth from the top, I was second from the bottom. Home for us was a tenement above a saloon on Third Avenue in New York City. Tom was the "rock" of our family and the "heart" for a father whose heart never mended after the death of his wife, our mother.
Tom was my role model, my mentor. Through him, I had the opportunity of receiving spiritual guidance and friendship from many wonderful Jesuits, including Frs. Bill Wood, Walter Burkhart, and Jim Donnelly. They tried hard to keep me on the straight and narrow. As Jesuits they pursued the wonders of the Holy Spirit; as a bartender I pursued the wonders of the unholy spirits.
Tom's spiritual journey ended in 2005. He was laid to rest in the Jesuit cemetery in Auriesville, New York. It's amazing that Tom did not end up there sooner, as he was a terrible driver, a gifted philosopher who did not understand the meaning of a speed limit. The angels were always in his pocket!
Charles Clarke
Schohairie, New York
My most memorable Jesuit is Fr. Joseph Schell, who arrived at John Carroll University in the early forties when the place was overflowing with WWII vets. My husband Jack, now deceased, met Fr. Schell at Carroll. Jack, who had been the Pacific war and had seen his share of death, destruction, and immorality, returned looking for the meaning of life. It was Fr. Schell who helped him and many others realize that God was what life was all about and that service to others was the way to happiness. We learned the importance of daily Mass, spiritual reading, meditation and the daily exam, but we also had plenty of good clean fun at picnics, parties, and dances. His greatest gift to us was the Spiritual Exercises. We were young college graduates and he dared put us through an eight-day retreat. He was criticized because at that time only priests and nuns made such retreats. When some of us made the full 30-day exercises, the criticism intensified, but how grateful we are for the Exercises! They changed our lives.
Betty Hissong
Priest, lawyer, educator, and best friend is how I often described Fr. Dan Degnan. We first met in high school but became close friends when we both started practicing law in the same office. After three years of lawyering, Dan entered the Jesuits in 1958. He had an outstanding career, initially as a professor and ultimately as the the Dean of the Seton Hall Law School and president of St. Peter's College. He had a brilliant mind, combined with true humility and spirituality. He was an excellent administrator, an authority on Thomas Aquinas and the natural law, and still helped out as a parish priest. He impacted countless people throughout his priestly life.
Jim Keating
A young, newly ordained Jesuit wanted to have someone praying for him regularly, so he went to the Carmelite Monastery in East Cleveland to ask for one of the nuns to assume the apostolate. Mother Superior decided upon a "white-veil," who happened to be my sister, Sr. Anne of the Heart of Jesus.
Years later, through her speaking of him, I became interested in writing to him. By then, he'd spent 30 years in India (and had even come to know Mother Theresa) and had been transferred to East Africa, where he's spent yet another 30 years or more. I met him when he came to Florida on R&R to visit his brother, near where I live. He came to a prayer meeting at Church and talked about his work in Africa and India.
I couldn't love and respect a priest any more than Fr. Eugene F. Hattie, SJ. He's fallen in love with the kids whom he's rescued off the streets of Uganda, and they also love him! It would break his heart not to spend the remainder of his years continuing to work to improve their lives The pictures he's shared with me of his kids show them to be the happiest kids in the world!
Fr. Hattie gets my vote, hands down, as the most memorable Jesuit I've ever known!
Trudy Nelson
Plymouth, Massachusetts
I am a '48 graduate of Mundelein College in Chicago, now a part of Loyola University. During my years there, Fr. Jerome Jacobsen, SJ, came to teach a history course on the Americas. Fr. Jake was incredibly knowledgeable about his subject; among other responsibilities, he edited a journal about the Americas. He became a close friend as well as my confessor.
Fr. Jake was low key and well balanced, had a marvelous sense of humor, cared deeply about people, and somehow managed to keep me calm and confident through personal difficulties. His deep faith in a good and loving God permeated his being and nourished a similar faith in his friends. Fr. Jake died many years ago, but I still remember that delightful twinkle in his eyes.
Adele Baiocchi LeGere
Chicago
The most memorable Jesuit was Fr. James Farrell, SJ, who journeyed with me, my family and about 40 friends on annual Civil War tours from 1994 to 2006. He was an unforgettable tour de force. He planned every detail of each exploration, from reconnaissance of the battle sites to homilies for four to six daily masses. Indeed, each tour was an education as well as an ongoing formation and direction for life.
William J. Duhigg, M.D.
Lakewood, Ohio
My most memorable Jesuit was Fr. Norbert Huetter, who recruited me to play for the University of Detroit. I had offers from other universities but wanted a Catholic college, and I ended up in the last class to play NCAA Division 1 football at the U of D.
Fr. Huetter and the head coach took my parents and me to dinner as part of the get-to- know U of D process. He embodied everything I respected in a priest-manliness, love of God, and concern for others. We became very close through my four years. He was at the altar when I was married, and for years after we shared many good times with my children, who still remember him as a wonderful, loving man of God. While many university leaders were pursuing academics, revenues, and prominence for the university (all well intentioned), Fr. Huetter wanted your heart. He was a wise and good Jesuit who influenced many young men.
John Everly
Fr. Robert Crozier began each freshman English class at Creighton University with the Ignatian prayer for generosity. He said it like he meant it. He was an idea man who caught a student's attention. He spoke of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (whose poetry I still read 45 years later) and of Mortimer Adler's belief that the classics helped form Western civilization. He taught us that we could educate ourselves by learning to read books. Imagine my exhilaration a few years later when I could read a difficult text and comprehend it.
When I am in Omaha, I visit the graves of the Jesuits who in two years educated me for a lifetime.
Thomas Brannon
Liberty, Missouri
Our graduating class ('39) at St. Joseph's Prep in Philadelphia prepared several classmates for the Jesuit priesthood, John Deeney among others. He has labored in India with the Jesuit mission all of his life and is still quite active with the Ho tribe in the hill country of India. He has translated most of our liturgical works to their language and in spite of poor health refuses to retire. His recent Christmas e-mail tells us how happy he is and how enjoyable his choice of a religious vocation.
He is a living model of the words penned by Ignatius centuries ago: "Dedication to Jesus." John Deeney and others in our class were well prepared for life, thanks to wonderful scholastics who nurtured us for four years.
John Callahan
Fort Pierce, Florida
My cousin, Rev. Harold J. Weber, SJ, was a missionary in Batticaloa, Sri Lanka, from 1947 until his death in 1998.
Harold not only loved "his people" in Ceylon, but they loved and respected him in return. One of the things he did was to start a basketball tournament that grew into the Weber Cup. Even with all the war around them, it was an annual event, held in Weber Stadium. His friend Fr. Harry Miller, SJ, wrote to my mother:
"His funeral was epic in Batticaloa, almost the whole town closing down to take part in the wake (three days) and funeral procession through the town and over to Weber Stadium, and back to burial in the college front lawn. No one had to ask who this was. He was a legend in the town already. His death made front pages in the national newspapers and television. He held court in our reading room to a stream of his 'devotees,' old pupils, sports stars old and new, lepers and paupers he had helped over the years, the successes and the drop-outs of the town. A visit to Fr. Weber was a must for anyone coming back to town from outside."
Jean Dugas for
Dorothy Klar
Albuquerque
One of the first Jesuits I met at Marquette University in 1951 was Fr. Gerald Brennan, my European history professor.
He was a part of the journalism students' lives, offering advice and counsel whenever asked but not imposing himself on any of us. His engaging smile and always friendly salutation-"Chrismae"-made him a friend to all of us. Throughout my years at Marquette, he was always there teaching, counseling, being a friend.
When my husband Jim and I were planning our wedding, we asked Fr. Brennan to concelebrate with Jim's brother, Fr. John Sankovitz. As time drew closer to the wedding date we had not heard From Fr. Brennan and assumed he would not be present. What a surprise it was, as I walked down the aisle, to see Fr. Brennan in the sanctuary!
As quietly as he arrived, he departed-he did not come to our wedding luncheon. He probably had another wedding to attend on that very warm August day. Several years later, when Jim was employed at Marquette, Fr. Brennan was still a member of the faculty. We were at Marquette's Church of the Gesu in 1979 when a Mass of Resurrection was celebrated for Fr. Brennan, a truly memorable Jesuit.
Margaret Mathews Sankovitz
Shorewood, Wisconsin
The most memorable Jesuit in my life, Fr. Henry Sullivan, principal of Creighton Prep from 1929 to 1957, was the first Jesuit I met. Having just graduated from public grade school, my sister-in- law arranged for a meeting with Fr. Sullivan. She told him, "Don would like to enroll at Creighton Prep, take instructions in the Catholic faith, and be baptized." Quite a one-sentence request! Obviously, Fr. Sullivan knew absolutely nothing about me, but he said he would see to it that everything would be worked out.
Throughout the summer Fr. Charles Kanne, SJ, patiently guided me thru the catechism and baptized me a few days before school began.
When I attended my first day of class, I knew only Frs. Sullivan and Kanne. To my surprise, I felt right at home. Football practice started the next day; in less than a week, friendships were forged that would last for a lifetime.
I was a young boy who needed help and direction-and I received it. In 1962, my wife Carmen and I adopted the first of our three children, a son who later was a starter on Creighton Prep's 1980 state championship football team. His name-John Sullivan Leahy.
Don Leahy
Omaha
Creighton Prep '47
After four years at Regis High in New York and four more at The College of the Holy Cross, there have been many memorable Jesuits in my life, but Fr. William Wood, SJ, would probably be my choice. He was a dear friend who made everyone he came in contact with feel very important. He was quiet, but could be very vocal when he had to. He enjoyed a good joke and he was also a very strong man.
A Jesuit friend and I took one of the tuna we caught during a deep-sea fishing trip, packed in ice, back to 83rd Street for the Jesuit community. We decided to sneak the 40-pounder to Bill's room and slip it into his bed. We got a gurney and wheeled the fish into the elevator. When the door opened on Bill's floor, who was standing there but Fr. Wood. In typical fashion, his comment was, "Is that the best that you could catch?"
Fr. Bill Wood was one of the best. He was dearly loved by those he served and by those who served with him.
Donald Gross
Regis High School '43
College of the Holy Cross '48
A lot of people have said that Fr. Joe Peschel, SJ, was their favorite Jesuit. Everybody loved him, and he felt like a best friend. A Faith Community in Cincinnati that he was a part of called him Fr. Special.
It felt really good to be with Joe. He saw Jesus in everyone he met. He always carried his EMT gear, and wouldn't pass and accident or a hitchhiker on the side of the road.
Joe started early as a lifeguard on the beaches of Chicago. He guarded lives in all kinds of ways in his career as a Jesuit. We were Boy Scouts together, hitchhiked to St. Ignatius together, were roommates in college, and entered the Jesuits together. He went all the way living a life to be proud of, but pride was not his thing.
Joe was captain of the swimming team. He had a good shot at the Olympics in water polo, but entered the Jesuits to be of service to God and man. He returned to the water about 20 years later swimming in the senior divisions. He moved like a dolphin; water was his element. He had a heart attack while swimming, right after one of his smooth flip turns. I think he had loved so much, his heart stopped beating.
Tom Zimmermann
Austin
In August 1994, my daughter entered Fordham University on a dean's scholarship. By June, however, thanks to her enjoying the attractions of the university and the city a little too much, she failed to maintain the required GPA. This disappointment led to something very fortuitous, however: she and I met Fr. Joe McShane, SJ. He was kind enough to extend some extra time to her, and I realized that I was in the company of a remarkable man-someone with a clarity of purpose, a complexity of intellect, a freshness of thought and humor, and a depth of spirituality such as I had never, nor have ever, met.
In the succeeding years, we had reason to be ever more impressed by his generosity of spirit and humility. Whenever I called to seek his advice, he was immediately available to me, despite his having 8,000 students as his responsibility. When my son entered the school two years later, Fr. McShane was working in the lines in the parking lot, handing out cups of juice to incoming freshmen and their parents. When he became president of the University of Scranton (where we lived), he energized the school, and the entire community. He accomplishes success in all that he does with an indefatigable work ethic, a serenity, and an Irish lightness of heart and spirit that are a joy to all of us who've been privileged to know him.
And when all is said and done, the bottom line is that he saved my child. For me, that is the ultimate measure of the man.
Karen Walsh
Monmouth Beach, New Jersey
The Jesuit who influenced me the most in life is Fr. Julio Giulietti, now the president of Wheeling Jesuit University. I first came to know Fr. Julio while a student at Boston College. Through several of his theology courses, which included Ignatian retreats, he introduced me to Ignatian Spirituality and the importance of social justice. It was during one of his courses that we learned of the devastating murder of the Jesuits and their colleagues in El Salvador, which had a profound effect on the entire class.
I was also privileged to know him during his time at Georgetown University, where I attended law school. His gentleness, wisdom and humor mark him as a man for others. I have continued to use the Examen, first introduced to me by Fr. Julio, in my life and through my current work with Old St. Joseph's Parish in Philadelphia. I am proud of Fr. Julio's successes, and grateful for his wisdom and influence.
Dave Smith
North Wales, Pennsylvania
Boston College '91
Georgetown '95
I long desired to teach abroad, so, after a month of reading and talking about Jamaica I sent letters of inquiry to the first bishop of Jamaica and another priest in Trinidad. Though both offered work, Jamaica won six and a half years of my heart and life. As Jamaica became independent, Bp. McEleney was opening an elementary school in a poor areas in Kingston, alongside East Indian squatters, Rastafarians, and the zinc and cardboard shelters along the sea. I arrived on Wednesday and helped open the school the following Monday.
This gentle spiritual leader was only a phone call away, even when the three of us teachers were confined to bed with measles. Bp. McEleney was a deeply spiritual man, an example of simplicity and humility without drawing attention to himself. He gave his leadership, his expertise, his love for those twenty years so that Jamaica, our adopted island in the sun, could flourish. He continues to look after this mission-still singing "Jamaica, Jamaica, Jamaica, Land We Love" as we all did, beginning that first August of independence.
Sharon Rae Landergott Durtka
Cudahy, Wisconsin
"You must meet Fr. Gene," Annie said the week before we arrived in Kathmandu. When traveling, we never contact people who are our friends' friends. But this time, something urged us to do make the phone call.
Annie wanted us to meet Fr. Eugene Watrin, a missionary invited by Nepal's royal family to open schools in the mountain kingdom. The meeting was special; a bonding was instant.
Fr. Watrin began his long career in Nepal as a teacher at the Godavari School and he remained a teacher for the rest of his life. He also took on additional responsibilities including director of the Godavari Alumni Association, building it into a positive force for change in Nepal.
He arranged for volunteers to take us to the villages to witness the social work being done among the poor, the cottage industries for the unemployed and women, the scholarship program for poor children, rural micro-credit schemes, and mobile health clinics among them.
That week in Nepal and later his overnight visit to our Milwaukee home has left an indelible mark on our lives-a gift for which we could not have asked.
Alexander and Sharon Rae Durtka, Jr.
Cudahy, Wisconsin
I remember two Jesuits who were so different, in their looks and manner, and in style and personality, yet both of them were Jesuits to the core. And I was blessed to know them both. One guided me into a 30-day retreat and the other guided me on it! Both of them helped me to accept death and grasp life. Both of them shared their fine sense of humor, one subtly, the other blatantly, and my life was altered. By never giving up on me, they helped me to move from the image of falling into the darkness and emptiness into accepting death as a running to the high places. My life is different because of having known Frs. J.J. Bresnahan, now laughing in heaven, and Fr. John A. Conlin, gently present now at Manresa Hall in Philadelphia. Two very memorable Jesuits indeed!
Sr. James Xavier, SSJ
Middlesex, New Jersey
I met Fr. Charles Ronan, the most memorable Jesuit in my life, when I was a student at Loyola Academy in Wilmette, Illinois, in the late 40s. He was a compassionate, caring priest and teacher. When we'd assemble at the chapel for confessions, students could choose from about six or seven confessors. The lines in front of Fr. Ronan's confessional were invariably several times longer than all the others. He would listen patiently and counsel in his gentle and thoughtful manner.
I saw him and other Jesuits minister to the spiritual needs of sick and injured sailors and marines of the Vietnam era when I was stationed at the Great Lakes Naval Station hospital, north of Chicago. I also saw him on a regular basis at Cook County Hospital in the city and spent many hours at the Jesuit residence talking, swimming with him at the pool, and sharing meals.
Later, as he weakened, I spent many "Tuesdays with Charlie." We attended Mass and in the milder weather sat by the lake just enjoying the beauty. He was a wonderful friend, conversationalist, counselor and priest. I shall never forget him.
John Oldershaw, MD Capt (MC) USN ret.
Burr Ridge, Illinois
Loyola Academy '50
Fr. Ted Thepe has been a special person in my life for nearly 60 years-since he came to Loyola Academy in Wilmette, Illinois, as a scholastic in 1949. He was my husband's physics teacher and was moderator of the camera club. He didn't let his classes become boring. I still hear tales of his proctoring exams seated in a rocking chair on top of his desk.
Photography has been a lifelong interest with Fr. Thepe. From the camera club at Loyola to his classes in photography at Xavier University (which he still conducts), he has shared his knowledge and his concern for others. He has shared his photographs with members of the community in Cincinnati as reflections for prayer both with groups and in exhibits.
He was a celebrant at our wedding and we have been grateful for the opportunities we have had through the years to celebrate the liturgy with him. Now in his 80s and still teaching at Xavier University, he is a friend and example.
Kathy Egloff, wife of
E. Ralph Egloff,
Loyola Academy '50
Loyola University Chicago '54
"Careful! It might be haunted!" was the frequent comment from my Protestant friends as we scurried past the house in which the Catholic priest of our small Illinois town lived. Those tiptoed scurries were long forgotten when this daughter of a Methodist minister traveled to the Jesuit novitiate in Arequipa, Peru, 40 years later. The purpose of the trip was to visit Fr. Kevin Gallagher, a Jesuit with whom my husband had worked 35 years earlier. In addition to sharing meals, Fr. Gallagher invited us to share in the morning's Mass. Neither the differences in language, music, or the order of worship masked the quiet grace and beauty of that time together.
It was an honor to be in the home of Fr. Kevin, who had witnessed our wedding 23 years earlier and had taken time to visit us in our home during a one of his rare trips to the United States. My childhood friends' shouts of "Careful, it might be haunted!" is now transformed into a prayer that our sons, John and Kevin, will always be haunted by the loving generosity, curiosity, unbounded spirit and humor of Fr. Kevin Gallagher!
Bob and Martha Olsen
Stillwater, Oklahoma
I met Fr. Bill Lynch in September '53, when I was a freshman at St. Joseph's Prep in Philadelphia. In those days it was the custom to go to Mass and Communion Friday morning before class and confession on Thursday during an extended lunch period. The trick was to have a fast lunch, an even faster confession and get to the school yard for basketball or football games. As I entered the church, I could not believe the lines at each confessional-except for Fr. Bill's. He had a reputation as a strict disciplinarian. I decided to go with the short line anyway, and thus began my lifelong relationship with Fr. Bill which endures to this day.
He was my confessor during those Prep years and also taught me Latin, Greek, English, and Religion. He was the best prepared instructor of any college or graduate course I ever took.
He'd visit our house most Tuesdays; he and my Dad liked to watch Uncle Miltie on TV. He became our family priest, officiating at our weddings, baptisms and funerals. Even to this day my wife and I look forward to his kind words and guidance during tough times. I can only wish him ad multos annos and pray I have the right declension or else I know I will hear from him.
Dick Wickersham
Downington, Pennsylvania
St. Joseph's Prep '57