Fr. John's Memoirs

Fr. John died at the age of 83 on June 2nd after a long battle with pulmonary fibrosis. The reception of the body and viewing was held in the Abbey church. The service was attended by many friends and acquaintances. In order to accommodate the large number that attended the funeral Mass, it was held in the school’s Devine Theater.

Fr. John was from the St. Louis area and one of twelve siblings. He joined the monastery at age nineteen and earned his degree of doctorate in Sacred Theology at The Catholic University of America. He taught religion in the Abbey School and theology at various local schools and theologates, as well as eight summers at St. Mary’s College in Moraga, CA. He authored a number of books and articles on theological subjects, was a co-founder of the local chapter of the International Thomas Merton Society, and many years chaplain to a Team of Our Lady in Potomac, MD.

Fr. John gave his brother monks, his family and many friends a noble example of how to face bravely the diminishments and neediness that came with the gradual progress of his disease. He will be missed by all his brother monks and all those whose lives he touched by his example of a sure faith in God’s love and mercy, and by his friendship.

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