Father Kieran Neilson, O.S.B., with Bishop Peter Jugis at the 2015 Jubilarians Mass. BELMONT — Benedictine Father Kieran A. Neilson died peacefully at Belmont Abbey on Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2019, strengthened by the sacraments. He was 86.
The Benedictine served for nearly 60 years as a priest.
His body will be received at the abbey on Friday evening, March 1, in the Basilica of Our Lady, Help of Christians, located at 100 Belmont Mount Holly Road in Belmont, at 7 p.m., followed by Vespers.
The funeral Mass will be celebrated at St. Michael Church, 708 St. Michael's Lane in Gastonia, on Saturday morning, March 2. The rosary will be at 9:40 a.m., followed by Mass at 10 a.m. Interment follow at the Belmont Abbey Cemetery.
Alexander Patrick Neilson, known as Paddy to his family and friends, was born on July 2, 1932, in Charlotte, the son of the late Alexander J. and Catherine Jones Neilson.
He attended O’Donoghue School in Charlotte for his elementary and secondary education, testing the patience and skill of the Sisters of Mercy, to whom he remained devoted throughout his life. He graduated from Belmont Abbey College in 1954 and entered the novitiate, receiving the name Kieran in honor of his Irish heritage. He was professed on July 2, 1955. After studies at the Belmont Abbey Seminary, he was ordained a priest on May 26, 1960.
In North Carolina, Father Kieran served at various times as subprior and formation director in the monastic community, as chaplain at Belmont Abbey College, instructor at Sacred Heart College and parochial vicar at St. Michael Parish in Gastonia. He was assigned to St. Benedict Priory in Richmond, Va., from 1960 to 1965, and again from 1976 to 1989, serving at St. Benedict’s Parish and Benedictine High School and as chaplain at McGuire Veterans Hospital.
When the Richmond community became independent in 1989, Father Kieran returned to Belmont Abbey and his family in Charlotte. He was a beloved presence on campus, a popular figure and well known among students, who were drawn to his cheerful smile, hearty laugh and warm nature. This past spring, he celebrated the 59th anniversary of his ordination.
Growing up in the small Catholic community in Charlotte, Father Kieran was acquainted with the monks of Belmont Abbey from his youth. After God, Father Kieran loved his large extended family, his Irish heritage and Notre Dame athletics.
Father Kieran cherished a life-long love of automobiles, which he indulged on a daily basis. At one point, he had a car donated for his personal use, which he parked at a discreet distance from the monastery – a happy situation which met with an infelicitous end when it became known to the abbot.
Benedictine Father Kieran Neilson (center) with Abbot Placid Solari and Father David Kessinger in 2015.
He was an outgoing, friendly man with an extensive circle of loyal friends. His wide-ranging travels and gregarious nature made him the abbey’s best-known monk and goodwill ambassador. He had a nickname for everyone and was not shy with his comments and remarks.
For more than 50 years he served as a monk and priest at the abbey. Father Kieran had particularly fond memories of his early days at the abbey including the farm, which the monks tended during the 1950s and early 1960s on a plot of land directly adjacent to the monastery.
When he wasn't tending to the farm, Father Kieran taught sociology and theology at the Sacred Heart campus in Belmont. At one point he acted as the resident disciplinarian at Benedictine College Preparatory School in Richmond, Va. "I saw those young men later grow up as doctors and such; and they came back to see me with their children and thanked me for what I did for them. That's what really makes me feel good," said Father Kieran when asked about his time in Richmond.
In an interview in 2015, Father Kieran said it was the happiness he received from knowing the good he had that gave him the most satisfaction. "What is so wonderful for me about my life so far is the people I served over those years – the joy they gave me in being able to minister to them. That's something I'll never lose sight of and never forget."
In addition to his parents, Father Kieran was preceded in death by his brothers Joseph and John. He is survived by the monks of Belmont Abbey, by his sisters, Kathleen Potter, Mary Ann Frantz and Patricia Neilson, and by his large extended family.
— Catholic News Herald. Photos by SueAnn Howell, senior reporter.
The following is a reflection from Father Kieran’s niece Ann Potter Gleason:
The Box: Joy in life comes from living for others
He handed me a cardboard box. “I want you to keep this,” he almost whispered. “I don’t want them throwing it away when I’m gone.” It wasn’t a big box, but for my uncle, Father Kieran Neilson, a monk of Belmont Abbey, it held a treasure because of what its contents represented—a life lived for others, a life of laughter, of love, of true relationships. That tattered container held hundreds of photographs, many faded, most of people I’d never met. “Can you imagine what it’d have been like if I’d had an iPhone,” he chuckled. Although “Uncle Paddy,” as he was known in the Neilson family, took a vow of poverty, he was the richest man I’ve ever known. And although he took a vow of stability, he had friends all over the world. Why?
Because of his joy and his rare gift for just being present to everyone he met, for connecting with people of all kinds, old and young, rich and poor. He received each one into his heart, as the Rule of St. Benedict teaches, like he was receiving Christ.
Uncle Paddy passed away on February 27, 2019, after 6 years of battling cancer. He was ready to go home to his Heavenly Father. He knew his earthly journey was ending when he handed me that box in January, but you could still sense the pain he felt parting from so many friends.
According to my mom, his older sister, Kathleen, the man we all knew was the same as the boy who frolicked and made mischief around Dilworth in the 1930s and 40s. He befriended all the neighbors, and everyone loved him. He took a real interest in people, which is different from just a curiosity because it entails compassion, a true eagerness to understand and share in the feelings of another. Getting to know another person was not a means to an end for Uncle Paddy. It was an end in itself.
An afternoon outing with Uncle Paddy was a little like an afternoon with Mary Poppins.Because everyone knew him, all sorts of doors would open, and adventure awaited behind each one. During a pilgrimage to Fatima in the 1980s, I once joined him for a morning run. As he jogged through the village streets calling, “Bone Diah!” with his characteristic southern drawl, it was apparent that he’d already made the acquaintance of half the shop owners.
Before I knew it, we were whisked into a café and seated at a table spread with pastries and coffee, special guests of the cafe’s Portuguese proprietor. Uncle Paddy’s warmth and zeal needed no translation.
Although his travels took him to numerous countries and fascinating places, upon his return my uncle would speak only sparingly of the historic sites and majestic beauty he’d beheld. Instead, his eyes would twinkle with life as he’d tell you about the people he’d met.
After his trip to the Holy Land, I heard all about the tour guide, the bus driver, and their families.
They had obviously touched him. And, no doubt, he’d touched them.
Uncle Paddy could speak frankly. His playful jabs could sting. “John, you’re lookin’ portly!” he quipped to my teenage son who had put on a few pounds. But the foundational relationship of love and affection that had been built over the years preceding that comment mitigated any offense. Rather than fodder for resentment, such incidents became just another
“Uncle Paddy Story.” Every member of the extended Neilson family has several.
I don’t know if Uncle Paddy ever texted or tweeted or created a Facebook page, but I know he was “connected”—profoundly connected. Like Christ, his deep joy and unwavering hope attracted souls. He lived for others, and they knew it.
So I’ll keep that box entrusted to me in January. I’ll hold it dear not because I know the faces or share the memories reflected in those photos, but because it will always remind me of
Uncle Paddy and the lesson he taught me: The joy in life comes from living for others. The joy in life comes from living with the heart of Christ. John 15:11-13.
Saying goodbye to a monk
On his deathbed my father could barely speak because he was on a respirator, so he began writing notes, trying to tie up the loose ends of his life in his final hours. One of his notes read: “Please tell the men of Belmont Abbey thank you.”
My father had been placed at the Benedictine monastery just outside of Charlotte in 1926 when he was 13, right after his mother had died. He lived there until he was 19, through his impressionable teenage years until adulthood. He was always grateful to have been formed in his faith by the monks of the monastery. Throughout his adult life Dad supported the monastery and college and counted many of the monks as his closest friends. He called the Abbey his mother. The Abbey became, for my brothers and me, our grandmother.
Because we have been close to the monks, we have attended a number of funerals there: cherished abbots of old, college professors, dear friends. Members of my family, including my mother and father, rest in the hallowed ground of that cemetery. An Abbey monk who helped saved my life lay there, as well as the one who dispensed the Blessed Sacrament to me in my first Holy Communion. I have said goodbye to teachers and confessors and counselors and confidants.
The other day I stood again in that cemetery, watching the simple black casket of the Benedictines being lowered into the ground as the monks sang in unison: “Ultima in mortis hora, Filium pro nobis ora, Bonam mortem impetra, Virgo Mater Domina.” (“When death’s hour is then upon us, to your Son pray that He grant us death both holy and serene, Virgin Mary, Mother Queen.”) That solemn Latin chant by a handful of brother monks at a graveside is as poignant a moment as I know. They were saying goodbye to one of the most joyful, colorful and all round influential monks in the abbey, Father Kieran “Paddy” Neilson.
Aside from his teaching duties over the years and various positions within the monastic community, Father Kieran was a welcome sight for decades around the campus and on the monastery grounds. He was a beloved figure to many people of our area as well as in Richmond, at the Benedictine high school where he taught for many years.
Everybody has a Father Kieran story. One of mine is about the time I was helping to teach confirmation students at St. Patrick Cathedral in Charlotte. I was determined to bring in a good, holy priest to every class to talk to the kids. Father Kieran, who grew up two houses away from the cathedral, walked with me from the church down to the cafeteria of St. Pat’s School where the class was assembled. Before we got there, I said, “Father, when I bring a priest in, I’ve been telling the kids a little about him personally – you know, perhaps something about his family or his hobbies.” Before I could take another step, in his fine Southern drawl, he replied, “Aw, Freddy! Hobbies? That’s easy… prayer and sports! Prayer and sports!” He kept up a running commentary on his beloved Notre Dame football team, among other favorites, and would unleash his particular critical insights completely unsolicited.
Father Kieran was a treasured chaplain to the Abbey college students. This happy, mischievous, animated and friendliest of clerics who never forgot a name was a model of that concrete holiness that showed everyone the sanctity of daily life, even in the infirmity of his later years.
Every hymn at Father Kieran’s funeral was of Celtic origin in tribute to his Irish heritage. In his homily, Abbot Placid mentioned that Father Kieran had been lobbying for another trip to the Emerald Isle, even though he was too sick to travel. And in a striking example of God’s inspiring order, Abbot Placid also recalled that he had received his own first Holy Communion from Father Kieran in Richmond. The abbot said he had known Father Kieran since he was 6 years old.
In a time when clergy scandals continue to bruise us all (it seems like almost every church has been touched by them, including Belmont Abbey), I pray for its victims and fight the horrors of it with recollections of the many good and holy men of the priesthood and women religious who helped to form me in my faith and witnessed to a sacramental way of living.
We can combat the scandals with thousands of examples of godly faith, compassion and holiness like that I have encountered in the gifts God has granted me through certain people in my life – people like Father Kieran “Paddy” Nielson. And so I bid a fond farewell to a wonderful monk.
Fred Gallagher is an author and editor-in-chief with Gastonia-based Good Will Publishers Inc.
BILOXI, Miss.— Bishop Joseph Lawson Howze, the founding bishop of the Diocese of Biloxi and the first black bishop in the 20th century to head a U.S. diocese, died Jan. 9. He was 95.
Bishop Howze was also the first priest of the Diocese of Charlotte to become a bishop. When the Diocese of Charlotte was carved out of the Diocese of Raleigh in 1972, then Father Howze was serving as the pastor of the Parish (now Basilica) of St. Lawrence in Asheville. Soon after, he was consecrated auxiliary bishop of Natchez-Jackson, Miss., and in 1977 he became the first bishop of the Diocese of Biloxi. He retired in 2001.
"While we are saddened by the death of Bishop Joseph Lawson Howze, we rejoice in his life," said Bishop Louis F. Kihneman III of Biloxi. "His was a life well lived in faithful service to almighty God and to the people of Mississippi, both as an auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Natchez-Jackson and later as first bishop of Biloxi from 1977 to 2001."
Noting that establishing a new diocese was difficult work, Bishop Kihneman said Bishop Howze was "very proud of what he, with the help of devoted clergy, religious and laity, accomplished during his tenure" and was "forever grateful to the people of the diocese for their unfailing generosity of time, talent and treasure."
Despite deteriorating health in recent years, Bishop Howze remained interested in events in the diocese, Bishop Kihneman said.
"He loved the Diocese of Biloxi and prayed unceasingly for its continued success. He had a genuine concern for the salvation of souls," he added.
A visitation is scheduled for 5-8 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 15, at Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Cathedral, 870 Howard Ave. in Biloxi. The Vigil for the Deceased will be celebrated at 7 p.m. A further opportunity for visitation is scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 16, at Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Cathedral from 8:30 a.m. until the funeral Mass at 10:30 a.m.
The Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Cathedral on Wednesday, Jan. 16, at 10:30 a.m. Interment will follow at the new Bishops’ Prayer Garden behind Nativity Cathedral. A livestream of the funeral Mass will be available on the Diocese of Biloxi's website: https://www.biloxidiocese.org.
Joseph Lawson Howze was born in Daphne, Ala., Aug. 30, 1923, to Albert Otis Howze Sr. and Helen (Lawson) Howze. He began his school years at Most Pure Heart of Mary School in Mobile, Ala., but his first year of school was interrupted in 1928 by the death of his mother, just six days after she bore her fourth child. The eldest, then age 5, young Lawson (Joseph is his baptismal name) was shuttled back and forth between the homes of his grandparents, aunts and father, who later remarried and fathered three more children.
After graduating as valedictorian of his 1944 high school class, a young Lawson Howze graduated with honors and as president of the senior class from Alabama State College. He had intended to study medicine, but instead earned a bachelor's degree in science and education and began teaching biology and chemistry at Central High School in Mobile.
Bishop Howze first had been a Baptist, then a Methodist, serving as a choir director and church organist and pianist. But while teaching at Central High School he was drawn to the Catholic faith through the example of Marion Carroll Jr., one of seven Catholic students in his biology class. Soon he began instruction in the Catholic faith under the direction of Josephite Father Benjamin Horton.
At age 25 on Dec. 4, 1948, he was baptized a Catholic at Most Pure Heart of Mary Church in Mobile. An interest in the priesthood soon developed. After inquiring about becoming a priest with Bishop Vincent S. Waters of Raleigh, he later was adopted as a student for the diocese and began studies at the Diocesan Preparatory Seminary in Buffalo, N.Y.
He was ordained to the priesthood for the Raleigh diocese at Sacred Heart Cathedral in Raleigh on May 7, 1959. He was only the diocese’s second African-American priest, and his was the first ordination of an African-American diocesan priest that took place in the state of North Carolina.
His first priestly assignment was as assistant pastor of Our Lady of Consolation Church in Charlotte.
On May 10, 1959, he offered his first Solemn High Mass at Most Pure Heart of Mary Church in Mobile – the church where he had been baptized 10 years earlier.
Then Father Joseph L. Howze (second from right) is pictured following his priestly ordination in Raleigh in 1959. Installed as the first bishop of the Diocese of Biloxi, Miss., in 1977, he was the first black Catholic bishop in the 20th century to head a diocese. (Diocese of Charlotte Archives)During his 13 years of ministry in North Carolina, he served at parishes in Sanford, Southern Pines, Asheville and Durham, besides serving as assistant vocation director for the Diocese of Raleigh and as associate editor of the North Carolina Catholic newspaper.
On May 17, 1961, in his hometown of Daphne, Father Howze baptized his sister and her eight children, and received them into the Catholic Church.
When the Diocese of Charlotte was carved out of the Raleigh diocese in January 1972, then Father Howze was serving as the 12th pastor of the Parish (now Basilica) of St. Lawrence in Asheville. In November 1972, St. Paul VI appointed Father Howze as auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Natchez-Jackson. His episcopal ordination followed on Jan. 28, 1973, in Jackson. He chose “Unity of God’s People” as his episcopal motto.
Within a year, Bishop Howze accepted the presidency of the National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus.
On March 8, 1977, Bishop Howze was appointed as the first bishop of the newly established Diocese of Biloxi.
During his leadership of the Biloxi Diocese, Bishop Howze served on several U.S. bishops' committees focusing on justice, peace, interreligious and ecumenical affairs, and black Catholic ministry.
He held several honorary degrees and was a Fourth Degree member of the Knights of Peter Claver and a Third Degree member of the Knights of Columbus.
He retired May 15, 2001, after serving the Biloxi diocese for 24 years.
In his retirement Bishop Howze visited his former parishes in the Charlotte diocese, celebrating an African American culture day at St. Lawrence Basilica in 1994 and saying Mass at Our Lady of Consolation Church on Jan. 1, 2012.
Bishop Howze was welcomed home to Charlotte in 2012 when he visited Our Lady of Consolation Church, which had been his first assignment as a new priest in 1959. He said Mass and was presented with a gift from the City of Charlotte. Pictured with him is OLC’s Deacon Charles Knight; then Charlotte Mayor Pro Tem Patrick Cannon, whom Bishop Howze had baptized; Joseph Hunt; OLC’s then pastor, Father Martin Schratz, OFM Cap; and his cousin Floyd Howze. (Photo provided by Father Schratz)Capuchin Franciscan Father Martin Schratz, now pastor of Immaculate Conception Church in Hendersonville, was pastor of Our Lady of Consolation Church in 2012 and celebrated the Jan. 1 Mass with Bishop Howze. He remembers the bishop's visit with fondness.
“I remember asking if he wanted to preach and without batting an eye he said yes,” Father Schratz recalled. “He stood at the pulpit and went on telling story after story, oftentimes looking into the congregation, seeing a familiar face, and remembering another story. He was awesome with names and dates and details. What a sharp mind he had. He ended by tying it all together to the feast of Mary, Mother of God. At the end of Mass he sat in a chair out in front of church to greet everyone. It was such a joyful day."
“He was such a humble man with a big heart and joyful spirit,” he said.
Floyd Howze, a “close cousin” to the bishop and member of Our Lady of Consolation Church, agreed, describing him as a down-to-earth man who didn’t dwell on the ground-breaking nature of his ministry, but simply loved serving God and His Church as a priest.
He noted that Bishop Howze kept in close contact throughout his life with many of his former parishioners, remembering them in his prayers and inquiring about them often. When he returned to Charlotte in 2012, Howze said, “the people just crowded around him – they didn’t want to let him go.”
“He loved people, he loved God,” he said.
— Terrance P. Dickson, Catholic News Service. Catholic News Herald contributed.
Related stories from the Catholic News Herald archives:
Biloxi's retired bishop has historic local ties
Bishop Howze returns to St. Lawrence for parish celebration
Milestones in Bishop Howze's life and ministry:
Bishop Joseph L. Howze was the second African-American priest ordained for the Diocese of Raleigh. Father Howze served as a priest in central and western North Carolina, prior to his appointment as the auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Natchez-Jackson, Miss., in November 1972.
30 August 1923 – Lawson Howze born in Daphne, Ala.
1948 – He graduated from Alabama State University in Mobile, Ala., and taught biology and chemistry at Central High School in Mobile, Ala.
4 December 1948 – Lawson Howze baptized and received into the Catholic Church. At this time, he took the name of Joseph.
1950 – Joseph Howze attended Epiphany Apostolic College in Newburgh, N.Y. - a seminary associated with the Josephite Fathers.
1952 – He began teaching at St. Monica High School in Tulsa, Okla.
September 1953 – Joseph Howze attended the Little Seminary in Buffalo, N.Y. as a seminarian for the Diocese of Raleigh.
7 May 1959 – Having graduated from Christ the King Seminary in St. Bonaventure, N.Y., Bishop Vincent Waters ordained Joseph Howze to the priesthood at Sacred Heart Cathedral in Raleigh. His was the first ordination of an African-American diocesan priest that took place in the state of North Carolina. Immediately, Bishop of Waters named Fr. Howze the assistant pastor of Our Lady of Consolation Church in Charlotte.
10 May 1959 – Fr. Howze offered his first Solemn High Mass at Most Pure Heart of Mary Church in Mobile, Ala., the church where he was baptized 10 years earlier.
15 October 1959 – Fr. Howze began his second assignment as administrator of Our Lady of Victory Parish in Southern Pines.
11 June 1960 – Fr. Howze became assistant pastor at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Sanford.
18 November 1960 - In addition to being assistant pastor in Sanford, Fr. Howze was re-assigned as assistant pastor to Our Lady of Victory Church in Southern Pines.
14 March 1961 – Bishop Vincent Waters appointed Fr. Howze as assistant vocation director for the Diocese of Raleigh.
17 May 1961 – In his hometown of Daphne, Ala., Fr. Joseph Howze baptized his sister and her eight children, and received them into the Church.
1 August 1961 – He returned to Our Lady of Consolation Church as assistant pastor.
30 July 1962 – Fr. Howze was named pastor of St. Teresa of Avila Parish in Durham.
3 December 1964 – Bishop Waters appointed Fr. Howze as associate editor of the North Carolina Catholic newspaper.
28 December 1965 – He became pastor of St. Anthony Church in Asheville.
12 September 1969 – Bishop Waters combined the Asheville parishes of St. Anthony of Padua and St. Lawrence and appointed Fr. Howze as pastor. He became the 12th pastor of St. Lawrence.
8 November 1972 – Pope Paul VI appointed Fr. Joseph Howze Titular Bishop of Maxita and Auxiliary Bishop of Natchez-Jackson, Miss.
28 January 1973 – Fr. Howze was ordained auxiliary bishop, becoming the first African American bishop ordained in the 20th century. He chose “Unity of God’s People” as his episcopal motto.
6 June 1977 – Bishop Howze was installed as the first bishop of the new Diocese of Biloxi.
15 May 2001 – Bishop Howze retired as Bishop of Biloxi. After retiring, he dedicated more time to prayer, especially the rosary.
7 May 2009 – Bishop Howze celebrated his golden jubilee as a priest.
9 January 2019 – Bishop Howze passed away at the age of 95.
MORGANTON — Deacon Paul (Pe) Lee passed away Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2018. At the time of his passing, Deacon Paul was a resident of Morganton.
A Hmong vigil and visitation will be held from noon to 9 p.m. Friday, Nov. 16; 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 17; and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 18, at Kirksey Funeral Home, located at 406 Lenoir Road in Morganton. Visitation will also be held from 10 to 10:45 a.m. Monday, Nov. 19, at St. Charles Borromeo Church, located at 728 West Union St. in Morganton.
A funeral Mass will be offered at 11 a.m. Monday, Nov. 19, at St. Charles Borromeo Church.
A native of Laos, Deacon Paul and his wife Shoua migrated to the United States as part of the Hmong refugee program in 1991.
Deacon Paul was born into a Catholic family in 1964. However, because of conflict in Laos, his village was destroyed and his family had to relocate many times. They had no access to a priest or lay catechist and it was not until he was 6 that Deacon Paul was finally baptized.
In May 1975 his family was forced to leave Laos and they became refugees in Thailand. In 1979, he received the sacraments of first Holy Communion and confirmation at the same time. He was taught by a local Hmong catechist, and at the age of 15 he began to realize the importance of Jesus Christ in the lives of people. It was then that Deacon Paul believed that the Holy Spirit was calling him. He had the desire to know God better and he wanted to serve God through his own Hmong people.
He never forgot the catechist who taught him about his faith. In his own words, he said, “I want to be that man. I like this job like the catechist.” He told the catechist he wanted to be a catechist and entered the catechist training class.
He studied for four years and then served as a catechist for six years in the refugee camp in Thailand. He taught new members of the faith the sacraments, served the sick, visited the imprisoned, helped those needing food and shelter and led worship services on Sundays when the priest was not available. It was during this time in 1986 after a year of courtship that Deacon Paul and his wife Shoua were married at St. Michael Church in the refugee camp and started their family of five children – two girls and three boys.
After immigrating to the United States in 1991, he continued his efforts for the Hmong community in California for eight years. During this time, he learned English, earned his high school diploma and supported his family. In 1999, Deacon Paul moved his family to Morganton.
He was hired by the Diocese of Charlotte to serve the Hmong Catholic community, and he served as a Hmong catechist under the direction of Father Bill Tanguay in Morganton, Hickory, Conover, Newton, Charlotte and Albemarle.
In July 2002, he was accepted into and began his formation studies for the permanent diaconate for the Diocese of Charlotte. Upon completing formation, Deacon Paul was one of 16 men ordained for the Diocese of Charlotte in 2006.
His assignment as a deacon was to support the Hmong community within parishes throughout the diocese. He traveled among the different parishes, serving at Mass and supporting the family needs of the Hmong community.
Deacon Paul and his wife Shoua shared so much of their faith together within the Hmong community and with everyone in the diocese. While he served as a deacon, his wife led the singing and responses at Mass. They were an example of what it meant to share God’s work together as a couple and with their family. In many ways, they ministered together. They were a blessing to the diocese in bringing the Catholic faithful together in sharing the traditional Hmong New Year and at other parish cultural events during the year.
In his many years of service as a catechist and in his 12 years of diaconate ministry, Deacon Paul was relentless in his call to serve the Lord. Through his efforts the Hmong community received the Gospel of Christ not only in words, but in the actions of a holy man dedicated to the service of God, to his community and to all of us.
Kirksey Funeral Home of Morganton was in charge of the arrangements.
— Deacon John Martino, Special to the Catholic News Herald
BALTIMORE — Jesuit Father Francis X. Reese passed away Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2018. He was 91.
Formerly in residence at St. Therese Church in Mooresville, Father Reese served the Church for more than 60 years.
Viewing will be held from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 28, at the Colombiere Jesuit Community, 5704 Roland Ave., in Baltimore, starting with a prayer service at 7 p.m. A second viewing will be held from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 29, followed by a 10:30 a.m. funeral Mass at St. Alphonsus Rodriguez Church, 10800 Old Court Road, in Woodstock, Md. Burial will immediately follow in the Woodstock Jesuit Cemetery.
Father Reese was born June 8, 1927, in Philadelphia, the beloved son of the late Edward and May (nee Lynch) Reese. He graduated from St. Joseph’s Prep and attended St. Joseph’s College, where he earned a degree in psychology before entering the Society of Jesus at the Novitiate of St. Isaac Jogues in Wernersville, Pa., in 1950.
Father Reese studied philosophy at Spring Hill College in Mobile, Ala., and theology at Woodstock College, Md. He was ordained to the priesthood on June 19, 1960, and later earned an M.T.S. from Regis College in Toronto.
After spending his early ministerial years in secondary education at Georgetown Prep, Bishop’s Latin (Pittsburgh), and St. Joseph’s Prep, Father Reese headed to North Carolina in 1978 where he ministered for almost 40 years. His first assignment in the south was retreat work in Hot Springs, followed by service at St. Andrew the Apostle Church in Mars Hill and St. Peter Church in Charlotte.
He returned to Hot Springs in 1989, where he spent 10 years as director of the House of Prayer. By the late 1990s, Father Reese was engaged in Latino ministry and the ministering of the Spiritual Exercises to various communities in North Carolina.
St. Therese in Mooresville became his home in 2011, where he faithfully served the Latino community until his move to St. Claude la Colombiere Jesuit Community in Baltimore in 2017.
Father Reese spent his final year in Baltimore serving as a spiritual director before his death.
He was preceded in death by siblings Dominican Sister Margaret Reese, Dr. Joseph Reese and David Reese.
He is survived by beloved nieces Margaret Williamson, Eileen Roche, and M. Frances Reese, as well as grandnephews and nieces Patrick, Meghan, Kathleen, Eric and Kevin.
Memorial gifts may be made in Father Reese's name to the Maryland Province Jesuits Fund, 8600 LaSalle Road, Suite 620, Baltimore, MD 21286.
Mitchell-Wiedefeld Funeral Home Inc. of Baltimore is in charge of the arrangements.
— Catholic News Herald
Read more about Father Reese's life.
CHARLOTTE — Ray-Eric Manuel Correia, 66, of Lexington, Va., passed away June 5, 2018, in Charlotte, where he worked as director of planned giving for the Diocese of Charlotte. He is survived by his beloved wife of 43 years, Kathleen Nowacki-Correia.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 12:15 p.m. Friday, June 29, at St. Patrick Church in Lexington, with Father Joseph A. D’Aurora, pastor, presiding. Guest homilist will be Father Gerald E. Murray, pastor of the Roman Catholic Church of the Holy Family, the United Nations Parish, New York, N.Y. Burial will follow at the family’s convenience at St. Aloysius Cemetery in Pottstown, Pa.
Born Sept. 19, 1951, in New York to Douce Rosette Fleming and John-Eric Corréa, he was raised in Manhattan’s French community, in the tradition of his family’s French heritage, and was bilingual in French and English. He attended New York’s Lycée Français, and graduated from the St. David School and The Trinity School there. At Trinity, he played soccer and was captain of the fencing team. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in French and history from Washington and Lee University and a Master of Arts in French language and civilization from New York University.
In Manhattan, Ray-Eric was headmaster and president of The Fleming School, formerly Ecole Français, where he also had served over a 15-year period as assistant director, admission director, dean of students, French teacher and coordinator of the French program prior to merging with The Calhoun School of Manhattan, where he directed the Fleming French Program. In addition, he held administrative positions at The Anglo-American School, formerly The Franklin School, in Manhattan. In Roanoke, Va., he was the first president/principal of Roanoke Catholic School, holding that position from 2002 to 2010, following his eight-year career as Upper School Head and French teacher, starting in 1994. He served the Diocese of Richmond’s Diocesan Office of Schools as chair of the Quality Assurance Board, responsible for accreditation within the diocese’s district of 30 Catholic schools, chaired Roanoke Catholic’s steering committee, 10 diocesan accreditation visiting teams, and was a member of four others, along with the AdvancED commission visiting teams. He was a member of Meitler Inc.’s Vision 16 Planning Board for the Richmond diocese.
Upon retiring from Roanoke Catholic School, he formed an advancement consulting LLC, Crossroads Advancement in Lexington, and through his work for a client, the Blue Ridge Zoological Society, became executive director of the Society’s Mill Mountain Zoo, an American Zoological Association accredited conservation zoo in Roanoke. In Lexington, he worked at Habitat for Humanity as director of marketing and development, prior to assuming his role as planned diving director for the Charlotte diocese.
In Lexington, he was a parishioner at St. Patrick Church, where he attended Mass in the 1970s as a W&L student and where his wife Kathleen is director of religious education. In Manhattan, he was a trustee of the Roman Catholic Church of St. John the Evangelist, where he and his wife were parishioners. He attended St. Thomas More Church there as a child, and received his first Holy Communion and confirmation at the French parish, St. Vincent de Paul.
In New York, he was a member of the Board of Trustees of The Anglo-American School, a headmaster-member of the Guild of Independent Schools, and vice president of the Independent School Multi-media Cooperative. In Roanoke, he was a member of the Kiwanis Club, a trustee and vice chairman of the Advancement Foundation, and vice president of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, Father Lynch Division. He also was a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals.
Besides his parents, he was predeceased by his sister, Anita Keeler, and her son John.
Memorial contributions may be made to Camilla Hall (the retirement and nursing home of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary), Mission Advancement Office, 1140 King Road, Immaculata, PA 19345-0200.
Harry and Bryant Co. of Charlotte was in charge of the arrangements.
— Catholic News Herald