Br. James Horan, S.J., "Rest In Peace"

Brother James Horan, S.J.

Jesuit brother worked with the Catholic ministry that runs the Stella Maris International Seafarers' Center in Dundalk.

By Frederick N. Rasmussen

September 6, 2008

James Horan, a Jesuit brother who worked with the Apostleship of the Sea, a Roman Catholic mariners' ministry that operates the Stella Maris International Seafarers' Center in Dundalk, died of melanoma Aug. 29 at the University of Maryland Medical Center. He was 76.

"Brother Jim had an international reputation because he was known by seafarers from all over the world who had gotten to know him in Baltimore," said Monsignor John L. FitzGerald, the group's director. "He visited ships and picked up crewmen in our van and drove them to the seafarers' center so they could use the phones and computers to communicate with their families," Monsignor FitzGerald said.

"Jim would take them shopping, and if they had a change of duty, he'd take them to the railroad station or airport," he said. "If they needed them, he'd give them the gently used shoes or clothing that he had gathered." There were times when Brother Horan confined his visits to crewmen aboard ships docked at the port of Baltimore. "He'd talk with them, drop off magazines and newspapers, and if they were interested or requested it, Bibles," Monsignor FitzGerald said.

"He was a very level-headed and low-key guy who was always willing to counsel them if they asked. He was a good listener." Brother Horan, who insisted that he be called Jim, was born and raised in Philadelphia and graduated from the old Northeast Catholic High School in 1950.

After studying at St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia for two years, he entered the Society of Jesus in 1955 and professed his vows in 1957. Brother Horan worked briefly as a tailor and printer before being trained as a cook and as a food-service management worker. From 1960 to 1967, he was cook and food-service manager at the Society of Jesus Novitiate of St. Isaac Jogues in Wernersville, Pa., near Reading.

"He was a great spirit and always tried to keep us happy in those days when the novitiate at Wernersville was grim and operated like a boot camp for Jesuits. He made sure we didn't take it too seriously," said Brother Rick Curry, a friend of 47 years. "He also was an excellent cook and trained me to cook. We even later worked together," he said.

Brother Horan was transferred in 1967 to Manresa-on-the-Severn, a Jesuit retreat house near Annapolis, where he was business manager for a year before being sent to Georgetown Preparatory School in Bethesda, where he cooked from 1969 to 1971. From 1971 until his retirement in 1991, he was an administrative assistant at Loyola High School. In his retirement, he volunteered at the seafarers' center and at Our Daily Bread. "I think he was happiest working for the Apostleship of the Sea. He was an unpretentious man and was committed to those who needed him the most," Brother Curry said. "What a good man. What he did for us was go to local supermarkets, especially the Safeway on North Charles Street, and pick up day-old baked goods and vegetables and bring them to us," said Dennis M. Murphy, director of Our Daily Bread, the Fallsway facility that helps the needy and is operated by Catholic Charities of Baltimore. "He did this every day for nearly 10 years."

Brother Thomas Kretz, a longtime friend and minister at St. Claude La Colombiere , the Jesuit residence on Roland Avenue where Brother Horan lived, said his white beard and twinkling eyes made him look like Santa Claus, and he was "just as jovial." "He loved parties and had a great sense of humor," Brother Kretz said.

"Because he was an Irishman from Philadelphia, he knew how to tell great stories and spin yarns," Monsignor FitzGerald said. In recognition of his work, the Brother Jim Communication Center at the Stella Maris International Seafarers' Center has been named in his honor, as was a 12-passenger van that was recently donated by the International Transport Workers' Federation. "On the sides is painted, 'Brother Jim Horan, S.J. Van,' and the words, 'A True Friend of Seafarers,' " Monsignor FitzGerald said. A Mass of Christian burial for Brother Horan was offered Wednesday at St. Vincent de Paul Roman Catholic Church in Baltimore, with interment in Wernersville. Surviving is a sister, Franceline Horan of Shelton, Conn.

Link (here) .

Listen to Brother Rick Curry, S.J. eulogy on Br. James Horan, S.J. (here)