Fr. Gennaro “Jerry” Sesto, SDB (1921-2016)
Fr. Jerry Sesto in 2010 at the province jubilees celebration |
Fr. Sesto was 94 years old and had been a professed Salesian for 75 years and a priest for 65 years. He
was a member of the Don Bosco Prep community in Ramsey.
Jerry Sesto was born in
Biddeford, Maine, on August 1, 1921, to Mary and Thomas Sesto and was baptized
at St. Mary’s Church there. After the family moved to Portland, he was
confirmed at St. Peter’s Church in that city. He recounted that “fascination
with Don Bosco, fostered by my pastor [Fr. Teresio Dimingo] during a year in
preparation for Don Bosco’s canonization” induced him to enter the aspirantate
at Don Bosco Seminary in Newton, N.J., in 1935.
Jerry was impressed immediately
by the happiness and family spirit of the Salesians and by a mural in the
chapel that quoted St. John Bosco: “I promise you bread, work, and paradise.”
Between 1935 and 1939, he was an A
student in the high school seminary. He entered St. Joseph’s Novitiate in Newton on
September 7, 1939, and professed vows on September 8, 1940. His was part of the
illustrious class that included the future Frs. Paul Avallone, Ed Cappelletti,
Joe Occhio, Chet Szemborski, and Leo Winterscheidt from our province and Frs.
Salvatore Giacomini, Art Lenti, Larry Lorenzoni, John Malloy, and Armand
Oliveri from the West, as well as Bros. Dominic Casiraghi and Roy Vetari. Their
master was Fr. Joseph Romani.
He graduated from Don Bosco College in Newton in
1943 with a B.A. in philosophy, summa cum laude.
Three younger brothers—Constantine, Anthony, and
Thomas—followed him to the Salesian seminary between 1939 and 1957, but all of
them discerned a different calling in life.
Bro. Jerry did his practical training at
Salesian High School in New Rochelle from 1943 to 1946; it was strictly a
boarding school at the time. He taught geometry, general science, and French, directed
the band and choir, and coached baseball in addition to general assistance
duties.
Fr. Jerry around
the time of his priestly ordination
(Salesian Communications Office photo) |
While doing his studies at CUA, he also served
as prefect at Don Bosco College (1953-1955), where he also taught Latin in the
college and theology in the novitiate; and then as a respected professor of
canon law at the PAS in Turin (1955-1957) and Rome (1957-1963). The Roman
campus of the PAS was located at Sacro Cuore in those years.
In 1956 CUA appointed him a corresponding member
of the Institute of Research and Study of Medieval Canon Law in view of the
“groundwork for the edition of Huguccio’s Summa,
one of the foremost objectives envisaged in common by this institute and the
Canon Law Institute of Turin,” study that Fr. Sesto was conducting in
collaboration with Fr. Alfons Stickler, SDB (who was made a cardinal by St. John
Paul II). He was admitted as an advocate/procurator before the Sacred Roman
Rota in 1960, entitled to practice Church law anywhere in the world.
Fr. Sesto was recalled to the province in 1963
to serve as director of the Salesian community in Newton and president of Don
Bosco College. Following the College’s Middle States accreditation, Fr. Joseph
Bajorek became president in 1965, but Fr. Sesto continued as director until
1967. He also taught theology to the novices and was a member of the provincial
council during the four years that he was director. For the novices he was
adept at explaining what had just occurred at the Second Vatican Council
(1962-1965).
In 1967 the two U.S. provinces began to send
their theology students to the Pontifical College Josephinum in Worthington,
Ohio. Consequently, Fr. Sesto went there to teach canon law and be part of the
formation team for the Salesian community, in residence first at the PCJ and
then at the Salesian Center in Columbus. At the PCJ he also served terms as dean
of students (1968-1970) and associate academic dean (1970-1981). He was a
popular and highly regarded professor.
Fr. Jerry, standing, speaking at the 1976 provincial chapter |
In 1981 Fr. Sesto was named director of Don
Bosco Prep in Ramsey, N.J. After completing two three-year terms there, he
returned briefly to Don Bosco College as director of religious activities
(1987-1988) and treasurer (1988-1989). In 1989 he came to the provincial house
in New Rochelle with two responsibilities: coordinator of the Salesian Lay
Missioners program and provincial secretary (1989-1995). The SLM program
progressed so well that in 1995 it could be turned over to lay leadership.
Fr. Sesto took up the role of coordinator of the
Marian Shrine in Haverstraw-Stony Point, N.Y. in 1995, serving until 2003, when
he moved to St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Elizabeth, N.J., to serve the
Italian apostolate in the area. He remained there until declining health
compelled his retirement in 2013. He moved to Don Bosco Prep, where he
maintained a lively interest in student and Salesian activities and rendered
pastoral assistance when he could.
On January 5 he suffered a major cerebral
hemorrhage in his room at the Prep, with paralysis of his left side. He was
quickly taken to Valley Hospital in Ridgewood, where efforts to stem his
bleeding were not completely successful; three days later he was moved to
hospice care at Villa Marie Claire.
“Throughout my
Salesian life,” Father Sesto wrote at the time of one of the province jubilee
celebrations, “I’ve tried to live the spirituality of three devotions: to the
Blessed Sacrament, to Our Lady Help of Christians, and to our Holy Father. I’ve
experienced daily the love and kindness of the Lord.” He maintained that
the highlights of his long Salesian life were “teaching canon law, working with
the SLMs, and his years at Don Bosco Prep.”
Fr. Steve Shafran, provincial, said that when he visited Fr. Jerry in his last days, “despite his
suffering, his thoughts turned to the boys, to ‘Don Bosco’s boys,’ as he would
refer to them. He had them constantly on his mind and in his heart.”
Fr. Shafran added: “Fr. Jerry was
always known for his joyful Salesian oratorian heart, his welcome and
affection. We all know of his great intellect, capacity for languages, and experience
as a wonderful and engaging teacher, but it was his sensitivity to the person,
to the confrere, that made him especially endearing. He wanted to be connected,
either personally or with a card or email. Like Don Bosco, he was forward
thinking. It was not unusual to find him on social media to be present in
people’s lives.”
Fr. Sesto is survived by his sisters Lucy Burke, Ann
Gribbin, and Virginia LaCroix of Maine and his brother Thomas Sesto of Germany,
numerous nieces and nephews, his confreres, and his former students.
The senior member of the New Rochelle Province
now is Bro. Gerard Richard, 92, of the Sherbrooke community.
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