Fr. John F. Grinsell, SDB (1942-2021)
Fr.
John Francis Grinsell, SDB, died early on Friday, March 12, 2021, at White
Plains Hospital in White Plains, N.Y., of complications from Covid-19 following
more than 3 weeks’ hospitalization.
Fr. John, 79, was assistant pastor of St. John Bosco Parish and director of mission for the Don Bosco Community Center in Port Chester, N.Y. He was also vice director of the Port Chester Salesian community. A priest for almost 50 years, he would have reached his golden jubilee of ordination on April 3. He was a professed Salesian for over 59 years.
Fr.
John was the son of Edward and
Theresa Kennedy Grinsell and was born in Brooklyn on March 2, 1942. The family belonged
to St. John the Baptist Parish, where John was baptized on March 15, 1942.
John
attended high school at Don Bosco Juniorate at Haverstraw, N.Y., and from there
entered the novitiate in Newton, N.J., in September 1959. He professed his
first religious vows on September 8, 1960, at Newton, and his perpetual vows on
June 25, 1966, in Ellenville, N.Y. Bro. John graduated from Don Bosco College
in Newton in 1964 with a B.A. in philosophy.
Bro.
John did his practical training as a teacher at the Salesian aspirantate in
Cedar Lake, Ind., from1964 to 1967, then undertook theological studies at the
Pontifical College Josephinum in Worthington, Ohio. He was ordained in Columbus,
Ohio, on April 3, 1971.
He
earned an M.A. in Christian spirituality at Creighton University in Omaha in 1995.
Fr.
John’s spirituality remained Salesian. According to Fr. Gus Baek, one of his
first group of novices: “His spirituality was simple, bold, and directive. In
the first class on the Salesian Constitutions, he wrote ‘J and J’ in big
letters on the blackboard. He explained, ‘We follow and imitate St. John Bosco
and Jesus.’ ‘J and J’ stood for St. John Bosco and Jesus. He really helped us
to have a clear road map to follow St. John Bosco and Jesus in our everyday
living. He used to say, ‘We don’t get burned out because of what we do. We get
burned out because we forget why we follow St. John Bosco and Jesus.’ I must
say that he gave me a beautiful motivation to become a Salesian priest. He
inspired me and encouraged me.”
Following
his ordination, Fr. John was a congenial and effective teacher, guidance
director, and local superior at several Salesian schools: Don Bosco Tech in
Paterson, N.J. (1971-1980), teaching and doing guidance; Salesian High School
in New Rochelle, N.Y., where he was director (1980-1986); Don Bosco Prep in Ramsey,
N.J., also director (1992-1998); LaSalle High School in Miami (1999-2002) as
campus minister; and St. Petersburg Catholic High School (2002-2008), doing
guidance and serving as director of the Salesian community. His teaching field
was religion.
Fr.
John was master of novices at St. Joseph’s Novitiate in Newton from 1986 to
1989—the last novices to be trained in Newton. Fr. Gus described the atmosphere
during his novitiate year as “a culture of positive spirituality…. He created a
community of interculturality and transformed us to live in Christ fully.”
Fr.
Gus also notes Fr. John’s patience with his enthusiastic but inexperienced
novices. “We raised so many questions and made so many excuses. We were all
like unbridled foals. But he guided us step by step…. He always listened to us
with empathy and love, and tried to understand us.”
After
a sabbatical year in Berkeley, Cal. (1989-1990), Fr. John returned to formation
work with Salesian candidates in South Orange for two years (1990-1992).
Most
of the rest of Fr. John’s priestly ministry, more than 16 years, was carried
out in parishes: assistant pastor at Holy Rosary in Port Chester (1998-1999)
and St. Kieran in Miami (1999-2002), and pastor of Our Lady of the Valley in
Orange, N.J. (2008-2015). In 2015 he came back to Port Chester, first as
assistant again at Holy Rosary and director of mission at the Don Bosco
Community Center, then assistant pastor of St. John Bosco when that parish was
formed in 2017 by the merging of the four parishes of Port Chester.
Fr.
Mel Trinidad, provincial of the San Francisco Province, calls Fr. John “an
awesome Salesian.” What made him “awesome” was his pastoral presence to young
and old.
In his pastoral work, observes Fr. Dominic Tran, one of his directors in Orange, “He was very attentive to the needs of the parishioners—visiting the sick, bringing people Communion, making sure things were ready for young people in the youth center or CCD classrooms, etc. Nor did he mind rolling up his sleeves to help clean out a house of an elderly parishioner.”
Dr. Ann Heekin,
executive director of the Don Bosco Community Center, writes that Fr. John will
be missed immensely. Each day he’d “greet the staff individually in our
offices to allow for simple greetings and any more serious concerns that each
of us might have with our work and its challenges. Most conversations ended as
they began—with his ability to blend humor and counseling in one sitting.” He
led daily prayers. “When the children were in the building before the pandemic,
he made the rounds of our club as though a coach, counselor, priest, and
standup comic. Every basketball team wanted him playing on their side. Every
child in the homework room wanted to show him their work—and the same with
snack and dinner times. They could never get enough of him. We could never get
enough of him.”
Fr.
John was well known for his love of sports, especially basketball, his constant
cheerfulness, and his penchant for rhymes and catch-phrases in his preaching. Fr. Dominic observed that he always enjoyed a good laugh,
whether he was teasing a confrere on the formation team or one of the young
Salesians, or being teased by them. To entertain kids (and confreres too) he
loved to imitate the voice of Donald Duck.
Fr. John’s presence in the Salesian community
left a lasting impression on Bro. Lenny Carlino, now a deacon in his last year
of theological studies, who writes: “He was a source of joy and
laughter. While busy with the parish, he always was present with us for
community moments, and to us young candidates/prenovices, he witnessed to the
joy that the Gospel can bring to one’s life. You always knew you would
laugh when at the table with Fr. John, and he was always ready with a witty
remark or entertaining story. In smaller, private conversations, he took
an interest in our schoolwork and what we were studying, as well as our
experience in our simple apostolates. He would even pick up the basketball
and play at the community recreations with us, having a good time and showing
that age was only a number.”
As Fr. Dominic observed, Fr. John was in his late 60s or early 70s at that time. His challenging the
younger confreres to one-on-one basketball caught up with him when a serious
leg injury put him in a wheelchair for some months. Fr. John said something
like, “I found out I’m not as young as I thought I was.” But he didn’t stop
playing hoops.
The first word that Fr. Dominic uses to describe Fr. John is “hardworking.” “Whenever there was a snowstorm, Fr. John the pastor would be outside with the snowblower as early as 4:30 or 5:00 a.m. to clean the sidewalks and the steps to the church and the rectory. Sweeping a floor, cleaning a toilet—no biggies. He moved like the Energizer Bunny when it came to work.”
That spirit of work
was the first observation of Bro. Lenny as a new candidate. He testifies: “When
I entered Orange on August 24, 2009, the first SDB who welcomed me was Fr.
John, who was mowing the lawn of OLV when my parents dropped me off. That
image stuck with me, because here was a priest who was not only in the chapel
but always ready to do the work that needed to be done.”
Following his diaconal ordination
last June, Bro. Lenny “had the pleasure of also living with him this past
summer in Port Chester. There I got to know Fr. John more personally, as he
took an active interest in my experiences in the Holy Land and my learning
through the ministry in the parish. He knew what ministries I was assigned to
at the parish, and always asked how they went. When I had questions about how to
do things, especially about preaching, he was more than willing to share and
open his heart and life experience with me. He gave great encouragement to me
to trust that God could speak to people’s hearts through us, and so not to fret
too much if you thought a homily went bad or you made a mistake in the liturgy.
I felt he wanted to see me become a good Salesian priest. The man whom I had
seen as an example had, even with our age difference, become a dear and close
friend.
Bro. Lenny observed that Fr. John “was more than beloved at
the parish; he was a source of unity for parishioners and the community. The
parishioners felt so comfortable around him, and there are many stories about
him dancing and singing at parish events, sharing his Donald Duck impression,
and always laughing and smiling. In the community, he was still the same joyful
and upright man I had remembered, but I also saw his honest side as he spoke of
care for the state of the world and our country, especially for the protection
of the right to life. He was always available for a chat and a laugh, and
witnessed to continued perseverance in one’s vocation.”
Bro. Lenny is also aware of Fr. John’s readiness for eternal
life. “Fr. John was ready to meet the Lord; he had been talking about that
moment ever since I knew him personally. He often preached about being ready
for heaven, and that every day of life was a gift from God.”
Fr. David Moreno sums up Fr. John as a “good friend to all, a wonderful example of a Salesian priest in the manner of Don Bosco.”
Fr. John is survived by his sister Patricia Akers
of Proctorville, Ohio, his brother Edward Grinsell Jr. of Billings, Mont.,
sister Frances Milam of Fort Mill, S.C., sister-in-law Dorothy Grinsell of
Richmond, Va., and many beloved nieces, nephews, and cousins whom he cherished.
His family saw in Fr. John “a true disciple of
Christ and our family’s Guiding Light…. Our time with him will be treasured
always. We will celebrate his memory in prayer and always in laughter,
remembering his puns and sense of humor along with his enormous capacity to
love and share the spirit of Christ.”
Funeral Arrangements
Everything except burial at St. John Bosco Church, 260 Westchester Ave., Port Chester, N.Y. 10573
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