Bro. Gerald D. Meegan, SDB (1942-2021)
Bro. Gerald
Dominic Meegan, SDB, died suddenly on Sunday afternoon, Dec. 19, in the Salesian
residence at Mary Help of Christians Center in Tampa, apparently having suffered
a heart attack. He was 79 years old and had been a professed Salesian brother for
61 years.
Bro. Jerry
was a talented educator, director of
youth ministry for the St. Petersburg Diocese, moderator of the 2007 provincial
chapter, guide to Salesian Cooperators, and friend and mentor to innumerable people.
He played a large role in the New Rochelle Province in reshaping the image of the
coadjutor brother.
Gerald Meegan, son of John and Catherine Kesar Meegan,
was born in Teaneck, N.J., on Jan. 27, 1942, with the given middle name Richard.
He was born into God’s grace on March 29 that year at St. Matthew Church in Ridgefield,
N.J., and confirmed there as well in 1953.
The family resided in Palisades Park, N.J., in 1955
when 13-year-old Jerry enrolled at Don Bosco Tech in Paterson, which was both an
aspirantate for future coadjutor brothers and a trade school for day students. Jerry
pursued commercial art while taking the standard college prep courses. But as his
4 years were ending, he later recounted, “I was attracted to the brothers and decided
in my senior year to become a brother, mainly because of my interest in working
with young people and helping people.
Salesian Vocation
Following his graduation (as Gerald Richard
Meegan), he entered St. Joseph Novitiate in Newton, N.J., on Sept. 7, 1959. The
master of novices was Fr. Aloysius Bianchi, and among the 63 novices (at the time
of the report submitted to Turin) were also Bob Bauer, Mike Brinkman, Paul Cossette,
John Grinsell, and Jerry Harasym.
The novices admitted to profession made their commitment
at the novitiate on September 8, 1960. Following the Salesian custom of the
time, he took a profession name, Dominic. Unlike most of his confreres, he
actually used it henceforth as his middle name. Bro. Jerry made his perpetual profession
at Mount Mongola in Ellenville, N.Y., on Sept. 3, 1966, at the end of his annual
retreat.
Newly-professed Bro. Jerry was assigned for postnovitiate
formation to the coadjutors’ training community at Don Bosco Tech in Paterson, where
he assisted the aspirants. The following year, 1961, the aspirantates were re-located:
clerical students from Don Bosco Juniorate at Haverstraw, N.Y., to Salesian Junior
Seminary in Goshen, N.Y., the coadjutors to the renamed Don Bosco Technical Institute
at Haverstraw.
Bro. Jerry moved with the coadjutor aspirants and
continued his own formation as well as his assistance to them for 3 more years.
In that period, some of the staff or fellow trainees were Bros. Oscar Andrejasic,
Mario Audero, Bruno Busatto, John Cauda, John Chiabai, Kevin Connolly, Marcel Gauthier,
Dan McConnell, Rich Pasaik, Gerard Richard, and John Versaggi.
In 1964 Bro. Jerry moved to the provincial house
in New Rochelle, N.Y., and became one of the first coadjutors allowed to pursue
academic courses. He studied at Iona College in New Rochelle from 1964 to 1967,
earning a bachelor’s degree in education, awarded in June 1968. He followed up his
B.A. with an M.S. in education in 1973 from SUNY New Paltz while he was assigned
to Goshen. (At both institutions his transcripts and diplomas identify him as Gerald
Dominic Meegan, and so do subsequent legal records.)
The Coadjutor
Brother
College studies were the first step in Bro. Jerry’s
pioneering path in raising the image of the Salesian coadjutor to align better with
Don Bosco’s intention, that the brother is the equal of the priest as a member of
the Congregation. One former SDB, Bill Moriarty, put it thus: “I remember him as
a determined person who helped advance an image change for the coadjutor brothers
as religious who did not only the ‘dirty jobs,’ but who excelled in roles in administration
and leadership.”
Bro. Jerry took an active interest in the formation
of Salesian brothers and was ever ready to remind anyone of their status as religious
and sons of Don Bosco. In his footsteps, brothers in the New Rochelle Province serve
competently as teachers and administrators, as leaders at local and provincial levels.
This has been in sync with similar developments at the world level, including service
on the general council of the Salesian Society.
As moderator of the 2007 Provincial Chapter, Bro. Jerry makes
a procedural point during a session
Bro. Jerry also took a
leading role nationally in promoting and defining the vocation of the religious
brother. He helped establish the National Assembly of Religious Brothers (NARB) in
1971 (since 2000, the Religious Brothers Conference), was a member of its first
board of directors, served as the organization’s president in 1997-1999, and remained
involved for the rest of his life.
Bro. Jerry, 2d row, 2d from right, at the RBC annual conference
in San Antonio in 2019.
(Religious Brothers Conference website)
Salesian
Formator
College degree attained, Bro. Jerry returned to
Don Bosco Technical Institute and the coadjutor aspirants at Haverstraw in 1967-1968.
Former SDB brother Alex Tucciarone remembers Jerry as “one of the last coadjutors
from DBT Haverstraw. Intelligent, kind-hearted gentleman. Dedicated to his vocation,
a role model for students, professional educator, and all-around good guy. I was
an aspirant at DBT while Jerry was in formation. His loss will have an impact on
all of us who knew him.”
Bro. Jerry moved with the aspirants in 1968 when
they transferred to Salesian Junior Seminary in Goshen, joining the clerical aspirants,
and was designated dean of the coadjutor aspirants. He remained on the teaching
staff and house council there until 1974. His major teaching field was social studies,
in which he was certified in both New York and Massachusetts, but he also taught
some drafting and art. From 1972 to 1974 he was also the province’s vocation director.
With Salesian Junior Seminary’s Class of 1969. (New Rochelle Province
Archives)
Two aspirants from his time in Goshen, future master educators, recall him as a superb teacher. Kevin Hutchinson wrote, “I had Jerry in Goshen as an inspiring teacher and [later, as a Salesian brother] taught with him in Boston, where he was a wonderful mentor as principal … many fond memories.” Paul Zaccagnino, later a longtime teacher at Salesian in New Rochelle, wrote: “He came to Goshen my senior year along with the coadjutor aspirants from Haverstraw. He was our very innovative senior history teacher. He quickly became my role model and remained one of my favorite teachers.”
Province
Leader
In 1974 Bro. Jerry was sent to Don Bosco Tech in
Boston as principal; he served there for 6 years, attentive to almost every detail
of the school’s administration. Then he was principal at Salesian HS, New Rochelle,
for 5 years (1980-1985). He remained in New Rochelle at the provincial house until
1997, 3 years as the province’s superintendent of schools (1985-1988) and 12 years
as a member of the provincial council as delegate for the Salesian Family and for
communications (1985-1997). For a short period in the mid-90s he was acting director
of Don Bosco Multimedia.
He took a very active interest in the Salesian Cooperators
at various locations. Joe Gast of the Hauppauge, N.Y., center identifies him as
“a great friend to the Cooperators!” Jeanie Cahill of the Stony Point, N.Y., center
writes: “Bro. Jerry so loved the Cooperators. Denis and I are blessed to have shared
so many memories with him. He was our mentor for the Salesian Family days. For our
25th wedding anniversary, he cooked dinner for us at our home. He had a special
menu printed up, brought his own pots and pans, dinnerware even including silverware!
He was a 4-star chef! Such an amazing friend that after our daughter’s wedding he
helped us serve refreshments before we all went to the reception. Recently, we just
visited him in Tampa, and he was cooking onion soup and invited us to lunch. So
many memories to cherish.”
Lynn Krakaur, also of the Stony Point center, links
her memories with Bro. Jerry’s zeal for the young: “I have known Bro. Jerry for
many years. He had such a passion for youth! We were able to see him at many youth
leadership retreats at the Shrine, when the Cooperators hosted refreshments. He
always asked how my mom was doing and assured me of his prayers for my family.”
Youth
Minister
From New Rochelle, Bro. Jerry moved back briefly
to Haverstraw as coordinator of the Don Bosco Retreat Center (1997-1999). Then he
returned to the educational field as director of youth ministry for the diocese
of St. Petersburg (1999-2008). He energetically promoted youth ministry programs
in parishes. When he undertook this ministry, he told The Florida Catholic:
“My philosophy is the Salesian philosophy that youth ministry is a very important
part of youth development. It has to be a ministry that accepts the young person
where he or she is … and moves them on in such a way that they take an active part
in the life of the Church and spiritual development on their own, in their own relationship
with Jesus, and in developing a God relationship so that it becomes a foundation
for the rest of their life.”
Bro. Jerry with Bro. Travis Gunther in New Rochelle in 2012 following Bro. Travis’s first profession.
He left the youth ministry office to become principal,
once again, at St. Petersburg Catholic HS (2008-2010).
Recognized as an accomplished youth minister, he
was appointed coordinator of youth ministry (CYM) at Archbishop Shaw HS in Marrero,
La., in 2010 and served there for 10 years. In 2020 he was assigned to Cristo Rey
Tampa HS as a member of the youth ministry team. He offered encouragement and guidance
also to parishioners at Mary Help of Christians, such as Lorraine Anctil: “He had
such a happy laugh. My greatest memory is while I was very sick he would send me
spiritual messages daily and constantly told me to fight and know God was with me
the whole time.”
Many remember Bro. Jerry’s assistance and mentoring
as a youth minister. Denise Vedros, a veteran teacher and Cooperator at Shaw, says,
“He touched so many lives while at Shaw. I was truly blessed to have him as a mentor
and friend.” Lisa Stacy, a teacher and Cooperator from Don Bosco Cristo Rey HS in
Takoma Park, Md., paid this tribute: “My heart is saddened to read of the passing
of Bro. Jerry. I am confident that God greeted him and said, ‘Well done, my good
and faithful servant.’ I know he is walking through the Salesian Garden with Don
Bosco with a great smile on his face. Bro. Jerry lived Salesian youth ministry with
every breath he took, and the world benefited. I am blessed to have served our young
people alongside of such an incredible man and youth minister!”
His reach extended across the continent, as Judy
Alvarez from California testifies: “Bro. Jerry was an inspiration and role model
for all his colleagues in the NFCYM. I am thankful for the many gifts he brought
to ministry with the young Church!”
Tommy Siefring, who is now the CYM at Salesian in
New Rochelle, recounts that as a student he “met Bro. Jerry back on my first leadership
retreat in 2012. He pushed me to go to confession after I told him I hadn’t gone
in years. When I saw him at the Marian Shrine, back in October [2021] for CYM meetings,
he remembered my story and asked me if I was still going to confession often. He
was such a great Salesian, and his memory and spirit live on in all the lives that
he touched.”
A current student at Archbishop Shaw HS, Josh Mitchell,
posted this: “My first-ever Salesian
retreat [was] an event that changed my life forever. I have Bro. Jerry to thank
for this experience. Not only did I begin my journey at Shaw without any religion
in my life, [but] I knew hardly anyone on campus. Bro. Jerry was a central figure
that believed in me and guided me in my first two years. Without his presence in
my life, I may never have been deeply compelled and called to become Catholic. Thank
you, Brother Jerry, for all of the support and prayers you have given my family
and me over the years.”
Opening a gift at Mary Help of Christians Center’s Christmas party,
Dec. 9, 2021. (Carolyn Espinosa)
Bro. Jerry is survived by his sister-in-law Barbara Meegan of Daytona Beach, Fla. He was predeceased by his brothers Charles and James.
Funeral
Arrangements
Bro. Jerry’s funeral will be celebrated first in
Tampa and then at Haverstraw-Stony Point.
At Mary Help of Christians Church in Tampa on Monday,
Dec. 27: wake from 5:30 to 8:00 p.m. On Tuesday, Dec. 28, funeral Mass at 10:00
a.m.
At the Marian Shrine Chapel in Haverstraw on Wednesday,
Dec. 29: wake from 4:00 p.m., followed by the Mass of Christian Burial at 7:00 p.m.
He will be buried in the Salesian Cemetery in Goshen
on Thursday, Dec. 30, at 10:30 a.m.
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