Fr. James Cerbone, SDB (1949-2023)
Fr. James Lee Cerbone, Jr., slipped into eternity during the night of December 19. He had been ill for a long time, staying at several nursing care facilities in Bergen County, N.J., since 2018. Earlier this month he was moved to Allendale Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Allendale, N.J., partly to be in the same facility as Bro. Jim Wiegand. On December 15, he was taken to Valley Hospital in Ridgewood, N.J., for a blood transfusion and testing due to severe anemia. Further testing discovered cancer that had metastasized in the bones. Palliative care began on Monday, December 18, and he passed away a day later.
Fr. Cerbone had been a member of the Salesian community of Don Bosco Prep in Ramsey, N.J., since 2009. He was a professed Salesian of Don Bosco for 53 years and a priest for 43 years.
Jim Cerbone, son of James Lee Cerbone, Sr., and Thomasina Spadafor Cerbone, was born in Newark, N.J., on April 20, 1949. He was baptized at St. Anthony Church in nearby Belleville a few weeks later and confirmed at Our Lady of All Souls Church in East Orange, N.J., in 1960.
Jim completed high school at Clifford J. Scott High School in East Orange in 1967 and went to Don Bosco College in Newton, N.J., as a Son of Mary on September 9, 1967. Two years later he entered the novitiate there, where Fr. Peter Granzotto was novice master. Bro. Jim made his first profession on September 1, 1970, at Newton.
He graduated from Don Bosco College in 1972 with a B.A. in philosophy, including minors in history and classics. He left the Salesians that year and did his first year of theological studies at Immaculate Conception Seminary of the Newark Archdiocese. He returned to the Salesians in 1973, made temporary vows again in 1974, was assigned to Don Bosco Prep, Ramsey, and professed perpetually on August 27, 1977, at St. Anthony’s Church in Elizabeth, N.J.
Bro. Jim did his practical training at Ramsey from 1973 to 1975 and another year at Salesian High School in New Rochelle in 1975-1976. He taught history, theology, and English. He was a moderator for dramatics, Key Club, and other activities at different times.
Bro. Jim studied theology (his 2nd-4th years) at the Pontifical College Josephinum in Worthington, Ohio, while living with the Salesian community in Columbus from 1976 to 1979. In 1979-1980 as a deacon he was assigned to the Don Bosco College community, teaching theology. He earned a Masters in Divinity at the PCJ in 1980. Later he studied accounting at the University of Notre Dame, earning an MSA in 1983, followed by a Masters in Religious Education from St. Joseph Seminary in Yonkers, N.Y., in 1990.
Fr. Jim was ordained in his home parish, Our Lady of All Souls in East Orange, on October 4, 1980, by Newark’s Auxiliary Bishop Joseph A. Francis, SVD.
Fr. Jim then followed a varied priestly ministry. He taught for one year at Salesian in New Rochelle (1980-1981) and for one year at Don Bosco Prep in Ramsey (1983-1984). He was treasurer at the Marian Shrine in Haverstraw, N.Y., for two years (1981-1983). In 1984 he began a 7-year stint at the provincial house in New Rochelle as an assistant in the treasurer’s office. After another three years at Don Bosco Prep, teaching (1991-1994), he experienced parish life as assistant pastor at Mary Help of Christians in Manhattan (1994-1995).
He took a leave of absence from the Salesians in 1995-1998, serving as
assistant pastor at Holy Trinity Church in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. There he introduced some parishioners to the
Salesian Cooperators, including Denise and Rob Dunn, who testify to Fr. Jim’s
legacy in the parish; for he introduced living Stations of the Cross done by
the parish youths, which continues to today.
He also led an adult discussion group that was much appreciated but has
not continued.
Fr. Jim’s happiest years may have been the 9 years when he was chaplain for campus ministry and social action at Manhattan College in Riverdale (Bronx), N.Y., 1998-2007. During those years he resided at the provincial house. Years later he retained very fond memories of that time, especially the many trips to different parts of the world he took with the college students.
Late in 2006 the Salesian provincial notified the Christian Brothers at Manhattan that Fr. Jim would have to return to ministry in a Salesian presence at the end of the school year. Both Fr. Jim and the college were quite satisfied with his ministry there. The provincial noted that “Jim’s Salesian background seems to have been a good fit with the principles of Lasallian education practiced at Manhattan College,” in keeping with Don Bosco’s admiration for St. John Baptist de La Salle.
Leaving
Manhattan was difficult for Fr. Jim, it seems.
He took another leave of absence, ministering at St. James of the
Marches Church in Totowa, N.J., from 2007 to 2009. Then he joined the Don Bosco Prep community,
teaching a little bit and doing campus ministry until health issues made that
no longer possible. Bro. Travis Gunther
recalls bringing him Holy Communion in the nursing home: “In these last two years getting to bring him Communion was a
beautiful experience. For those brief few moments of prayer, reception and
silence afterward, it was like the world was on pause for a moment.”
Many confreres remember how much Fr. Jim loved pizza. Bro. Travis links that love to his parents having owned and run a pizzeria.
Fr. Jim is survived by his sisters Susan Cerbone of Rutherford, N.J., and Gloria Malecki of Bloomfield, N.J., and his nephew, Richard Malecki, all of whom he was very close to.
Fr. Jim’s funeral was celebrated at Don Bosco Prep on December 26. Fr. Dominic Tran presided, and Fr. John Serio gave the homily. Fr. Jim’s remains were interred at Holy Cross Cemetery in North Arlington, N.J.
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