Submitted by: Dan Rich
Brother John Emmett Harrington CSC
South Bend Tribune 5/21/2006
Br. John Emmett Harrington, CSC, 85, died at Dujarie
House, the Holy Cross Village, Notre Dame, Indiana, on Friday,
May 19, after a long illness.
Br. John was born in Chicago, Ill., the son
of John M. and Margaret (Maloney) Harrington. He was
preceded in death by his brothers, William and James and by his
sister, LaVerne. He is survived by his younger brother, Raymond,
also a Holy Cross Brother and teacher at Holy Cross College,
Notre Dame.
Between 1927 and 1939 Br. John attended St.
Sabina Elementary School and graduated from St. Leo High School.
Before World War II, Br. John did office
work for a year for the Pullman Aircraft Co., then was an
aircraft riveter. He also worked as a truck driver for the
Fullerton Trucking Co.
Br. John entered military service in World
War II in 1942 and was honorably discharged in 1945 as a sergeant
in the Army. He had been stationed in Texas, The Philippines and
Okinawa.
He joined the Holy Cross Brothers in January 1947 at Watertown,
Wis., and began his novitiate year at Rolling Prairie, Ind., in
August of 1947. He pronounced his first temporary vows of
religion August 16, 1948, and his perpetual vows August 16, 1951,
the same year in which he graduated from the University of Notre
Dame.
Br. John was assigned to Boysville of
Michigan, Clinton, Mich., from 1951-1952, then for a short time
that same year to Holy Trinity High School, Chicago, preceding a
transfer to St. Edward High School, Lakewood, Ohio, where he
taught for five years.
Having opted in 1956 for membership in the
newly formed Eastern Province of Brothers, in 1957 he joined the
faculty of Notre Dame High School, West Haven, Conn. From there
he spent a year doing graduate studies while living at Holy Cross
High School, Flushing, N.Y. In 1959 he was appointed to the
province missions in Uganda, East Africa. There, he taught form
1959-1961 at St. Augustine College, Butiti, Uganda. Returning to
the U.S., he spent six years 1961-1967, at Holy Cross in
Flushing. There then followed another four years in Uganda, once
more in Butiti, this time during the tension-filled Idi Amin
years. He came back to Flushing where he taught till 1971. After
a short assignment at Bishop McNamara High School in Forestville,
Md., he became assistant superior and staff member at St. Joseph
Center, Valatie, N.Y. until 1973. For a year, then he was a
member of the staff at the provincial offices in West Haven,
Conn.
Br. John Returned to the Midwest that year and became one of the first volunteers to help out at the Forever Learning Institute in South Bend, Ind. In 1975, he had a brief assignment at LeMans Academy, Rolling Prairie, Ind., then from 1975-1986 was a staff member of the Holy Cross Brothers Center, Notre Dame. From 1986 until his health deteriorated, he did volunteer work at the brothers' infirmary at Notre Dame, Dujarie House.
In 2000 he took up residence at the
brothers; assisted living facility adjacent to Dujarie House
until his illness prompted his move to Dujarie House itself,
where he remained until his death.
Br. John was a hard worker and a cheerful
and lively member of the local community of brothers he lived in
at a given time. He loved athletics and followed the fortunes of
various teams with interest. He was generous in his service to
brothers living in the infirmary, running errands for them and
taking them to appointments.
He and his brother, Raymond were part of a
family that was particularly close-knit. Both of them vitiated
Chicago area relatives until Br. John's condition made it
impossible. Eventually the Parkinson's forced his move to Dujarie
House as a resident. The generosity and light-hearted
conversation for which he was known when he was a staff member at
the infirmary transferred smoothly and gain marked his open and
lively personality, limited all the more by his illness.
Visitation will begin at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, May 23, in St. Joseph Chapel, the Brothers Holy Cross Village at Notre Dame, 54515 St. Road 933.
The Mass of the Resurrection will follow at
3 p.m. with interment immediately afterward in St. Joseph's
Cemetery on the Village grounds.
Kaniewski Funeral Home is handling
arrangements.