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Bro. George Rooney, O.S.B.
Our confrere, Brother George Rooney, died at Meadowbrook Manor, Naperville, IL about noon on December 22, 2009.
Arrangements
The Reception of Bro. George and Vigil Service:
Tuesday, December 29th at 7:00 PM in the Abbey Church
The Funeral and Burial:
Wednesday, December 30th at 10:30 AM in the Abbey Church (burial in the Abbey Cemetery following Mass)
Biography
George Rooney, Jr., was born in Chicago on September 27, 1926, the son of a Chicago attorney (and later judge) who long assisted St. Procopius Abbey with its legal affairs.
George attended first St. Joseph Academy in LaGrange Park and then enrolled at St. Procopius Academy. Considerable academic limitations prevented him from going beyond the freshman year of high school, but the cheerful young man was accepted as a lay brother candidate for the monastery.
As his novice master, Fr. Claude Viktora, accurately predicted, Br. George would live out the vows better than he could explain them and better as well than many who possessed greater theoretical knowledge.
Following his monastic profession on September 8, 1945, Br. George began the faithful custodial service for the community that would distinguish his entire life. He also assisted Br. Matthew Netreba with the chicken farm until that operation was discontinued.
After the new monastery was opened in 1970, the sight of Br. George sweeping, mopping, keeping both the public and private areas of the monastery neat and tidy was a constant feature of community life.
Though he chose not to apply for Chapter membership when that option was opened to the brothers, and thus became in time the last member in perpetual rather than solemn vows, Br. George joyfully joined the choir monks in the Divine Office, and he was both a faithful and an enthusiastic participant.
His goodness of heart was evident in his welcoming of guests, his enjoyment of any community activity that allowed a smile and a laugh, and his friendly greeting of any confrere of whose company he had been deprived for longer than fifteen minutes.
As he moved into his sixties and seventies, the duties expected of him gradually decreased, but he continued some of his custodial service past his eightieth birthday, ceasing only when the ageing process necessitated his use of a walker.
He never really recovered from a fall he suffered last August, and his final months saw a swift decline in several rehabilitation centers.
Please remember Br. George in your prayers.
Abbot Dismas and Community
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