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Brother John Lesica died at home in his sleep at the age of 72 on February 9, 1999. His Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated at Resurrection-Ascension Church in Queens,

New York; Father George Cowan, a long time friend and prayer partner, presided. Brother Patrick Pennell, CFX gave his eulogy. Burial was in the Brothers' plot, Resurrection Cemetery, Staten Island, New York.

Brother John was born on October 7, 1926 and raised in Guardian Angel parish in Manhattan. The family then moved to Resurrection-Ascension parish in Queens. From there he entered the Xaverian Brothers in 1944, after graduating from Cardinal Hayes High School in the Bronx, NY. He received his Bachelors and Master's degrees in English from Catholic University in 1950 and 1955, respectively. In 1969 he earned a Master's in pastoral counseling from Iona College.

After thirteen years of teaching in Baltimore, MD, Bardstown, KY and Leonardtown, MD, he began his administrative career. After a year spent as an administrative assistant at Nazareth High in Brooklyn, he was appointed Superior and Principal at Xaverian High School in Brooklyn, NY. After his tenure as Principal, he continued to teach at Xaverian and worked part-time as a counselor at the Family Consultation Center in the New York Archdiocese. From 1978 to 1982 he served as Xaverian Vocation Director for his province for four years. He then ministered as a program specialist in the diocesan Catholic Charities' Office of Pastoral Care of the Sick. Since 1985 he worked tirelessly as chaplain and Assistant Director of the Pastoral Care Dept. at St. Francis Hospital, Roslyn, Long Island.

Brother Patrick, his dear friend and confrere, observed in his remarks at the funeral Mass that teaching and pastoral counseling were the two areas of his work-life that he enjoyed and loved. Brothers, family, friends and former students fondly remember him. Father James Barry, CP., his dear friend, knew him as a man who lived life to the full, and shared it freely with everyone. The quality that John possessed that Father Barry voiced and that all who knew John will sorely miss was his "affirming"; "he was always affirming the other person, the good of the other person, the fun, the joy, the growth of the other person." In the light of the Fundamental Principals of the Xaverian Brothers, John's life was a beautiful dramatization of the challenge, "As a Disciple of Jesus Christ, you are called to follow in His footsteps and minister God's healing touch of love, through word and deed, to all whom you meet in your journey of life." His family rejoiced in the celebration of his life, witnessed its impact, and felt his loss deeply.

Brother Eymard McGee died at the age of 86 on March 18, 1999. His Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated at the St. Xavier High School chapel, Louisville, KY. His eulogy was given by Brother Thomas More, CFX, Eighth Superior General of the Xaverian Brothers. Burial was in the Brothers' plot in Calvary cemetery in Louisville.

Born in Wheeling, West Virginia, John P. McGee entered the congregation from St. John's Preparatory School in Danvers, MA, and Eymard became his name in religion. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in 1937 from Catholic University. Later, he did graduate study at Boston College.

He was an excellent teacher, animated by his vocation as a Xaverian Brother to devote his life to the instruction of youth. His years in teaching Chemistry and Physics were spent at seven schools: Mission High in Roxbury, MA, Cardinal Hayes in the Bronx, NY, Keith Academy in Lowell, MA, Flaget High School in Louisville, KY, Xaverian Brothers Juniorate in Peabody, MA, Leonard Hall in Leonardtown, MD and Good Counsel High in Wheaton, MD. After retiring, he spent several years in his native West Virginia. From 1991 until his death, he resided at Ryken House in Louisville, KY.

Brother Thomas More dwelt on the two sides that we all have as persons, the persona presented to others and the inner self more reluctantly revealed. A strong personality, though small in stature, Eymard's persona included his being a man of few words- "a few choice words," as Brother Tom More put it. On those occasions when he did speak, he kept his pipe in his mouth and, without moving it, managed to speak on either side of it. The true inner self of this quiet man did show clearly also. He had a sense of humor and patience in the face of blindness and difficulty in hearing in his later years, which revealed inner strength. Unobtrusively thoughtful, he wrote regularly to his ailing and aged sisters, called them and sent them gifts.

Brother Talbot McSharry was rushed from Ryken House, the Brothers' retirement home in Louisville, to Audubon Hospital where he died on March 1, 1999 at the age of 67. After a heavily attended wake, his Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated at St. Andrew the Apostle Church in Brooklyn, NY; a boyhood pal, Monsignor Dorney, was celebrant, assisted by Father Dan Murphy, the pastor of St. Andrews. His eulogy was given by Brother Paul Feeney, CFX, seventh Provincial of the former St. Joseph Province. Brothers from Maryland, Massachusetts and New York, many friends and relatives, and the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick, his favorite organization, filled the church. Burial was in Gate of Heaven cemetery in Westchester, NY.

Given his love for music, especially the kind that inspires the lilt of Irish laughter, his final celebration must have made him very proud. His body was piped into the church with "Amazing Grace". At the offertory, one of the Friendly Sons gave a splendid rendition of "Ave Maria"; at Communion another member of the group performed well the "Panis Angelicus". Departure from the Church included a rousing rendition of the "Minstrel Boy" and other Irish tunes. There was confidence that he loved it.

Born an only child to Patrick and Mary McSharry, young James T.P. McSharry left Cardinal Hayes High in the Bronx, NY, where he came under the influence of the Xaverian Brothers, to enter their Juniorate in Peabody, MA. He officially entered the congregation on September 19, 1950 at Sacred Heart Novitiate in Fort Monroe, VA where he received the name- Brother Talbot -in honor of the venerable Matt Talbot, the saintly man from Dublin who struggled long and fiercely to overcome the addictive bonds of alcoholism. In 1956 he earned his bachelor's degree in American history; fourteen years later, he earned his first Masters in history from Seton Hall University and, twelve years later, a second in criminal justice from John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Over a thirty-four year teaching career, he spent six years at Mount St. Joseph High in Baltimore (1956-62), before being one of the pioneer Brothers who established St. Joseph High in Montvale, NJ. From 1962 to 1990 he taught, acted as the school's dean of discipline and was the first varsity soccer coach for sixteen years. In 1991, he embarked on a new career. He served as chaplain for the Sheriff's Department of Suffolk County covering two prisons in New Jersey, Riverhead and Yapank. A vocal advocate for the rights of prisoners, he most recently was stationed in Memphis, where he served as chaplain to a string of ten prisons stretching out over the western part of Tennessee.

To the end Brother Talbot maintained his prayer life, his community participation, his sense of humor, and his singing. As Brother Feeney put it, "Until the last four or five days of his life, he sang his beloved songs, and then heard the pipes calling. He had to go and we to bide." He left behind many memories, just one of which was voiced by his good friend, Irish Christian Brother Dave Concannon of Iona College. "Talbot wasn't a lackluster fellow. When you were around Talbot, things happened. A colorful, gregarious person, a good religious, a lovely chap."

Brother Germain De Groote died after a long illness at St. John's, the Brothers of Charity Nursing Home in Zelzate, Belgium, at the age of 76 on March 23, 1999. His Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated at St. Margarete Church, Knokke-Heist. Burial was in the Brothers Cemetery, Heist.

Upon entering the Xaverian Brothers, Englebert De Groote chose Germain, taking as his religious name the one that the first Brother to go to the Belgian Congo bore. Brother Germain Vanacker died in 1938 and his name bearer entered the congregation with his heart set on becoming a missionary. Germain's experience was one of the striking instances of the founder's observation, "The ways of God's providence are often inscrutable but always adorable." He never did become a missionary in the way he expected; his younger brother, who entered also and took the name Brother Joris, continues to spend most of his religious life in Congo. Germain became instead an outstanding teacher, working with his students in Bruges, Heist and Knokke. All his classes were well prepared into segments that were designed to be easy to digest for his pupils. He commanded respect and spoke with authority in the classroom; he asked much of his students, but had a great deal to offer them. Filled with zeal and able to inspire it, he was a thoroughly Christian educator. Not only as a teacher was he a missionary, he did everything in his power to collaborate with Joris on the missions. Through his fundraising efforts he enabled the purchase of a truck for use in Congo. In retirement he was a volunteer in an organization that assists the third world; he was an active collaborator on the home front and a marvelous propagandist for his brother's and his Xaverian Brothers' ministry. In his difficult and final illness, he experienced the consolation of the sacrament of the anointing of the sick, a moving ceremony with many of his Brothers present, whom he recognized and greeted. In death he found his ultimate meeting with the Lord to whose service he had been called as a religious teacher and a missionary in a way that he had not forseen.