Speaking with a wide vein of tenderness that steadily solidified between nearly lifelong friends, Msgr. Norman Priebe of Westchester this morning sketched the late life of Father Richard Gleason as a 71-year adventure that spanned the world and paralleled a full range of emotions, before the end came suddenly a week ago Wednesday.
No one suspected, he said, that when Father Richard completed 5:30 mass and made his way across the parking lot to the rectory, suffering an acute shortness of breath, “that he was actually making his way to God. He slipped away all too quickly. There wasn’t time for his family, friends or those he served to say goodbye.
“I suspect he would have found it very dutiful to say goodbye if God had offered him that opportunity,” Msgr. Priebe said.
“He loved the work he did as a priest. He loved those he worked with and served. He loved his family. And so his second calling home is with great shock and sadness.
“As Father Richard knew all too well, death often comes as a surprise.
“Father Richard’s last act of ministry was to celebrate mass here,” and that, said Msgr. Priebe, the pastor of St. Jerome’s, is every priest’s desire.
As a sign of the two priests’ closeness in the 46 years since their twin ordinations, the surviving friend referred to Father Gleason three different ways – Father Richard, Father Rich and Rich.
“Father Rich talked about retiring a few times,” Msgr. Priebe said. “But he still had his boots on, and he still was sitting in the saddle when God came to call.”
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Father Richard Gleason
Away We Go
In the next 10 minutes, he took scores of blue-and-white-uniformed young students from St. Augustine School, hundreds of adult parishioners, and Father Richard’s sister and two nieces on a journey around the globe, narrating trips to numerous destinations.
But towering over his photograph-dominated excursions abroad – like the time Father Richard lost his way and they nearly had to walk 30 miles back to London, or their fishing outing on the Snake River in Idaho where he attracted more mosquito bites than an aging doctor could count – there was, strike up the Victory March, his uninterruptible fondness, his passion for Notre Dame football.
He did not get upset often, said Msgr. Priebe.
But he would be vexed when a young couple would set their wedding date for a day when Notre Dame was playing football.
A Colorful Farewell
Although the Catholic funeral mass is called a celebration, the 90-minute service, and especially Msgr. Priebe’s central role, were somber, rich in affection, sensitivity. There was a ubiquitous mood of spiritually rewarded completion.
Before a capacity crowd of about 850 in the vastness of St. Augustine Catholic Church, in a solemn setting brimming with centuries-old pageantry and tradition, Msgr. Priebe honored his old seminary classmate and global traveling companion with memories that warmed and embraced rather than entertained.
It wouldn’t have felt right to do otherwise, the pastor suggested, breaking down several times before swiftly recovering.
The still-new Archbishop of Los Angeles, Jose H. Gomez, officiated at the service, surrounded by dozens of white-garbed priests and numerous mitre-wearing fellow bishops.
