Brother Aaron J. Lavin O.S.B., 48, Conception, died on Nov. 14, 1998 in Springfield, Mo.

Brother Lavin was a professor of psychology, counselor and monk at the Conception Abbey. He was a member of the Roman Catholic faith.

Born Feb 13, 1950, in Fort Riley, Kan., he attended the Conception Seminary College, the Catholic University of America and the New School of Social Research.

Brother Lavin was preceded in death by his mother, Helen L.

Surviving: his father, John, Dearing, Ga., a brother, Michael, Dunwoodie, Ga.; and two sisters, Nancy Augusta, Ga., and Peggy O'Brien, Centreville, VA.

Services were held Nov 18, 1998 at St. Columba Catholic church, Conception Junction, Mo.

Burial: St. Columba Cemetery, Conception, Mo. Arrangements: Price Funeral Home, Maryville, Mo.

source: St. Joseph MO News-Press, Nov. 16, 1998.

===Abbey Obit: Brother Aaron Lavin

When the tower bell tolled at midday on Saturday, November 14, 1998 to announce the death of Brother Aaron Lavin, there was first surprise, then a feeling of sadness at Conception Abbey. At the time of his death, Bro. Aaron had been living in Springfield, Missouri, under a grant of exclaustration. Slightly over three months earlier, he had been diagnosed with cancer of the lung that had spread to the spine. The disease spread quickly through his slender frame and, with little time to spare, claimed his mortal life.

John Joseph Lavin was born on February 13, 1950 at Junction City, Kansas, near Fort Riley, where his father was in the army. He was the third of four children, having two older sisters and one younger brother. The family eventually settled in Augusta, Georgia. John had seriously considered a call to the priesthood while in grade school and later attended Saint John Vianney Minor Seminary in Augusta. In the Fall of 1968 he was then sent to Immaculate Conception Seminary at Conception, Missouri, for his collegiate studies for the diocese of Savannah. During his senior year he gave serious consideration to a monastic vocation, making application for the novitiate during the spring of 1972. After four years in the seminary college, he graduated with a BA degree in Behavioral Science and prepared to enter the novitiate of Conception Abbey in August 1972.

John Lavin entered the novitiate on August 18,1972 and upon completing that year of discernment and trial he professed vows, asking for and receiving the name of Aaron.

During his first year in vows, Brother Aaron worked in the guest department and did some supervised teaching in the seminary college, while taking psychology classes at Northwest Missouri State College in Maryville in preparation for graduate studies. During his second year in vows, he was sent to The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. for a master's degree in psychology, which he completed in three semesters and a summer. Returning to the monastery, Bro. Aaron directed his energies to teaching in the seminary and working as an assistant to Father Basil Rechenberg in the Department of Psychological Services. From the very outset, Brother Aaron distinguished himself as an insightful, thorough, and respected pedagogue, and as a compassionate and discerning counselor. At approximately this same time, he worked also with Father Denis Dougherty, who was establishing a counseling practice in northwest Missouri as an outreach of the diocesan office of Catholic Charities. As the professional quality of Brother Aaron's work became better known, more people came to the abbey seeking his services. In October of 1979, he assumed the duties of freshman chaplain, upon the sudden and unexpected death of Father Timothy Rooney. He continued in this position until May 1981, when he began doctoral studies at the New School for Social Research in New York City.

The years at the New School for Social Research were a time of growth in knowledge and competency for the years of work in clinical psychology that lay ahead. A man of dedication and discipline, Brother Aaron excelled in his studies and earned the respect of both his professors and colleagues. His dissertation was in the broad area of adolescent psychology, with attention focused primarily on candidates for the priesthood during their developmental years of late adolescence and early adulthood. His research and study would open doors for speaking and teaching engagements in the future as seminary personnel throughout the country were coming to a greater awareness of the importance of psychological evaluations for seminary candidates. During the academic year1984-85, Brother Aaron fulfilled his clinical internship at Western Missouri Mental Health Center in Kansas City, one of the final requirements f or his doctoral degree. Then bringing his research together and writing the dissertation, he successfully defended his work and received his Ph.D. in the spring of 1987.By this time, Brother Aaron was already working full-time in the seminary as professor of psychology, director of psychological services, and chairman of the psychology department. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Brother Aaron had the chance to speak at several national gatherings of seminary personnel, presenting his research and speaking from his decade of experience in the work of priestly formation. He was well received in seminary circles as someone who was serious about his subject, insightful in his discoveries, and clear in his presentations. Both bishops and vocation directors became aware of his expertise in clinical evaluations of candidates. As a service to the seminary and its client dioceses, he did numerous evaluations of candidates, seminarians, and priests. Brother Aaron also taught as an adjunct professor of psychology at Northwest Missouri State University and working in counseling for the local high school and the Office of Probation and Parole in Maryville. 

Despite growing success in the classroom and in counseling, Brother Aaron struggled to find happiness in his monastic life. It was clear that his life revolved more and more around his work, with little time left for community activities and his confreres. Therefore, it was not surprising that in the spring of 1996, he initially asked for a grant of exclaustration as a first step to leaving monastic life. He was given permission to accept a position as a youth counselor at the Covenant House in New York City. This new job was unfortunately short-lived because of a cutback in funding. For a time, he found a position with Catholic Charities in the archdiocese of Newark, but decided that the cost of living in the New York area was more than he could afford. He then moved to Springfield, Missouri, where he was employed fist with the mental health division of Cox Medical Center and then at the Good Samaritan Ranch, a home for troubled adolescent boys just north of Springfield, where he was employed for about six months before cancer depleted his energies. All of this transpired in the short span of two years.

At the request of Brother Aaron to the abbot, only a few members of the community were aware of the seriousness of his illness when he mentioned it at the end of July 1996; he kept even his immediate family at a distance in the final months of his life. Brother Aaron was found dead in his apartment by a hospice nurse who had begun attending to his needs three days before he died. The cancer had attacked and ruptured his liver, and death came quickly on Saturday, the 14th of November,1998. As his death notice so accurately reads: He who had spent so much of his life healing the hurts and pains of others, made his suffering and death his own. On Tuesday, November 17, his body was welcomed back to the monastery by the assembled monks Of the Abbey, who were joined by his father, two sisters, and one brother. Vespers of the Faithful Departed were sung that evening. The Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated the next day at St. Columba Church in Conception Junction. The Abbey Basilica at that time was still closed for renovation.

Life had brought Brother Aaron low in the end; yet in the mystery of divine love, his monastic community, family, and friends were there to receive him and bring him to his final resting place on this earth.

May he rest in peace.