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Br John Richard Clarke

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Br John Richard Clarke

Birth
Death
30 Dec 1980 (aged 51)
Burial
Des Plaines, Cook County, Illinois, USA Add to Map
Plot
Section 2
Memorial ID
View Source
John Joseph Clarke was born on October 5, 1929, in Detroit, Michigan. He attended primary school at Sacred Heart Parish in Cambridge, Massachusetts, St. Martin's in Detroit, Michigan, and St. Clare of Montefalco in Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan. After graduating from St. Paul's High School in Gross Pointe Farms, Michigan, he workedwith his father's municipal gardening service in Detroit until October 1948, when he began his postulancy as a Dominican Cooperator Brother at St. Thomas Aquinas Prioryin River Forest, Illinois. He entered the novitiate in River Forest on April 2, 1949 and took Richard as his religious name.

Shortly after his first profession on April 3, 1950, Brother Richard was assigned to the maintenance staff at St. Pius V Priory in Chicago. There his talent for printing procedures soon led him to develop the small print shop at the Shrine of St. Jude offices into a highly professional service for helping to spread the prayer apostolate of the shrine throughout the world.

Post-Vatican II changes in the Church and the Order affected Brother Richard deeply, and in 1970, he asked for a temporary leave from his assigned duties to assess his future as a Dominican Brother. While on leave, he spent time with close relatives in Ireland. There he suffered a heart attack that required a lengthy period of careful treatment to restore his health.

After returning to the States and the Province, Brother Richard asked to be assigned to the Vicariate of Nigeria where he could use his skills as a printer while training others in the same field. Since political difficulties at that time sharply restricted the number of Nigerian visas granted to United States citizens, he joined three other members of the Province in Kumasi, Ghana, in January 1971, where he worked for Bishop Peter Sarpong to expand the work of the Catholic Mission Press for the Diocese of Kumasi. In 1975 he was able to join the Dominican Community in Ibadan, Nigeria while working for the Claverian Press and helping with the maintenance needs of the Priory.

While on a States ice quies in 1979, Brother Richard went to the House of Affirmation in Whitinsville, Massachusetts, to take advantage of special programs for spiritual renewal. To retain his resident visa for Nigeria, he returned to Ibadan in August 1979, but was re-assigned to St. Pius V Priory in Chicago in January 1980. In May 1980, he went back to the House of Affirmation for an extended renewal program while he lived with the Eastern Dominican Community at St. Stephen's Priory in Dover, Massachusetts. Shortly after returning to Dover from a Christmas visit with his family in Detroit, Brother Richard was stricken with a heart attack. On Tuesday, December 30, while in the cardiac intensive care unit at Leonard Morse Hospital, a second severe attack ended his life. His body was brought back to Chicago for funeral services at St. Pius V Church and for burial in All Saints Cemetery, Des Plaines, Illinois, on January 3. At the time of his death, he hoped one day to be able to resume the apostolate he loved best at the Mission Press in Ghana.
John Joseph Clarke was born on October 5, 1929, in Detroit, Michigan. He attended primary school at Sacred Heart Parish in Cambridge, Massachusetts, St. Martin's in Detroit, Michigan, and St. Clare of Montefalco in Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan. After graduating from St. Paul's High School in Gross Pointe Farms, Michigan, he workedwith his father's municipal gardening service in Detroit until October 1948, when he began his postulancy as a Dominican Cooperator Brother at St. Thomas Aquinas Prioryin River Forest, Illinois. He entered the novitiate in River Forest on April 2, 1949 and took Richard as his religious name.

Shortly after his first profession on April 3, 1950, Brother Richard was assigned to the maintenance staff at St. Pius V Priory in Chicago. There his talent for printing procedures soon led him to develop the small print shop at the Shrine of St. Jude offices into a highly professional service for helping to spread the prayer apostolate of the shrine throughout the world.

Post-Vatican II changes in the Church and the Order affected Brother Richard deeply, and in 1970, he asked for a temporary leave from his assigned duties to assess his future as a Dominican Brother. While on leave, he spent time with close relatives in Ireland. There he suffered a heart attack that required a lengthy period of careful treatment to restore his health.

After returning to the States and the Province, Brother Richard asked to be assigned to the Vicariate of Nigeria where he could use his skills as a printer while training others in the same field. Since political difficulties at that time sharply restricted the number of Nigerian visas granted to United States citizens, he joined three other members of the Province in Kumasi, Ghana, in January 1971, where he worked for Bishop Peter Sarpong to expand the work of the Catholic Mission Press for the Diocese of Kumasi. In 1975 he was able to join the Dominican Community in Ibadan, Nigeria while working for the Claverian Press and helping with the maintenance needs of the Priory.

While on a States ice quies in 1979, Brother Richard went to the House of Affirmation in Whitinsville, Massachusetts, to take advantage of special programs for spiritual renewal. To retain his resident visa for Nigeria, he returned to Ibadan in August 1979, but was re-assigned to St. Pius V Priory in Chicago in January 1980. In May 1980, he went back to the House of Affirmation for an extended renewal program while he lived with the Eastern Dominican Community at St. Stephen's Priory in Dover, Massachusetts. Shortly after returning to Dover from a Christmas visit with his family in Detroit, Brother Richard was stricken with a heart attack. On Tuesday, December 30, while in the cardiac intensive care unit at Leonard Morse Hospital, a second severe attack ended his life. His body was brought back to Chicago for funeral services at St. Pius V Church and for burial in All Saints Cemetery, Des Plaines, Illinois, on January 3. At the time of his death, he hoped one day to be able to resume the apostolate he loved best at the Mission Press in Ghana.

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  • Maintained by: Eman Bonnici
  • Originally Created by: Algae
  • Added: Jan 9, 2012
  • Find a Grave Memorial ID:
  • Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/83195363/john_richard-clarke: accessed ), memorial page for Br John Richard Clarke (5 Oct 1929–30 Dec 1980), Find a Grave Memorial ID 83195363, citing All Saints Catholic Cemetery and Mausoleum, Des Plaines, Cook County, Illinois, USA; Maintained by Eman Bonnici (contributor 46572312).