Mass of Christian Burial for Brother Alva Gillis, S.M. and Brother Michael Galvin, S.M. / January 9, 2023

1930 - 2022

BRO. ALVA J. GILLIS, S.M. died in the service of the Blessed Virgin Mary on December 31, 2022, at the age of 92 and with 37 years of vowed life. He was born in Troy, OH on February 14, 1930, the youngest child of Elza Gayle Gillis and Myrtle Idella Holman. His other 4 siblings, Charles, Robert, Orville, and Martha are all deceased. After education in the Troy Public School System through 10th grade and 2 years of vocational school, he went into military service (1951-57). In 1954 when he returned to civilian life and become a Catholic, he married Amelia Casserta and they had six children, before an uncontested divorce in 1979. Alva worked for Hobart Corporation for 32 years, rising from a common laborer to a detail inspector.

He had been considering a religious vocation, and after the marriage situation was regularized, he entered the Marianist Novitiate and was professed on August 10, 1985. He became a Certified Pastoral Minister in 1987, after studies in Cleveland. Final Profession took place on August 13, 1988, after studies in Cleveland. He served as Director of Religious Education, Pastoral Minister, and assisted with many Separated and Divorced Catholic groups in Albion, MI, Dayton, OH, and Pittsburgh, PA. A skilled laborer, he used those gifts at Bergamo Center (Dayton), North Catholic H.S. (Pittsburgh) and St. John's Home (Rockaway, NY), where he trained young men in maintenance, remodeling, and restaurant skills. Retirement came in 1996, but Br. Al continued volunteer service in several diocesan Catholic Charities Organizations and Development Work in various schools. In August 2004, Bro. Gillis moved to the Marianist Residence in San Antonio, TX in order to escape the snow in the north. There he continued to volunteer in computer services with the Development Offices of Central Catholic H.S. and at St. Mary's University.

Bro. Al was proud to be part Native American (Shawnee). His simple philosophy: "If my little corner of the world is a better place because I was here, then my life was worthwhile."

His fellow religious commented upon his request for final vows, "his many experiences through the years as a worker, family man, and the involvement with Divorced and Separated Catholics ministry, made him a more compassionate and humble person."

Bro. Gillis is survived by three daughters, Deborah A. Stumpf, Therese C. Courtney, and Mary A. Kidder; three sons, Alva Jr., Charles, and Joseph; and many nieces and nephews.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Marianist Mission, Mt. St. John, 4435 East Patterson Road, Dayton, OH 45430-1033 or a charity of your choice.

FUNERAL SERVICES

Sunday, January 8, 2023 Visitation will begin at 6:30pm with a Rosary Service at 7:00pm (followed by Story Telling.)

Monday, January 9, 2023 Visitation will resume at 3:00pm with Mass of the Resurrection at 3:30pm. Both Services will be held at Assumption Chapel at St. Mary's University. Internment immediately following at the Marianist Cemetery.

Both Services Will Be Live-Streamed:
www.stmarytx.edu/live

1941 - 2023

BRO. MICHAEL J. GALVIN, S.M. died in the service of the Blessed Virgin Mary on January 1, 2023, at the age of 81 and with 63 years of vowed life. He was born in Brooklyn, NY on August 30, 1941, to Michael John Galvin and Rita Mary Horan, the third of 8 children. His parents are both deceased as well as his brothers and sister Joseph, Jimmy, and Kathleen. His surviving siblings are Virginia (Termire), Rita (Bock), Peggy (Schellenberg), and Patty Ann (Galfano).

Having graduated from Our Lady of Perpetual Help Elementary School in Queens, NY, Michael moved to Most Holy Trinity H.S. where he met Brothers Frank Russell and Charles Roggemann, who both encouraged him to consider becoming a Marianist. Giving it a try, he went to the Marianist Novitiate where the camaraderie was contagious and was captured by the Marianist Charism. He was amazed that New Yorkers and Midwesterners spoke two different languages. After a packed program of studies in the Scholasticate, in 1963 he had an opportunity to do graduate studies at John Hopkins University in Baltimore through a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship after his undergraduate studies at the University of Dayton. Completing graduate studies, he began teaching Spanish and French at Cardinal Gibbons H.S. and soon was made Departmental Chairperson, a task both challenging and rewarding. In 1968 he was assigned as Principal of Chaminade H.S. in Hollywood, FL., inheriting a school that with low faculty morale, ill-defined objectives, and problems with enrollment, curriculum, and finances. Fortunately, there was a cadre of competent and dedicated Marianists and lay persons that made it possible to make positive changes amidst the current unstable culture. With society and post-Vatican II Church upheavals, it was a challenging time for everybody, especially students, parents, and educators.

Following a sabbatical in St. Louis, Bro. Mike moved to Colegio San Jose in Puerto Rico, where he taught English and French along with Departmental and Guidance Counselor responsibilities.

He was appreciative of the warm and affectionate nature of the students, parents, and people in general. During another sabbatical program in Cambridge, MA in 1992, he acquired some fluency with yet another language, Portuguese, while talking with a Brazilian cook at the residence. That new language offered him the opportunity to assist a steady stream of Brazilian immigrants seeking assistance with a multitude of needs, when that kind of help was so rare. Marianists in leadership positions encouraged Mike to develop structures to help remedy that vacuum, eventually establishing the ministry Apostolado Brasileiro. In 2008 he moved to San Antonio, TX to serve at Holy Rosary Parish until moving to the Marianist Residence in 2017.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Marianist Mission, Mt. St. John, 4435 East Patterson Road, Dayton, OH 45430-1033 or a charity of your choice.

FUNERAL SERVICES

Sunday, January 8, 2023 Visitation will begin at 6:30pm with a Rosary Service at 7:00pm (followed by Story Telling.)

Monday, January 9, 2023 Visitation will resume at 3:00pm with Mass of the Resurrection at 3:30pm. Both Services will be held at Assumption Chapel at St. Mary's University. Interment immediately following at the Marianist Cemetery.

Both Services Will Be Live-Streamed:
www.stmarytx.edu/live