70 Years

Father Kenneth Sommer, SM
Feb. 10, 1928
Birth place: Dayton, Ohio
Jubilee Celebration: Sat., Aug. 12, 2017 – Dayton, Ohio

Local affiliation: Born and raised in Dayton, Ohio; attended elementary school, high school and college in Dayton; taught at Chaminade High School in Dayton, Ohio; served as an instructor of fine arts at University of Dayton and director of the Marianist Press; currently residing in Dayton

Past ministries: Served as a teacher in high schools in Maryland and Ohio; served as community director in Dayton; served as an instructor of fine arts at University of Dayton and director of the Marianist Press

Present ministry: Retired and living in Siena Woods Community in Dayton

Information/Biography: Fr. Sommer was born and raised in Dayton where he attended St. Mary’s elementary school and Chaminade High School. He professed first vows on August 17, 1947, in Beacon, New York. He attended University of Dayton in Dayton, Ohio, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in education in 1950.

Fr. Sommer began his Marianist service in 1950 as a teacher, frist serving at Cathedral Latin School in Cleveland, Ohio, until 1956. He then entered the seminary in Fribourg, Switzerland, and was ordained there on July 19, 1959. He resumed his service at North Catholic High School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, as teacher and chaplain from 1961-1965 and then from 1965-1976 in those same roles at St. Joseph High School in Cleveland, Ohio.

Personal Reflection: “The greatest gift God has given me in the Society of Mary is our consecration to the Blessed Virgin Mary — to be called by God’s grace to make a vow to be a spokesman for Jesus’ love for his Mother in the Church. What a gift. ”

Brother Joseph Barrish, SM
Birth date: April 28, 1929
Birth place: Cleveland, Ohio
Jubilee Celebration: Sat., Aug. 12, 2017 – Dayton, Ohio

Local affiliation: Taught at Chaminade High School in Dayton, Ohio, and Purcell High School in Cincinnati, Ohio; served as community director in Dayton; served as an instructor of fine arts at University of Dayton and director of the Marianist Press; currently residing in Dayton

Past ministries: Served as a teacher in high schools in Maryland and Ohio; served as community director in Dayton; served as an instructor of fine arts at University of Dayton and director of the Marianist Press

Present ministry: Teaching at Osher Institute of Lifelong Learning at University of Dayton; design advisor for Siena Woods Marianist retirement community in Dayton

Information/Biography: Bro. Barrish was born and raised in Cleveland where he attended St. Patrick’s Westpark elementary school and Cathedral Latin High School. He professed first vows on Aug. 17, 1947, in Beacon, New York. He attended University of Dayton in Dayton, Ohio, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in education in 1950 and Ohio State University where he earned a master’s degree in fine arts 1951.

Bro. Barrish began his Marianist service in 1950 as a teacher at St. Michael’s Boys School in Baltimore, Maryland. After serving two years there, he began teaching at Chaminade High School in Dayton, Ohio, where he served from 1952-1955. His next assignment brought him home to Cleveland, where he taught at his alma mater, Cathedral Latin School, for one year before serving from 1957-1959 as a teacher at Purcell High School in Cincinnati. He returned to Cleveland in 1959 for a one-year teaching assignment at St. Joseph High School.

In 1961, Bro. Barrish returned to Dayton (and Chaminade High School) where he taught for the next seven years. He then served as director of the Darby House Marianist Community in Dayton from 1968 until 1975, when he began 21 years of serving as an instructor in the fine arts department at University of Dayton. In 1997, Bro. Barrish became director of the Marianist Press in Dayton and remained in that role until 2004.

Since 2004, he has served at Gallery Saint John at Mount Saint John and continues to create liturgical design, illustrations and paintings. He also teaches at the Osher Institute of Lifelong Learning at University of Dayton.

Personal Reflection: “My life has been full of surprises. I have been able to establish myself as an artist and have grown as a result of all the wonderful opportunities provided for me. My life has been full of blessings. It’s been a great ride — I’ve enjoyed it all. ”

60 Years

Father Theodore Cassidy, SM
Birth date: March 9, 1938
Birth place: Jackson Heights, New York
Jubilee Celebration: Sat., Aug. 5, 2017 – Douglaston, New York and Sat., Aug. 12, 2017 – Dayton, Ohio

Local affiliation: Attended University of Dayton; served as novice master in Dayton, Ohio; resided in Dayton during a two-year sabbatical; serves as spiritual director for the Stonemill-Kiefaber Community in Dayton

Past ministries: Served as a teacher and chaplain in high schools in Ohio, New York Pennsylvania and Baltimore; served as associate pastor and pastor in Connecticut and Maryland; served as novice master in Ohio and retreat center chaplain in New Jersey; served as pastor in Ohio

Present ministry: Spiritual director at Marianist Community, University of Dayton

Information/Biography: Fr. Cassidy was born in Jackson Heights, New York, and grew up on Long Island in Floral Park and Garden City. He attended elementary and middle school at Our Lady of Victory School in Floral Park and St. Joseph School in Garden City. He attended Chaminade High School in Mineola, graduating in 1956. He professed first vows on Sept. 5, 1957, in Marcy, New York.

Fr. Cassidy attended University of Dayton in Dayton, Ohio, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in education in 1960.

He attended Western Reserve University in Cleveland for additional studies in English and St. John’s University in New York City for additional studies in philosophy. He attended seminary at University of Fribourg in Fribourg, Switzerland, where he earned a licentiate in theology in 1968. Fr. Cassidy later earned a master’s degree in religious education at University of Detroit in 1973. In 2000, he earned a doctor of ministry degree at Catholic University of America in Washington, DC.

Prior to entering the seminary in 1964, Fr. Cassidy spent his first four years as a Marianist brother teaching high school English and Latin for two years in Cleveland at Cathedral Latin School and two years back in New York at Most Holy Trinity High School in Brooklyn. Upon his ordination in Fribourg on March 30, 1968, Fr. Cassidy resumed teaching for the next 13 years at St. James High School in Chester, Pennsylvania, (1968-1977) where he taught theology and served as chaplain, and at Cardinal Gibbons High School in Baltimore, Maryland, where he taught religion and served as chaplain (1977-1981).

Fr. Cassidy left teaching in in 1981 to serve as associate pastor at Sacred Heart Church in Vernon, Connecticut. Five years later he became pastor at St. Joseph Catholic Community in Sykesville, Maryland, and served there for the next decade until 1996. He left Maryland to serve for the next two years as novice master at the Marianist Novitiate in Dayton, Ohio. He then took a one-year sabbatical during which he pursued higher studies at Catholic University of America. From 1999 to 2007, Fr. Cassidy was a chaplain at the Marianist Family Retreat Center in Cape May, New Jersey, followed by five years in service as pastor at St. Aloysius Church in Cleveland.

In 2012, Fr. Cassidy moved to Dayton and took a two-year sabbatical while living at the Alumni Hall Marianist Community at University of Dayton. In 2015, he became a member of the University’s Stonemill-Kiefaber Marianist Community, serving as spiritual director and assisting with campus ministry.

Personal Reflection: “My work as a Marianist has fulfilled my life by giving me a vision, a community, a system of spirituality and a way to use my talents to serve and find joy. The Marianist charism of the interior life based on union with Jesus and Mary, in the grace of the Spirit, and the Father’s love have been the guides and energy of my life. In humility and great joy I celebrate it with you all. ”

Father Michael Richard Reaume, SM
Birth date: July 23, 1938
Birth place: Waukegan, Illinois
Jubilee Celebration: Sat., Aug. 12, 2017 – Dayton, Ohio
Local affiliation: Attended scholasticate and University of Dayton, Dayton, Ohio; served as adult sodality moderator in Dayton; served in campus ministry at Wright State University and Sinclair Community College; served as director of pre- and post-novitiate formation for Cincinnati Province; provided clerical services in Cincinnati

Past ministries: Served in the U.S. as a teacher in high schools in Pennsylvania and Ohio; served as adult sodality moderator, community chaplain, campus minister and pre- and post-novitiate director in Ohio; served in Dublin, Ireland, as formation director, vocations director, college religion instructor and chaplain, teacher and IT program director, community director; clerical assistant

Present ministry: Serving in Dublin as community chaplain, assisting with campus ministry and in local parishes while in retirement

Information/Biography: Father Reaume was born in Waukegan, Illinois, and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, where he attended elementary, junior high and high school. After graduating from high school, he entered the novitiate in Marcy, New York, where he professed first vows on Sept. 5, 1957.

Fr. Reaume attended University of Dayton in Dayton, Ohio, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in education in 1960.

He attended Georgetown University and Catholic University of America for additional studies prior to entering the seminary.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in theology at University of Fribourg in Fribourg, Switzerland, in 1967 and was ordained on May 30, 1969, in Dayton, Ohio. He earned a master’s degree in
biblical languages and literature at Saint Louis University in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1970 and continued graduate-level courses at Jesuit School of Theology in California.

During his early years as a Marianist, Fr. Reaume served in the U.S. as a teacher in high schools in Pennsylvania and Ohio, and from 1969 to 1980 in various roles including adult sodality moderator, community chaplain, campus minister and pre- and post-novitiate director in Dayton, Ohio. Fr. Reaume moved to Dublin in 1980 and, with the exception of several years during which he returned to the U.S. for education, resided and served there until 2004. During that time, he served in the following roles:
formation director, 1980-1981
vocations director, 1981-1983 and 1984-1985
religion instructor at St. Laurence College, 1985-1987
community director at St. Columba’s, 1985- 1988
chaplain and IT program developer at St. Laurence College, 1987-2004.

In 2004, he took a one-year sabbatical, spending time in Italy and California. From 2005 through 2008, he provided clerical services at Marianist communities and facilities in Texas, Ohio, North Carolina and New Jersey in the U.S., as well as in Mexico.

Since 2008, Fr. Reaume has served as chaplain and gardener at the Killiney County Dublin Marianist Community, where he lives in retirement. He assists with campus ministry at St. Laurence College and assists in local parishes.

Personal Reflection: “I chose the Marianists after shopping among many religious orders because I saw a strong community life and a way that Marianists connected with ordinary people. Marianists were rediscovering the wonderful ways that Fr. Chaminade worked with early sodalities and other groups to aim at changing our world. Community life is our first mission, and I continue to value our gifts of hospitality and family spirit. I came to Ireland in 1980 for two years, and I am still here. As Ireland has been undergoing a challenge to Church even more profound than that which I had experienced in the States, I have tried to help with that transition. Besides teaching and school chaplaincy, I have worked in vocations and formation as well as assisting in local parishes.”

Brother Paul Bredestege, SM
Birth date: Aug. 22, 1938
Birth place: Cincinnati, Ohio
Jubilee Celebration: Aug. 12, 2017 – Dayton, Ohio

Local affiliation: Born and raised in Cincinnati; attended St. Teresa of Avila elementary school and St. Xavier High School

Past ministries: Served as a high school teacher in Ohio, Madrid, Spain; served as director and team member of youth retreat program; served in university campus ministry and as a Spanish instructor; served as director of Marianist community in Ohio

Present ministry: Director of Marianist community in Hollywood, Florida

Information/Biography: Bro. Bredestege was born and raised in Cincinnati where he attended St. Teresa of Avila elementary school and St. Xavier High School. He professed first vows on Sept. 5, 1957, in Marcy, New York.

After graduating from St. Xavier High School in 1956, Bro. Bredestege attended University of Dayton in Dayton, Ohio, where he earned bachelor of arts degrees in Spanish and history in 1960. He earned a master of arts degree in Spanish studies in 1970 from Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont, and a master of science degree in mental health counseling at University of Dayton in 1977.

In his early years of service, Bro. Bredestege taught Spanish and religion at St. Joseph High School in Cleveland, Ohio, from 1960 -1964 and the same subjects at Colegio Santa Maria in Madrid, Spain, from 1964-1967. He returned to the U.S. and began teaching Spanish and history at Chaminade High School in Dayton in 1967 (later merging with Julienne High School to form Chaminade-Julienne High School) and remained there until 1974.

That year, Bro Bredestege left his high school teaching ministry, but stayed in Dayton, to serve for six years as director and team member of the youth retreat program at the Bergamo Center for Lifelong Learning. In 1980, he began serving on the campus ministry team at University of Dayton and, after three years, began serving as a faculty member in the University’s language department until 1999. Bro. Bredestege next assignment was serving as director for the Governor Island Community in Huntsville, Ohio, from 2001 until 2012.

In 2012, Bro. Bredestege moved to Florida, where he continues to serve as director of the Marianist Community in Hollywood.

Personal Reflection: “Although life as a Marianist hasn’t always been comfortable or easy, I’ve learned that a life worth living is one that involves challenges, disappointments, sometimes disagreeable work, unattractive assignments, physical problems and an eclectic variety of people. Counterbalancing these have been rewards aplenty: transforming insights, solutions, friendships, opportunities galore, travel and realizing that most of the time that circumstances have put me on a positive path. Living in a state of gratitude (as St. Paul recommends) is key.”

50 Years

Brother Robert Hughes, SM
Birth date: January 24, 1939
Birth place: Hamilton, Ohio
Jubilee Celebration: Sat., Aug. 12, 2017 – Dayton, Ohio

Local affiliation: Born and raised in Hamilton, Ohio; attended elementary, junior high and high school in Hamilton; attended University of Cincinnati and Xavier University in Cincinnati; served as a religious education consultant in Sidney Ohio and provided freelance design work for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati; served as a graphic designer in Dayton; currently residing in Dayton

Past ministries: Served as a teacher in high schools in Ohio, Kentucky and Michigan; served as religious education consultant, freelance artists and graphic designer in Ohio

Present ministry: Serving as a designer for the University of Dayton marketing and communications department

Information/Biography: Bro. Hughes was born and raised in Hamilton, Ohio, where he attended Pierce elementary school, Roosevelt Junior High and Hamilton High School. He professed first vows on Feb. 11, 1967, in Marcy, New York.

He attended University of Cincinnati’s College of Applied Arts, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in advertising design in 1962. He attended University of Dayton, University of Kentucky and Xavier University graduate school for additional communication, arts and media studies. Bro Hughes earned a master of education degree in religious education in 1976 at Boston College.

In 1968, Bro. Hughes began his Marianist service in as a teacher at , Cathedral Latin School in Cleveland, Ohio, where he spent one year before serving at Covington Catholic High School as an English, art and television teacher from 1969 -1971. He then served as an art and drafting teacher until 1974 at Msgr. Hackett High School in Kalamazoo, Michigan, before returning to the Cincinnati Archdiocese in 1975 as a religious education consultant for the Religious Education Office for one year.

In 1961, Bro. Hughes began working as a graphic designer at Marianist Press, serving for 19 years in that role, and then Meyers Printing and Design for one year.

Personal Reflection: “I feel privileged to be in a religious family that emphasizes the dignity of each individual person and allows its members to grow in faith in a way that respects their individual talents. I feel privileged to do the work I do at University of Dayton to help increase the reputation of that institution. With Mary’s help, I feel I can do that, and in dog that, reflect the love Christ has for us all. ”