In Pace Christi

Fr. Dennis was born on 11 January, 1941 into a deeply Catholic family living in the suburbs of Cincinnati when the Second World War raged in Europe, while in the United States there was still peace. Still a child, however, the family moved to Bethel, a rural community about 30 miles east of Cincinnati where his father owned the only local pharmacy. While in grade school, Dennis came into contact with the Comboni seminary of Cincinnati which he entered in 1955 to continue his schooling. After philosophy and the novitiate, he was sent to Verona to complete theology. He was ordained priest in Verona on 29 June, 1968. During his years of formation, he was known to everyone for his willingness to help with his typing and other office work. While in Verona, he taught catechism at the US army base.

Once ordained, Fr. Dennis returned to the USA to teach at the Comboni seminary and help to run the community. During that period, he obtained a Master’s in education at “Xavier University”, Cincinnati. He later moved to Monroe as local bursar and in mission promotion.

The year 1971 marked his entry into Idi Amin’s Uganda. During his six years in the “Pearl of Africa”, Fr. Dennis taught at the Holy Rosary, Gulu, was curate at Madi Opei and parish priest at Anaka. His stories about his ministry and dangerous adventures were often the subject of his conversations in later years.

Having returned to the USA and his native Cincinnati, Fr. Dennis worked for twelve years in vocations promotion and in the training of future missionaries. A number of Comboni Missionaries, one of whom is the present provincial, benefited from his wise guidance. Even though he was busy with formation work, he never turned down the opportunity to engage in ministry to spread the Gospel message with zeal and simplicity.

In 1989 he was called to work in mission promotion in the recently-opened Delegation of Asia. He was responsible for the circulation of the multi-prizewinning magazine World Mission. In accordance with his precise and methodical character, he busied himself during the months preceding his departure by meeting with the members of the Filipino community in Cincinnati and trying to learn tagalog. However, after spending little more than five years in the Philippines, his organisational gifts came to the attention of those who were looking for a librarian at the Curia in Rome.

Fr. Dennis would probably have preferred to stay longer in Rome but when he returned to the NAP, his confreres elected him provincial. One of his main achievements during his six years in office was the restructuring of the old Sacred Heart Seminary in Cincinnati.

After 2005, Fr. Dennis had various administrative and pastoral tasks around Chicago and Kitchener (Canada).

During his last three years, his health began to deteriorate due to a series of ailments which led to his being sent to Cincinnati for what was understood to be a small knee operation. Instead, it was the beginning of a long and painful process of clinical deterioration and the gradual loss of personal independence. All this led to his entering a nursing home where he spent the last six months of his life. He passed away peacefully on 23 January, 2016, and was buried in the Comboni section of the cemetery of St. Joseph in Monroe, Michigan, the city where he had done his novitiate as a young man.

Fr. Dennis was a man who was exact and well-organised, highly intelligent and able to counteract his introvert character, facing life with wit and humour. People remember him for his ability to explain complex and abstract concepts in simple and entertaining terms, so that everyone could understand and remember them.

He was always greatly devoted to the Blessed Sacrament and, even in extremely difficult and uncomfortable circumstances, he never failed to celebrate his daily Mass.
Da Mccj Bulletin n. 270 suppl. In Memoriam, gennaio 2017, pp. 9-12.