| CURIA GENERALIZIA MARIANISTI Death Notice No. 5 (To all Unit Administrations): March 17, 2006 The Province of France, recommends to our fraternal prayers our dear brother, GEORGES ADOLF, who died in the service of the Blessed Virgin Mary on March 8, 2006 in Issenheim, France, in the 91st year of his age and the 73rd year of his religious profession. Our Brother Georges left us quickly. Yes, on Monday March 6, he was taken to Maison St. Antoine in Issenheim, a home run by the Sisters of Ribeauvillé, to receive the care the state of his health required. Upon his arrival at Issenheim, he presented himself to the Sisters and nursing personnel and declared that he was happy to take possession of “his room.” Wednesday evening, March 8, a telephone call informed us of his death. We were all dumbfounded! Georges leaves us with the memory of a great professor. For forty-three years, he taught Latin, German and English at Art-sur-Meurthe, La Rochelle, Montauban and above all Monceau in Paris from 1943 to 1953, then in Strasbourg from 1956 to 1979. He took advantage of the War years, while he was in the Free Zone, to earn two licentiate degrees in language, English and German. After a two-year stay in the USA and Canada, he gave his full measure. He was an extremely conscientious teacher. The Inspector who visited him noted: “Thanks to his patience and untiring perseverance, Brother Adolf obtains good results there where more than one colleague would be happy with what the pupils were willing to do. May he be thanked for it!” In 1955, at Antony, he taught the postulants. His class was appreciated in various ways. Some found that he did not make enough of an effort; others would have liked more discipline in his class. His courses were well prepared, and he gave them imperturbably. The presence of his old colleagues at his funeral puts a stamp of approval on the quality of his passion. He left Strasbourg for his retirement at St. Hippolyte, where he had begun his secondary schooling. On the day after his arrival, we were surprised to see him weeding and hoeing in the little flowerbed in front of the house. What work and what sweat to grow the flowers that would decorate the chapel and the cemetery where more that 80 tombs took up his free time and where he was well known by the whole village! The passion for gardening took the place of his passion for teaching. Our Brother had kept close ties with his family and he was happy to invite them and to introduce them to others. For many years, he also took care of the “cave” (wine-cellar); in a word, he knew how to use his time by joining the useful with the pleasant. Brother Adolf was a plain-spoken man, sometimes quick-tempered. He easily raised his voice when anyone walked on his flower-beds or when someone disagreed with him. Little by little, he mellowed and had accepted the inconveniences and suffering of sickness and old age. He dreamed of reaching 100. One day, his community saw him kneel and ask pardon for a somewhat mean word that had escaped him. He prayed his rosary constantly and, above all, the little book “Prions en Eglise” (Praying with the Church). He felt his end approaching. “The Lord is going to come looking for me,” he said to the chaplain, Father Hassler, the day of his death. Georges was on time for his appointment. Punctuality was an old habit of his! |