Songs from the heart

The most fitting memorial was music

BY TONI CASHNELLI

Bob Lucero understood the power of music.

It can soothe, inspire, enlighten, energize, and even heal. All of this was obvious at the funeral Mass for Br. Bob when members of the May Festival Chorus stood up to sing. The impact of such music is indescribable. It fills your heart; it stirs your soul.

This happened to Bob whenever he sang with the Chorus. And it happened to his family, friends and friars who gathered at St. Clement on Dec. 31 to share their grief at his passing. Beyond the heartfelt tributes and eloquent homily, it was the glorious music that gave them solace and, in the absence of a coffin, a sense of closure.

It was a different kind of funeral, with a box of ashes on a pedestal and a holiday backdrop, a field of red and white poinsettias and Christmas trees strung with white and blue lights. Even with some distance between Bob’s death and this service – he died Dec. 20 – emotions were still raw. This wasn’t fair. He was a youthful 64. He had been through this battle before, fighting his cancer with grace and good humor.

Some face a life-threatening illness with denial or withdrawal. Bob faced cancer with the same curiosity and candor that defined the rest of life. He studied it; he even joked about it. Hours after collapsing at a May Festival Chorus concert in March of 2005, he was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Before his emergency surgery, he said, “I asked if they could put in a special chip to help me learn Russian” for an upcoming concert. In the years that followed he shared his progress and setbacks in thoughtful, expansive e-mails. Never did he ask, “Why me?”

At St. Clement, Daniel Blosser leads members of the May Festival Chorus in song in remembrance of Bob Lucero.

PHOTOS BY TONI CASHNELLI

‘The patience of Bob’

With cancer always in the background, “We never heard him complain,” said Fr. Pat McCloskey, who lived with Bob more than nine years at St. Clare Friary. “I have come to think the expression, ‘the patience of Job’ could well be, ‘the patience of Bob’. Bob was one of the most patient and generous people I will probably ever know.”

Fr. David Kohut found “a community of loving brothers” eight years ago when he moved to Cincinnati. “Among them was Bob. I admired a man with such dogged determination for perfection and a desire to reach out to people. I know Bob had many loves: the province he loved and joined as a young boy; the Church; his love of music and the desire to entertain many thousands of people in his 43 years with the May Festival Chorus. The time I spent with this man I will cherish greatly for the rest of my life.”

Raised in New Mexico, Bob was always around friars. “The Franciscan charism touched our family,” said brother Marcos, here with siblings Eloy, Henry and Gene. “My brother, Robert Florentino Lucero, was a faithful Franciscan who worked every day to live the example of St. Francis.”

‘The patience of Bob’

With cancer always in the background, “We never heard him complain,” said Fr. Pat McCloskey, who lived with Bob more than nine years at St. Clare Friary. “I have come to think the expression, ‘the patience of Job’ could well be, ‘the patience of Bob’. Bob was one of the most patient and generous people I will probably ever know.”

Fr. David Kohut found “a community of loving brothers” eight years ago when he moved to Cincinnati. “Among them was Bob. I admired a man with such dogged determination for perfection and a desire to reach out to people. I know Bob had many loves: the province he loved and joined as a young boy; the Church; his love of music and the desire to entertain many thousands of people in his 43 years with the May Festival Chorus. The time I spent with this man I will cherish greatly for the rest of my life.”

Raised in New Mexico, Bob was always around friars. “The Franciscan charism touched our family,” said brother Marcos, here with siblings Eloy, Henry and Gene. “My brother, Robert Florentino Lucero, was a faithful Franciscan who worked every day to live the example of St. Francis.”

Bob was eulogized in text and photos on trifold boards labeled “Loving”, “Brother”, “Humble”, “Friend”, and “Generous”. What they couldn’t convey was his mischievous nature. As novitiate classmates, Br. Jerry Beetz said, “He and I always got in trouble together. One 4th of July we got in trouble for making noise.” When their superior canceled festivities as punishment, Bob and Jerry climbed onto the roof of the Shrine Hall building. “Bob reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of firecrackers and sparklers. Then he sang ‘Happy Birthday, America’ in his beautiful tenor voice. Sure, he was a great singer, a great perfectionist, but he had a devilish side.”

Finding God in beauty

Bob’s passion for music dominated the remembrance of his life. Celebrant Fr. Jeff Scheeler welcomed Bob’s relatives, “his many colleagues and co-workers and friends from the May Festival Chorus” who filled the pews to the right of the altar. Several weeks ago when medical options were exhausted, Jeff asked Bob about his funeral wishes. “I said, ‘Don’t you think it would be great to have some of the May Festival Chorus with us?’ He lit up.”

Music was just one of the things that brought Bob joy, according to homilist Fr. Jeremy Harrington, a mentor at St. Anthony Messenger Press. “He enjoyed them here and will enjoy them forever.”  Years ago in Assisi, “Bob was moved during a visit to the tomb of Francis. One evening he took a blanket and backpack and walked up Mt. Subasio by himself where he could sleep under the stars. It was important to have time to think, to pray” in the footsteps of Francis. “It says a lot about Bob, about how he followed Christ, and his appreciation for beauty. Francis found God in beauty and so did Bob. Bob had an eye, a heart and an ear for beauty.

Right, a portrait from 1979; below, Bob Lucero at Cincinnati’s Music Hall.

Christmas at the Kitchen

St. Anthony’s Kitchen in Negril, Jamaica had its annual Christmas gathering on Dec. 23.ﾠ Ms. Pearl, her staff and a half-dozen volunteers shared 160 meals.ﾠ All the children got a gift bag from Santa.ﾠ The toys, school supplies and hygiene articles were donated by many folks throughout the year, including St. Mary of the Angels in New Orleans.ﾠ The Negril Rotary donated and prepared 120 grocery bags, including half a chicken for each, so folks could cook a nice meal in their own “yards.”ﾠ Many folks make this generosity possible and we constantly give thanks to God for our benefactors.

— FR. JIM BOK, OFM

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• Page 1, Christmas Day: The Washington Post featured a photo of Fr. Larry Dunham blessing a path of luminarias at the Monastery of the Holy Land in D.C. The photo by Michael S. Williamson was one of the Post’s “Best News Photos of the Week” from around the world. Click Here to see the picture of Larry and the other photos they chose.

Larry Dunham, OFM

Bryant Hausfeld, OFM

• Fr. Bryant Hausfeld’s prison ministry was the subject of a story in Santa Fe’s Southsider newspaper. Bryant told reporter Daniel Koenig he returned to school at the age of 60 to earn a master’s degree in counseling and psychology so he could assist “troubled young men who are in prison, in detention, or just on the verge of making bad mistakes.”  Bryant thinks that “drugs, and not necessarily violence, are the main reason why so many young men end up in jail. There is so much money involved with drugs that disagreements can turn violent.”

• If you haven’t disposed of your holiday greeting cards, Fr. Frank Jasper has a suggestion. Send them to St. Jude’s Ranch for Children, where they are repurposed and recycled to support four campuses in Texas and Nevada. The ranch assists abused, abandoned and neglected children. Mail greeting cards (any type except Hallmark) to: St. Jude’s Ranch for Children, 100 St. Jude’s St., Boulder City, NV 89005.

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