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Re: Eulogy for Brother Michael Grace



Folks,

It was a good funeral for a good man.  I wish that the only other funeral I ever have to go to would be mine.  Not likely.  But there were moments of joy and even humor and I want to share a couple of them with you:

Brother Michael planned his own funeral and chose two scripture passages:  (1) from Daniel (12:1-3) which speaks of his saint's name "Michael, the great prince, the protector of your people" and (2) from Luke (4:16-20) in which Jesus reads a passage of scripture in the synagogue "and he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant...."  Preachers have concentrated on what Jesus read and spoke about, but Brother Michael wanted us also to see the attendant as the synagogue's archivist!

Patrick did a wonderful job in his eulogy, especially when urging Loyola University to continue the good work this good man so nobly advanced.  It was a sad occasion last night but it was also a time of joy to remember a man who loved his archives and his God.

Peace,

Frank


At 10:44 AM 5/9/02 -0500, Janet C. Olson wrote:
As was reported with sorrow a few days ago, Brother Michael Grace, University Archivist at Loyola University Chicago, died suddenly this week. Many of Brother Michael Grace's archival colleagues attended the visitation and mass Wednesday evening.  Patrick Quinn (Northwestern University Archives) represented the archival community with the following eulogy.

Eulogy for Brother Michael Grace:
I speak this evening not only as a friend and colleague of Brother Michael Grace for over two decades, but also as a member of the archival community in Chicago, a community of which Brother Michael was an integral part for so many years.  I first met Brother Michael in 1980, when he was a student in my course on archival administration in the Graduate School of Library and Information science of Dominican University, then Rosary College.  Ever since that time he called me his mentor who taught him the archival ropes, an honor which I always gently downplayed but actually took much delight in.  Indeed, it was with great pride that I watched Brother Michael build the Loyola University Archives virtually from scratch into an archival program truly befitting the university in which it has played such a vital role.  Over the years Brother Michael in turn mentored a corps of young student assistants who have themselves gone on to careers of distinction.
        Brother Michael flourished as a member of the national, regional, and local archival communities, becoming a highly regarded member of these communities.  One cannot in the brief time allotted here recount his many and significant contributions to the archival profession, but few who knew him will forget his faithful work on behalf of the Midwest Archives Conference, his service on local arrangements committees for MAC and the Society of American Archivists, his tireless efforts in compiling the Chicago Area Archivists? very well received directory,  Archival and Manuscript Repositories in Metropolitan Chicago and the Calumet Region of Northwest Indiana, his warm, generous, and genial hosting of the annual Chicago Area Archivists? holiday party held at Loyola for many years, his cheerful presence at the annual CAA summer picnics held in my backyard in Evanston, and the wise counsel he extended to other religious archivists in the United States.
        Brother Michael was devoted to the archives of his University; he loved the study of history, and reveled in the joy of books, a joy to which his fellow members of the Caxton Club will surely attest.  Less than a month ago I drove Brother Michael to and from the studios of WGN in the Tribune Tower where we both, along with Bill Maher, the Archivist of the University of Illinois, appeared on the Milt Rosenberg program, ?Extension 720.?  Brother Michael was thrilled to be on Milt?s radio program, during which he told the audience about the treasures held by the Loyola University Archives. 
Following the radio program, Bill Maher, Mary Janzen, and I took Brother Michael across the street under Michigan Avenue to the famed Billy Goat Tavern, which, strangely enough as a Chicago-born native son, Brother Michael had never been to before.  As we consumed our cheeseburgers and several drafts of dark beer, he expressed his delight at this new experience. 
On the drive back to Loyola, Brother Michael spoke of his desire to visit Ireland, England, and Rome one more time.  Alas, these journeys will not be taken, but all those who loved, admired and respected Brother Michael, including those of us who had the good fortune to have been present at the recent Jubilee celebrating his 50th year as a member of the Society of Jesus, are comforted in knowing that he died while still actively engaged in the stewardship of Loyola?s documentary heritage, an endeavor that he dearly cherished.  Indeed, there can be no more fitting tribute to the life of Brother Michael Grace than for this great university to continue to sustain and nourish its University Archives, which Brother Michael devoted so much of his life to building. 
Our colleague, Frank Cook, when informed of Brother Michael?s death expressed his sadness at the news, saying very simply that ?Brother Michael was a good man.?  And indeed he was.  And with his passing we are all the lesser.  May he rest in peace.

Patrick M. Quinn
University Archivist
Northwestern University
May 8, 2002