| CURIA GENERALIZIA MARIANISTI Rome, January 2, 2005 Death Notice No. 36 (To all Unit Administrations) The Province of the United States of America recommends to our fraternal prayers our dear Brother, DONALD HEBELER, who died in the service of the Blessed Virgin Mary on December 27, 2004, in Dayton, Ohio, in the 81st year of his age and the 52nd year of his religious profession. Donald J. Hebeler was born on May 11, 1924, to John and Mathilda Wirth Hebeler in Amsterdam, New York. The family moved to his mother’s ancestral home near Cincinnati in Mt. Healthy, Ohio, where Brother Donald grew up with his brothers, Kenneth and Frank, and his sisters, Jacqueline, Marjorie and June. He attended Assumption Grade School and Mt. Healthy High School. Following a call to religious life that began during his college years, Brother Donald entered the novitiate in Marcy, New York. He professed his first vows on April 5, 1953, in Marcy and his perpetual vows on August 15, 1956, in Dayton. Before entering the Society of Mary, Brother Donald served as a stenographer during World War II. He was drafted on January 27, 1943, and assigned to the Army Air Transport Command, a branch of the U.S. Army Air Corps. Stationed in Army air bases in Africa and Iran, he attained the rank of sergeant and was awarded a Good Conduct Medal and a World War II Victory Medal for his service. Following his tour of duty, Brother Donald graduated from Xavier University in Cincinnati in 1949 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration; he then worked as a junior accountant at the Gruen Watch Company in Cincinnati. In 1957, he received a master’s degree in accounting from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. A gentle, soft-spoken, orderly man, Brother Donald’s accounting, secretarial and meticulous organizational skills were at the heart of his Marianist ministries. He served as an assistant to the comptroller at the University of Dayton; a secretary for the General Administration in Rome, Italy; a secretary for the former Marianist Provincialate in Dayton and both an administrative assistant to the dean and academic advisor for the School of Business Administration at the University of Dayton. Brother Donald also was a secretary for Marianist international meetings in Pallanza, Italy; LaParra, Spain; San Antonio, Texas; and Fribourg, Switzerland. His profound interest in American Marianist history and facility with the French and Italian languages made him an excellent research assistant and archivist for various projects in Dayton, Rome and Nairobi, Kenya. He also was the organist and business manager for the Marianist Alumni Hall community in Dayton and served Marianist brothers at The Franciscan at St. Leonard Center in Centerville, Ohio. “Brother Donald was responsible for filling out the mosaic of Marianist history,” said Father Paul Vieson. “He was very detail oriented, always picking up and following through on little things and specific pieces of information. He did everything quietly, efficiently and well.” Brother John Lucier said Brother Donald didn’t have an enemy in the world. “He was kind, patient, understanding and faithful – a very good Marianist.” “He always had a welcoming smile and an unassuming manner,” added Brother William Callahan. “He will be greatly missed.” Brother Donald was hospitalized with internal bleeding and died of
cardiac arrest. May he rest in peace.
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