| CURIA GENERALIZIA MARIANISTI Rome, January 12, 2006 Death Notice No. 1 (To all Unit Administrations): The Province of the United States of America recommends to our fraternal prayers our dear brother, HERMAN LAMBERS, who died in the service of the Blessed Virgin Mary on January 5, 2006, in Dayton, Ohio, in the 94th year of his age and the 73rd year of his religious profession. Herman Lambers was born on July 19, 1912, in Reading, Ohio, to John
and Anna (Knueven) Lambers. He was a member of Saint Peter and Paul
parish and graduated from Purcell High School in Cincinnati in 1931.
He professed first vows in the Society of Mary in 1933 and perpetual
vows in 1937, both in Dayton. Bro. Herman was active in maintenance, business management and food service in Marianist institutions and communities in Dayton, Cincinnati and Marcy, New York. He served at Mount Saint John from 1933-1934, and then again there as business manager and in maintenance from 1937-1947. He was a cook at the novitiate for the years in between. Bro. Herman was a business manager and cook at the novitiate in Marcy, from 1947-1952, and then returned to Dayton to be manager of the cafeteria of Chaminade High School in Dayton until 1961. After Chaminade, he worked as a cook at the scholasticate at Mount Saint John. “When Brother Herman was in charge of the kitchen, we felt like we were eating at the Hilton,” said Bro. James Vorndran, a longtime friend. In 1964 he became business manager and treasurer at Chaminade High School for two years. He then worked as a business manager and in maintenance at Mount Saint John and Moeller High School in Cincinnati for the next several years. In 1970, Bro. Herman went to Toronto, Canada, and worked as a business manager at Chaminade College School and for the Marianist community at St. Basil’s College. In 1981, he moved to Cupertino, California. In addition to doing maintenance, Bro. Herman worked for six years at the Ava Maria Bookstore in Cupertino. Through a friendship with the bookstore owner, Bro. Herman was able to make two pilgrimages to Medjugorje, in the southern portion of Bosnia-Herzegovina (formerly Yugoslavia). In 1992, Bro. Herman volunteered for a year at the novitiate in Dayton. He officially retired in 1993 but remained an active volunteer. From 1993 – 2000, Bro. Herman helped at The Franciscan at Saint Leonards health and rehabilitation center in Centerville, Ohio. “Herman worked tirelessly each day wheeling people, not just brothers, to the chapel and to the dining room. He helped out in any way he could and was not easily discouraged,” said Bro. Jim Vorndran, who worked with Bro. Herman at Saint Leonards. Bro. Jim remembers Bro. Herman as “a no-nonsense person, who would tell you exactly what he thought, but he had a heart of gold.” Fr. Jim Heft, another longtime friend, concurred, “He was a colorful character who left few people indifferent. He rarely suffered fools, but was especially communicative with little children. He corresponded with several children from a local Catholic grade school up to the last year of his life. He was a man of many practical skills, who served the Society and the Church long and well. Many of us will miss him.” Bro. Herman stayed at Saint Leornards until 2003, when he moved to the Mercy Siena Community in Dayton. At the age of 90, he learned how to use a computer and e-mail. Over the past few months, Bro. Herman’s health deteriorated. He was moved into hospice care at Mercy Siena, where he died of congestive heart failure. Bro. Herman is survived by his sister, Antoinette Lambers Dissel (John), brother, Albert Lambers, eight nieces and nephews, John C. Dissel, Mary Dissel, Ann Dissel Conlon (Mike), Tony Dissel, Margret Dissel, Elizabeth Dissel Cook (John), Rita Lambers and Ed Lambers. He was a great uncle to 12 and great, great uncle to several. May he rest in peace. |