| CURIA GENERALIZIA MARIANISTI Rome, January 7, 2005 Death Notice No. 02 (To all Unit Administrations) The Region of Peru recommends to our fraternal prayers our dear Brother, MARCELLUS JOSEPH ROSS, who died in the service of the Blessed Virgin Mary on January 2, 2005, in Lima, Peru, in the 84th year of his age and the 65th year of his religious profession. Marcellus Ross was born January 14, 1921 in Alton, Illinois, the third of eight children of Hubert and Rose Ross. Moving to St. Louis, the Ross family was always exemplary in the practice of the Catholic faith. Early on Mark showed signs of an inclination to religious life and when he finished high school run by the Marianists he was firm in his vocation to be a Brother. In June of 1939 he entered the novitiate and after a year professed his first vows on August 25, 1940. He then went to the University of Dayton, Ohio where he earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Education with a specialty in Business Administration. He professed perpetual vows in 1943 and started teaching at Holy Redeemer High School in Detroit. Shortly after, Brother Mark offered himself for the mission which had begun in Peru, but since there were not many teachers with his specialty it was difficult to replace him. Finally his generous offer was accepted and in 1948 he went to Peru at the same time as recently ordained Fr. Robert Heil and both were assigned to Colegio Santa Maria, then in San Isidro. Brother Mark was a redhead with a young face, somewhat shy, on the thin side but strong and agile with an in innate sportsman’s coordination. He played basketball, soccer, tennis, baseball and handball. This, of course, in addition to giving his classes in mathematics, religion, English and Manual Training because he was an excellent carpenter and craftsman, and also a mechanic. The furniture in the sacristies of the chapels of Colegio Santa Maria and Colegio Maria Reina and the aluminum cross at Santa Maria are examples of his work. His Chevrolet station wagon from 1961, still in good condition, is a testimony to his auto mechanic ability. He also had an exceptional voice for singing but usually limited it to the liturgy or starting the National Anthem or the school song at school assemblies. >From the time of his arrival in 1948, Brother Mark spent his whole life - a total of 51 years - at Santa Maria with three exceptions: from 1958 to 1961 he was a teacher at St. Joseph the Worker school in Trujillo; for a semester in 1965 he was on a renewal program, and in 1968 he was studying Spanish in Cuernavaca, Mexico, and ended the year as secretary to the Director of the Institute, Bishop Ivan Illich. In that same year he was called to be Assistant Novice Master at the Marianist novitiate in Peru, a task he carried out with great dedication but without losing sight of his favorite students at Santa Maria which was now operating on an adjacent property. Four times he was given the responsibility of Director of the Marianist community at Colegio Santa Maria, a proof of the esteem in which his qualities were held. In 1969 he had one of his greatest satisfactions as the trainer of the main soccer team of Santa Maria. The inter-school championship of all the state and private schools that year was sponsored by Coca Cola and the winning team was given a trip to Buenos Aires and Santiago, Chile, and his team won! More than the students, his fellow Brothers could appreciate the quality
of religious life that always characterized Mark. Although he had not taught for some years, he kept active as the Sports Director and the delegate to the Sports Association of Religious Schools. He was a founding member of the organization and its first Vice President. He was always active either as a delegate or technical director, or chauffeur for the school team, or supervisor of the locale. Brother Mark had several health problems in the past, but always managed
to recover. The pneumonia he contracted two weeks before his death
seemed to be under control when complications set in and in spite of
the doctors’ efforts he died on Sunday, January 2, around 2:00
p.m. He was buried in the Gardens of Peace cemetery in Lima on January
4 after a Mass celebrated by His Eminence Juan Luis Cipriani, Cardinal
Archbishop of Lima and a former student of Mark., and attended by numerous
Marianists, teachers, students, alumni, parents, school staff and friends
who wished to show their gratitude for his many years of dedication
and pray for his eternal rest. |