On April 9, Bellarmine welcomed to campus family and friends who wished to pray at the funeral vigil for Fr. Jerry Chapdelaine, S.J. A few people were asked to speak. Here is one of those tributes.
My name is Jeanne Dressel Hanigan, a 1984 alum and teacher here for the last 33 years. While I will share a timeline about my family, the sequence of events is really about someone near and dear to everyone in this gym.
There is an expression that has been bantered about quite often on social media. It’s called Main Character energy. As an English teacher, I would refer to that person as the protagonist. In my life and probably yours, Fr. Jerry exuded that main character, or protagonist, energy.
It is an honor to be here reflecting on how Fr.Jerry impacted my life and my family’s. I would imagine my story is similar to many of yours. It is a story about love- the love we had for FJ and the love he had for our family, your families, and YOU! You are loved.
I started teaching here in 1992. Jerry had been here for a few years prior, and knew my younger sister Lynn who graduated in 1989. He coached my younger brother Dan who graduated in 1994. He even counseled my mother, Celia, when she had simple struggles with those particular siblings.
But my story began with Jerry in 1992. All the students here loved him, and we colleagues did as well, even when he didn’t actually follow our sub plans. In 1994, a 1982 alum named Jim Hanigan and I became engaged, and we knew immediately that we wanted Fr. J as our celebrant as he was the one who led us through premarital counseling. Unfortunately the date we picked was one that did not fit with FJ’s busy schedule, so we had Fr. Dan Weber as our backup. Imagine having the president of the school as your backup!
But everything worked out, because FJ moved around some things and was able to attend our wedding as well. So, we had two concelebrants. On July 13, 1996, after Fr. Weber spoke, he asked if Fr. J wanted to say a few words. FJ did not hide his irritation about being second in command, and then he proceeded to tell the crowd about our premarital counseling. “There were tears,” he shared, and it was my turn to be mortified.
But this scenario captured our family’s relationship with Jerry. He showed up for us and for many of our sacraments. He baptized both our sons, Joshua and Jacob, in the tiny chapel over in Orton Hall. He even baptized my brother Dennis’s daughters there as well. He blessed Jim and me as we renewed our vows at 10 years. He also blessed Jim’s brother, Tom, class of 1985, as he prepared for another military deployment. He anointed my fellow coworkers and me when we all had breast cancer. He would have anointed Irvin, my father, before he died, but it was five years ago during Covid. We had to protect Jerry and the Jesuits at all costs! He presided over both of Jim’s parents’ funerals in the St. Aloysius Chapel. Fr. J even came over for dinner and blessed our first house and then our subsequent one. It amazed me how he could go from talking football with our family to praying over our homes and our lives with such intense faith. But that was FJ, who heard our family members’ confessions often on Encounters and at Reconciliation masses, and even in the hallway. Fr. J showed up for us – all of us- and we collectively here today showed up for him.
FJ was indeed an honorary member of our family. Your name had to start with J to join Jim, Jeanne, Josh, and Jacob, so the default to J instead of his actual G worked well for us.
This year, on March 15, Josh and his friend Anthony Christopher, class of 2018, visited their coach and mentor. Anthony asked Gerry if he could pray over him like Gerry had done with Josh, Anthony, and the football team countless times. My humble words are inadequate to express fully that beautiful circle of life. On March 17, Jacob, class of 2021, came down from UW and he and Jim were able to say their hellos and then their goodbyes to their OG guy, Gerry with a G this time.
And for me, my last conversation with Jerry was that weekend in mid-March at the same hospice where my own father spent his last night on earth five years earlier.
How long have you and Jim been married? Fr. Jerry asked.
“Almost 30 years, Jerry.”
“It’s been quite a love story,” I added and he nodded, knowingly.
And at that moment he knew I wasn’t only referring to my marriage. That love story was the one my family and I had with Fr. Jerry Chapdelaine, S.J.
It is the ongoing love story that all of you here have had with him as well. May we continue to learn from and remember that love. May we remember the story of the man who brought us together today and always. May we carry on Fr. Jerry’s main character energy and profound and faithful spirit. May we all continue to add others to that love story that Fr. Jerry introduced us to and wants us to continue to write.
Thank you.
Click HERE to view the funeral vigil.
