Our brother Reginald Russo, OFM Cap., died late Monday night, February 15, at Shadyside Hospital from complications of post-Covid pneumonia. He entered eternal life in the presence of fellow Capuchin friars, including his older blood brother and our Capuchin brother Francis X. Russo, OFM Cap., who prayed with him as he died.
Reginald was given the name Carmen at his birth on July 30, 1941, the sixth of seven children born to John and Theresa (Izzo) Russo of Mahoningtown, PA. He was baptized at St. Lucy Church there and educated in the local public elementary school before following his older brother and enrolling at St. Fidelis High School and College Seminary in Herman, PA in 1955 to receive both his high school and college education. Like other collegians at the time, he moved to St. Conrad Friary, Annapolis, MD, where he was invested with the Capuchin habit and entered the novitiate following his second year of college in 1961. It was there that he received the Religious name Reginald by which he would be known for the rest of his life - when he wasn't called, affectionately, "Reg." He made profession of the vows as a Capuchin on July 14, 1962, and returned to St. Fidelis to complete his college studies.
Reg was an outstanding student, completing his BA in Philosophy with Magna Cum Laude honors in 1964. He studied theology at Capuchin College in Washington, DC, and was ordained to the priesthood in 1967. He received a Master of Arts in Religious Education in 1968. Returning to Pennsylvania after completing his studies in Washington, DC, he served as parochial vicar at St. Cecilia Parish in Rochester, PA briefly before being assigned to St. Augustine friary in Pittsburgh to begin work on a Master of Library Science degree at the University of Pittsburgh which he completed in 1970.
Reginald began his service as librarian of the High School and College at St. Fidelis in Herman in1970, an important time in the history of the school. The school had only recently received accreditation from the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, and the quality of the library holdings and their administration were key elements of this accreditation. Reg oversaw the renovation and expansion of the new library of St. Fidelis which was dedicated by then John Cardinal Wright, 
former Bishop of Pittsburgh and Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy under Paul VI in 1971. Young Father Reginald took on the complexities of upgrading and maintaining that library, and it's a testament to our brother's keen intelligence and compassionate heart that he carried out that critical task effectively and amicably.
While at St. Fidelis, he was approached by the Provincial Minister to consider an important program of Franciscan Studies at St. Bonaventure University in the summer of 1975, a program so important to Franciscan renewal after the Council and the most focused graduate program in the English-speaking world for study of our Franciscan roots in the lives and heritage of Sts. Francis and Clare. Reginald excused himself at that time because his needed work in the library, but he reconsidered the proposal a 
few years later. By 1978, he was ready to leave the administration of the library in other capable hands and to worked toward a Masters Degree in Franciscan Studies. Reginald was passionate about St. Francis. 
He wanted to understand our Franciscan heritage and to share the story and inspiration of Francis and the Order with others. After earning the degree in 1982, he devoted the next ten years of his life tp serving and inspiring our Secular Franciscan brothers and sisters (Third Order) as Local, Regional and Provincial Spiritual Assistant and our sisters of the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration in Cleveland as chaplain.
In 1986, Reginald was asked to serve our sick and elderly friars as Guardian (local superior) of St. Augustine Friary in Pittsburgh, the geographic and fraternal heart of the Province and the residence for disabled and sick friars. During his five year tenure, the badly deteriorated friary from the late 19th century was demolished and a new structure erected, requiring that he lead the community in diaspora for three years at the Diocese of Pittsburgh's Phelan Hall, located on the campus of St. Paul Seminary in Crafton (Pittsburgh) before returning to our new friary in 1991.
The farmworker union organizer Cesar Chavez once observed that “The people who give you their food, give you their heart,” and by his own admission, Reg was an excellent cook; anyone graced by his culinary efforts would certainly agree. He loved cooking for friars, friends and family, always working to restore dining to its properly treasured place in human experience. He enjoyed creating a meal that would gather people around a table, and his desserts were baked with a phenomenal artistry. He thrived in the kitchen, and he thrived in community. He understood that Capuchin community functioned best when friars sat together at table, and in the enjoyment of good food, they enjoyed one another. He leaves behind many memories of great meals served to friars in York and Rochester, PA, in Dover, OH, in Cumberland, MD, in St. Louis, MO, and in Washington, DC.
In 2000 our brother returned to Pittsburgh and took up residence in Our Lady of the Angels Friary, the home of the parish's staff, across the street from our motherhouse. For the next 20 years, he worked as chaplain to the Vincentian Sisters at their Motherhouse, to Vincentian Home and Vincentian Regency Manor in North Hills, and to the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth. From 2007 until 2018, he served as a confessor at St. Mary of Mercy at the Point in downtown Pittsburgh while at the same time assisting the local Secular Franciscan fraternity at St. Augustine Church; for three years he was the Regional Spiritual Assistant to the Lady Poverty Region of the Order of Secular Franciscans (OFS). Due to his declining health and physical limitations, he moved to the newly built St. Augustine friary in November, 2020, in the midst of the Covid pandemic.
On January 16, 2021, Reginald began an extended struggle with the virus. He was hospitalized and had recovered enough to be transferred to a rehabilitation facility but 
was quickly returned to hospitalization due to an oxygen deficiency. As the attempts to stabilize his medical condition became necessarily more aggressive, Reginald understood that he was dying and refused burdensome and useless medical intervention. Hetold his family and friar visitors that he would not survive and that he was in God’s care; he was ready to go to his "heavenly home." On Monday, February 15th, with his family around him, he said his farewells, consoling his visitors with the promise that they would be together again in heaven. He entered eternal life just before 10:00 p.m., returning to the merciful and gracious God he had served for more than fifty years as a friar and a priest.
Reg was preceded in death by his parents, his sisters Mary (Calabrese) and Rose (Evanoski) and his brother Anthony. He is survived by his sister Irene (Scaramazza) of Butler, PA, by his two brothers: our Fr. Francis X. Russo, OFM Cap. of Washington, DC, and their younger brother Vincent, of New Castle, and by over 10,000 Capuchin Franciscan brothers throughout the world.
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Viewing and Visitation
Friday, February 19, 2021
4:00 PM
Reception of the body at Saint Augustine Friary chapel
5:15 PM Office for the Dead
After evening prayer the body was transferred to
St.Augustine Church, OLA Parish
225 37th Street
Pittsburgh (Lawrenceville), PA
7:00 PM Visitation
8:00 PM Vigil Service
Presider, William Gillum, OFM Cap.
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Funeral Mass & Burial
Saturday, February 20, 2021
St.Augustine Church, OLA Parish
225 37th Street
Pittsburgh (Lawrenceville), PA
10:00 AM Funeral Mass
Presider, Paul Dressler, OFM Cap.
Homilist, Michael Joyce, OFM Cap.
Burial followed at Saint Augustine Cemetery
Millvale (Shaler Twshp), PA
or to the address in the footer below,