In the month of February, our Capuchin Province lost two friends and supporters at the passing of Fr. Jim Chepponis (February 18th) and John Milko (February 19th).
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Fr. Jim ("Chip") Chepponis and his family were members of Lawrenceville's St. Augustine Parish, and Jim graduated from St. Fidelis College where he received his bachelor's degree in music from St. Fidelis College/Slippery Rock University. Mick Joyce, OFM Cap., was a classmate. Jim majored in organ with a minor in voice, but his musical talent was known throughout his younger years. Discerning in Annapolis' St. Conrad Novitiate that the Capuchin life was not his calling, he went on to Theology studies with the Diocese of Pittsburgh. As a priest of the Diocese, his first published composition was his Magnificat, first sung while he was in high school at St. Fidelis when he was asked to write something for an Evening Prayer's New Testament Canticle. He wrote it in a few hours, and it became his first officially published work in 1985 ("Proclaim the greatness of God, rejoice in God my Savior . . ."). Another of his best-known compositions, Festival Alleluia, was commissioned for a 1999 Mass of Pope John Paul II in St. Louis. All three subsequent popes have also had his music at their Masses.
Our brother Mick Joyce, on the staff of Borromeo Seminary in Wickliffe, OH, posted this college photo with our confrere Robert L. McCreary (+2023). Mick and Chip are on the right. Another priest of the class, Fr. Bill McGuirk of the Diocese of Greensburg PA, is bottom left.
John Milko hailed from Butler, PA. His dad was the bus driver for most St. Fidelis outings, and John would eventually join his older brothers Bill and Jim at the seminary. He was profoundly grateful to the friars of St. Fidelis for "the excellent educational and moral foundation." He graduated from high school in 1976, and it was at the University of Pennsylvania Johnstown where he met his wife of almost 40 years, Eileen Costello Milko. To really know John was to understand he was always a Capuchin at heart: he saw the joy and awe of life in God’s great gifts all around us. He led with a joke and laughter, and lived the Beatitudes. He was a fierce advocate for the vulnerable, and a reminder to his more privileged friends of their obligations. He was a great supporter and avid follower of his alumni companions and, with "friends in high places," he would come up with ideas to benefit our way of life and the lives of people who needed help.
May the Lord bless and keep both of them in his love. There's little doubt that they'll will be praying for us as they always have with their now-eternal love and continued support.