2012
Date of Birth: October 15, 1921
Place of Birth: Pittsburgh, PA
Investiture: July 13, 1941
Temporary Profession: July 14, 1942
Perpetual Profession: July 14, 1945
Priesthood Ordination: June 8, 1948
Date of death: November 20, 2012
Burial: St. Augustine Cemetery, Millvale, PA
I cannot claim to be or have been an exemplary friar
. . . , but I think it is fair to say that I have been
somewhat of an obedient friar at least.
Fr. Otmar Gallagher had a reason to be proud. He was proud to be a Catholic. He was proud to be a Capuchin. He was proud to have served in Puerto Rico and to have been the first Superior of our pioneer friars who would found the mission in the Southern Highlands of Papua New Guinea. He was proud that he had been obedient to his superiors, and he was proud of the work he had accomplished.
Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice contains the line: "Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us." If the author was correct, then Otmar was far from vain. He didn't care much for what other people thought. It seemed to him that he was right most of the time.
Who would have thought that a true pioneer had been born in Overbrook (Pittsburgh), PA on October 15, 1921?
Date of Birth: November 7, 1933
Place of Birth: Wilkinsburg, PA
Investiture: July 13, 1953
Temporary Profession: July 14, 1954
Perpetual Profession: July 14, 1957
Priesthood Ordination: June 6, 1959
Date of death: March 1, 2012
Burial: St. Augustine Cemetery, Millvale, PA
"Roy wasn't perfect; he had a bad slice in his golf game."
A devoted friend
Fr. Roy Schuster, OFM Cap., loved his family. He loved his friends. He loved being a Capuchin friar and loved the Province. He also loved golf.
Born to John and Mary (Wolf) Schuster on November 7, 1933, in Wilkinsburg, PA, he was given the name Robert at his baptism at St. James Church. He attended Catholic elementary schools before entering St. Fidelis High School Seminary in Herman, PA. He had heard about the Capuchins through his pastor Msgr. Stephen Walsh who had served as Vicar General of the Diocese of Pittsburgh. The parish was one where people were involved, and his parents were always ready to volunteer and lend a hand. People bonded by working together. It was a vitality that would mark the future Capuchins understanding of what it means to be a Church.
Date of birth: January 1, 1919
Place of Birth: Pittsburgh, PA
Investiture: July 13, 1939
Temporary Profession: July 14, 1940
Perpetual Profession: July 14, 1943
Priesthood Ordination: May 22, 1945
Date of death: January 11, 2012
Burial: St. Augustine Cemetery, Millvale, PA
"He was the friendliest friend over everybody."
Cletus Blockinger, OFM Cap.
Anselm was a brother. Perhaps, it was because he grew up with none of his own. He died, instead, with thousands of them, scores of whom were proud to call him their own.
Born "George" Martin in the Lawrenceville section of Pittsburgh, PA, Fr. Anselm was raised in the shadows of his parish church, St. Augustine, the motherhouse of the St. Augustine Province of Capuchins. His parents, Philip and Eleanora (Melchior) Martin, were members of the local parish and familiar with the brown-robed Capuchin brothers and priests who served the area's schools and hospitals. George was their only child, but the neighborhood was filled with others' his age, including boys who would eventually find themselves in the Capuchin Order like classmate Fr. Christian Fey, OFM Cap. Perhaps it was in the "air" of growing up with Capuchin heroes that moved the young man of 14 in 1933 to attend St. Fidelis Seminary in Herman, PA, where he would find himself among more brothers than he ever imagined.