FATHER   ANTHONY   RUSSO  

REDEMPTORIST 

My classmate, Father Tony Russo, died on Monday evening, March 31, 2020.  No it wasn’t from the Coronavirus 19. 

However, with the quarantine – and lock downs – and stay the stay at home policies – as well as the request to avoid groups and gatherings, Tony’s funeral is put off till July.  At least that’s what I heard. His cremated remains will be brought to Philadelphia in July.

Tony was a saint – and we jokingly liked to say – the only one in our class.

He joined our class for our last year in our minor seminary at St. Mary’s  College, North East, Pennsylvania.

He was a graduate of Virginia Military Institute – and spent some time in the army – as an engineer.

After he got out of the army he got a job for a company which was working on sewer pipes in the city of Philadelphia.

One time there at Sunday Mass, he noticed a handwritten request on a bulletin board: “Looking for someone to drive our nuns here and there.”  I figure the story went something like that.

Well, one of the nuns he was taking to the doctor or somewhere asked him if he ever thought about being a priest. I don’t know what he answered at that moment, but she said, “If you do, think Redemptorists and check it out with the Redemptorists at  St. Peter’s Rectory.”

One day, in dry dirt clothes, he dropped into St. Peter’s Church on Girard Avenue. He asked Brother Hillary – who was at the inside window - if there was a priest he could talk to.  

It was just just after lunch. Brother Hillary went inside the rectory and yelled up the stairs to the second floor. He could hear a couple of Redemptorists talking so he yelled, “Would one of you talk to a bum. He’s looking for a handout.”

Father Joe Oppitz said, “I’ll take it.”

The rest is history. Tony went to a “catch-up seminary” for older vocations – up in Massachusetts – mainly for Latin – and catechism catch up, based on the seminarian religious IQ.

Then he joined us at St. Mary’s – North East Pa.  Years later Tony told me how difficult it was dealing with us younger men – who were still growing up.

[Class picture at St. Mary's -1959 - Tony on top - Center Left]

In 1959-60 we  made our one year novitiate in Ilchester Maryland – as a class of around 21.  We had 4 brother candidates.

After taking our first vows – August 2, 1960,  we went to Mount St. Alphonsus Major Seminary  - upstate New York – on the Hudson  - for 6 more years of  education.

16 of us were ordained priests June 20, 1965.

[First Blessing on Cardinal Spellman who ordained us]

At that time, we were ordained priests one year before finishing our studies – to help with weekend Masses mainly in the Hudson Valley.

Tony had an  engineer's mind - and was a serious student.  He also had a neat quarterback's spiral - being a deadly lefty passer - in touch football.

Near the end of our major seminary days Tony began to experience hearing problems. Those who make these decisions told Tony they would like him to work with Father Stephen Landherr at St. Boniface’s in Philadelphia  - in the deaf ministry - after we finished Esopus.

For a last stretch of training for  few months after the Major Seminary we went to St. Mary’s Annapolis, Maryland.   Tony knew he was going to work with the deaf. The rest of us were hoping for either Brazil, Paraguay or Puerto Rico.

Somewhere around this time, the powers that be said, “We need to leave some young blood for our work in the states, so 5 of us stayed in the States. 

I don’t know how God works, but Tony gets to Philly February 1^st, 1967 and Father Stephen Landherr dies June 14^th  1967.  Tony caught a few tricks from Steve, but obviously he would have wanted a lot more.

I was in New York and New Jersey for my first 9 years – so I’d get to see Tony now and then.

I remember getting a call from Tony about going to an off-Broadway musical, The Fantastics. I thought that was funny Tony going deaf and myself tone deaf when it comes to music.

I can close my eyes and still hear Jerry Orbach singing Try to Remember.

That musical had a long run for 42 years – with 17,162 performances.

Wouldn’t we  all like to have such a run? Tony and I did. Thank You God.

In time Tony  became the go to priest for deaf ministry in the Philadelphia, Southern New Jersey and Wilmington area.

I don’t know the name of a nun – maybe two – and others who worked with Tony. I hope to see and catch some of their stories at Tony’s funeral in July or so. He trained a lot of people. He wrote 3 books and also came out with a sort of comic   book to help teach our faith to the deaf. He had noticed that deaf kids loved comics.

Tony had a great sense of humor.  He loved a good joke and could tell a good joke.

Tony - as mentioned already - liked football. He could tell us what coaches would be saying on the sidelines - because he was a good lip reader. The Giants beat the Patriots in Superbowl XLII (2007) and again in Superbowl XLVI (2012).  Did Bill Belichick ever wonder if there was a lip reader on the Giants' sidelines?  Of course not! Neither Tony nor the Giants would ever cheat!

I heard a funny story about Tony. A nun he worked with was flying back to Philly – so somehow Tony was asked to bring her home from the airport.   Tony was naïve. He wouldn't  know a Hooters restaurant from a McDonalds. He spotted the Hooters and took her there for lunch – in priestly garb. I’ll be listening to see if I hear that cute story at his funeral in July.

Tony got a short sabbatical break somewhere along the line. He spent a month in Lisieux in France - praying. He had a great love of the Little Flower - St. Therese of Lisieux. 

In Tony's life, sickness arrived – in increments – in last third of his life. He had a persistant ring in his ear – as well as worsening  deafness.

For the last few years Tony had cancer and throat problems big time – making eating very difficult. Last June, I was with him at our rehab and nursing home at Stella Maris, Timonium Maryland.  I was recovering  from a triple by pass of my heart. I had the opportunity almost every evening to sit and talk with Tony for about a half hour.

We caught up on what happened since we were ordained priests.

Thank You, God.

I regret not having him repeat a story I think he once told me. It was about the rubber hose company his dad worked for in New Jersey. There was a suggestion box on the wall and his dad suggested running a hose from a gas transport plane in flight to a smaller plane in flight.

It happened

Back in 2008 Tony published a history of the deaf community in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. It’s entitled, In Silent Prayer A History of Ministry with the Deaf  Community in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

If you read that book, you'll hear about Father Stephen Landherr - who worked for 27 years in ministry with the deaf. Obviously, Steve gets much more “press” than Tony who worked that same job replacing Steve for over 50 years.

My hope is that someone just might by accident read these first draft comments about Tony Russo and say, “I could do that. I could follow in the footsteps of these 2 wonderful Redemptorists.