Br. Jude Denis

Brother  Jude Denis (Francis Joseph Murphy) was like most Brothers in that he began  his active ministry serving as a teacher for six years and as an Assistant  Principal for 10 years and as a Principal for two years, but for over 40  years he was a social worker in Lasallian Schools and a founder and  co-founder of a Catholic Worker House, a Lasallian school for Native  Americans, and an immersion retreat center.   These activities engulfed most of the last two-thirds of his life.  Frank J. Murphy, Jr. was born on the North Side of Chicago on November 30,  1931.  He died at Alexian Brothers  Hospice Home on December 15, 2017.  He  was one of five children of Frank and Thelma (Lacourciere) Murphy.  His sisters (Thelma, Sister Patricia RSM)  and brothers (Charles and Michael) formed a tight knit family that remained  close all through life.  The family  moved to Skokie, Illinois where he attended St. Peter’s Grammar School and  later went to St. George High School, where he met the De La Salle Christian  Brothers.  After graduating from St.  George in 1950, he entered the Novitiate in Glencoe, Missouri in 1951.  His formation took him to Saint Mary’s  College in Winona where he received his bachelor’s and master’s Degrees. His  teaching career began in the north area of the District at De La Salle High  School, Minneapolis, and continued at Holy Name High School in Escanaba,  MI.  Showing early leadership ability,  he was appointed Assistant Principal at St. Joseph High School in  Westchester, Illinois at age 31.  From  1966 to 1974 he was Assistant Principal and then Principal of Driscoll  Catholic High School in Addison, Illinois. After these experiences in educational  leadership, he studied for an MSW in Social Work at the University of  Illinois Chicago so that he would be better prepared to serve those in our  schools who needed personal help.  He  went to Lewis University where he served young people in Campus Ministry and  taught in the Social Justice Department. Brother Denis was never one to stay  long at an assignment and so he was soon on the move to Bethlehem University  in Palestine where he taught social work and consequently became aware of the  plight of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Territory.  During this time, he suffered a serious and  sudden loss of hearing that hampered him for the rest of his life. When he  returned to the United States, he was assigned to De La Salle Institute in  Chicago, IL where he was campus minister and worked with students having some  form of disability.  It was during this  period that he began in involvement with the Catholic Worker Movement that  would last for the rest of his life.   He grew to prefer living with the Catholic Worker House guests and  assisting them the best he could.  The  involvement would take him to Catholic Worker Houses in Chicago, - where in  1990 he founded Su Casa Catholic Worker with Sister Pat and Sister Joanne  Persch – to Santa Fe, Winona, San Diego, and Albuquerque. Over the years he  co-founded with Brother Paul Ackerman of De La Salle Blackfeet School on the  Blackfeet Indian Reservation in Browning, MT (2001) and Brother the David  Darst Center in 2002, an urban immersion center for student volunteers.  Brother Denis was an activist for social  justice who participated in protests from Chicago to the School of the  Americas.  Even though his activist got  him arrested from time to time, he was not deterred from voicing his concerns  for justice.  While serious about his  commitments to justice, he was not deterred in his sense of humor and  kindness. Toward the end of his life, he lived at Trinity Catholic Worker in  Albuquerque and studied with Richard Rohr at the Center for Action and  Contemplation, a fitting last assignment in that Denis was a man of action  and contemplation through his life.  He  died before taking up his last assignment at Resurrection Community. He  donated his body to science and a memorial mass was celebrated for him at  Lewis University. At the time of his death, he had been a De La Salle  Christian Brother for sixty-six years.