Submitted by: Dan Rich

Br. Ralph B. Baird, CSC

June 20, 1938 - May 12, 1999

South Bend Tribune 5/15/1999

Brother Ralph Baird, CSC., 60, of Columba Hall, Notre Dame, died of complications related to a 1997 heart transplant on Wednesday, May 12, in the Lutheran Hospital, Fort Wayne, Ind. Br. Ralph was born in Detroit, Mich., on June 20, 1938, to Harold and Anna (Noll) Baird, one of many siblings, all of whom survive.

He entered Holy Cross on August 15, 1956, in Rolling Prairie, Ind., and first pronounced his vows in 1957. After studies he taught from 1960 to 1965 in Akron, Ohio, Lakewood, Ohio, River Grove, Ill., and Milwaukee, Wis. He began to prepare for assignment to the Holy Cross missions in Bangladesh in 1964. From 1965 to 1996, with the exception of brief periods in the U.S. on medical leave, Br. Ralph taught and administered in schools of the Holy Cross Brothers in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

In 1996 Br. Ralph returned to the U.S. for treatment of a severely damaged heart. Eventually a transplant was the only option and he prepared for the procedure during several months at Lutheran Hospital in Fort Wayne. Always a man of faith, optimism and wit, Br. Ralph maintained these characteristics and exhibited them by reaching out to other heart patients at the hospital and by counseling staff and other patients who requested his help.

After the operation Br. Ralph returned to Notre Dame and used his computer skills in collating and entering archival material for the Midwest Province of the Brothers of Holy Cross. Active in this valued service until the day of his death, he was also organizing a reunion of others who had previously served in Bangladesh.

Despite his precarious condition, Br. Ralph remained entirely optimistic and cheerful even when his heart problem brought on systemic complications, which had prevented an earlier transplant. His spirit of faith and resignation were exemplary, but his generous, fraternal sharing in community, and his courageous determination to forge ahead in service, were even more visible signs of traits habitually evident during his 31 years of ministry to the people of Bangladesh.

Visitation will be from 1 to 3 p.m. on Wednesday, May 19, in St. Joseph Chapel, Holy Cross Village at Notre Dame, 54515 State Road 933 North. A Mass of the Resurrection will be held at 3 p.m., with burial following at St. Joseph Cemetery on the village grounds. The Kaniewski Funeral Home is handling arrangements.