Submitted by: Dan Rich

Brother Edward J. Sniatecki CSC

Sept. 8, 1902 - Jan. 8, 2004

South Bend Tribune 1/10/2004

Br. Edward Joseph Sniatecki, CSC, 101, a member of the Eastern Province of Brothers of Holy Cross, died in Dujarie House, Notre Dame, Ind., on Thursday, Jan. 8. Br. Edward was 101 and in his 82 year of religious profession, as such being the oldest member of the Congregation of Holy Cross and the longest professed. Edward J. Sniatecki was born on Sept. 8, 1902, in Grand Rapids, Mich., the seventh child of Francis J. and Mary (Wodarek) Sniatecki, both of whom had immigrated from Jarocin, Poland, to the United States. The Sniatecki family worshiped at Sacred Heart Parish in Grand Rapids, where Edward received his religious training and his elementary education at the parish grade school. In 1920 he completed his high school education at Catholic Central High School in Grand Rapids. During his last two high school years he trained as an upholsterer at the local firm of Windsor Furniture. In August of 1920 Edward joined the Congregation of Holy Cross at Sacred Heart Postulate, Watertown, Wis. In February of 1921 he entered St. Joseph's Novitiate, Notre Dame, Ind., receiving the habit as a Brother of Holy Cross and being given the religious name Br. Hyacinth. In later years he opted to use his baptismal name, Edward. On June 25, 1922, in Sacred Heart Church, Notre Dame, Ind., Br. Edward pronounced his temporary vows as a religious of Holy Cross. He made his perpetual profession of the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience on June 8, 1925, also at Sacred Heart Church.

For his higher education he attended the University of Notre Dame and is a "double domer" alumnus, having been awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1925 and a Master of Arts degree in 1933. He undertook post-graduate studies at Gregg College in Chicago and at Immaculate Heart College in Los Angeles. From 1924 to 1951 Br. Edward devoted his life, both as teacher and administrator, to the apostolate of Catholic education in various schools conducted throughout the United States by the Brothers of Holy Cross. This phase of his career took him to institutions in Indiana, Illinois, Texas, California, Mississippi and Ohio. In addition to being the first principal of Central Catholic High School in South Bend from 1934 to 1941, he was the pioneering Holy Cross principal at St. Anthony's H.S., Long Beach, California (1941-45); the second principal of Notre Dame H.S., Biloxi, Miss (1945-1948); and the first principal of Gilmour Academy, Gates Mills, Ohio (1948-1951). From 1951 until 1965 Br. Edward held the position of Vocation Promoter, first for the U.S. Province of Brothers, and, commencing in 1956 when the single brothers' province split into three, for the Eastern Province of brothers, of which he became a member.

Upon completing his ministry as vocation recruiter in 1965, Br. Edward engaged in various works until his retirement in 1984. He held a position on the provincial council and he served as treasurer for four years at Eastern Province schools in Forestville, Md., and Waterbury, Conn. During that time he also undertook to handle office duties at the Provincial House in West Haven, Conn., and at schools in Rome, Italy, and Forestville, Md. In 1972, Br. Edward returned to Notre Dame, working first in the archives of the Indiana Province of Priests and, later, from 1977 to 1984, serving as the archivist of the Midwest Province of Brothers.

September of 1984 saw Br. Edward living in retirement at Columba Hall on the campus of the University of Notre Dame. The following year he moved to St. Joseph Center in Valatie, N.Y., where he pursued his hobbies of reading, needlepoint and upholstering, the latter a skill he had learned as a teenager. In the fall of 1997, Br. Edward moved to the Dujarie House infirmary at the Holy Cross Village, where he resided until his death. On June 16, 2002, Br. Edward joined brothers of the Midwest Province in the celebration of the anniversary of vows at Sacred Heart Basilica. He celebrated his 80th jubilee, the first member of the Congregation to reach that milestone. On Sept. 8, 2002, Br. Edward marked his 100th birthday. On that occasion a special reception for Br. Edward was held at Dujarie House with his family, friends and fellow Holy Cross religious. Among those in attendance were members of South Bend Central Catholic's Class of 1938, the first graduating class. They came to acknowledge and honor their high school Principal and mentor.

At 11 a.m. today, Saturday, Jan. 10, visitation and a brief wake service will be held in the chapel at Dujarie House in the brothers' Holy Cross Village at Notre Dame. A Mass of the Resurrection will follow immediately. Br. Edward will be interred in the Eastern Brothers' community cemetery at St. Joseph Center, Valatie, N.Y.