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April 19, 2019By Tanya Connor | The Catholic Free Press
From family members to collaborators in ministry, people who knew Bishop Rueger eagerly shared their stories after his death.
"He was supposed to marry John and I, but he became a bishop; he had to do a confirmation," Nancy Grenier reminisced before her cousin's funeral Saturday.
"I was probably one of the few in the family that he did not marry," the New Hampshire resident told The Catholic Free Press later. "One of the first people Father George ever married was my mom."
She said her mother, Mary Elinor Reddy, Bishop Rueger's first cousin, and father, Edward Kolifrath, were married Nov. 22, 1958, the year Father George became a priest. She and her husband were married in June 6, 1987, the year he became a bishop. He attended their rehearsal dinner and reception, he just couldn't celebrate their wedding, she said.
When he was a young priest "we just idolized him," Mrs. Grenier said. She and her sister, Susan, "drove him nuts," asking, "Why can't we be altar girls?" and he was "so patient with us." Their brother, Edward, was an altar server for him at many of the family celebrations.
When the bishop himself was a child, he and his cousins would run around together while the adults played cards Saturday nights, Mrs. Grenier said.
"He and my mom were so close," she said.
In recent times, her mother was asked to try to get him to eat when he wasn't eating, she said. He loved McDonald's hamburgers, so that's what they brought to him.
Mrs. Grenier said that when she and her mother and cousin Maureen Hinckley, from Florida, visited the bishop shortly before he died, they told him, "Elinor's here."
"He grabbed my mom's hand" and held it the whole visit, as they reminisced, she said.
She expressed great appreciation for the people here who took care of Bishop Rueger, as she's caring for her ailing parents. She said among those attending the funeral were her husband and their daughter, Michaela Grenier, and cousins Diane Weyant, Kathleen Silvestri and Doreen Reddy, daughters of Bishop Rueger's cousin Jack and his wife, Dorothy.
CONNECTION
"This is a wonderful moment in the life of the Church in Worcester, because it marks the end of a generation of true giants," said Msgr. James P. Moroney, cathedral rector and master of ceremonies for Bishop Rueger's services. "One cannot help but think of Bishop Harrington and Bishop Flanagan who ordained Bishop Rueger, and, through them, the connection to Bishop Wright, the founder and first father of the diocese.
"As in any family, these are days of mourning and faith, which come, appropriately, just before the sacred paschal tridiuum."
FRIENDS
Beverly Brooks, of Sacred Heart-St. Catherine of Sweden Parish in Worcester, recalled how Bishop Rueger reached out to those who were mourning.
She said she directed the Central Massachusetts chapter of the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt from 1999-2004. Bishop Rueger always came to celebrations of life for those who'd died as a result of AIDS, and gave a donation to help mail memorial panels to California to be added to the quilt, she said. He'd hug the bereaved who made the panels and learn about their deceased loved ones.
"He had no idea what his presence meant to those people," Miss Brooks said. "AIDS was new," people were afraid, and churches of various denominations didn't accept those struggling with it, she said.
"He was a great gift to me," said Father Joseph Henry, of the Diocese of Providence, as he vested for Bishop Rueger's funeral. "I was in the seminary with him" at St. John's in Brighton and vacationed with him. "We've been friendly for 60 years Ð very friendly."
Father Joseph J. Jurgelonis was eager to reminisce about Bishop Rueger too, even though "he kicked me out of CCD twice" at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, then in East Millbury. The retired priest now admits, "I was bad."
Father Rueger challenged the young people to be good. Whether they were on a ski trip or the beach, he always said, "Remember you represent Our Lady of Lourdes."
"He made you feel good in his presence," said Bishop Timothy A. McDonnell, retired bishop of Springfield, as he waited for the funeral to begin.
"I coordinated his ordination as a bishop," said Msgr. James A. Mongelluzzo, now a professor and liturgy director at Pope St. John XXIII National Seminary in Weston. "It was an occasion I'll never forget, because everyone from all walks of life came to see their Father Rueger. – He remained totally calm. – For me it was one of the greatest honors I had as director for worship and master of ceremonies."
"He hated to be idle," said Elizabeth A. Marcil, diocesan director of religious education. When it wasn't confirmation season, he'd offer regional prayer services for catechumens, then take their questions – all of them.
She also recalled how Bishop Rueger listened carefully to others' homilies when he was presider, and would add pertinent points without offending the homilist.
"He was very supportive of Paul" when ecumenism was kind of lagging," said Gloria Hand, of Blessed Sacrament Parish in Worcester. Her late husband, Paul, chaired a covenant commission of Catholics, Episcopalians and Lutherans. She said Bishop Rueger was really devoted to his motto: "That they all may be one."
