135 Remsen Street
Brooklyn, New York 11201-4212
Phone: (718) 858-8217
email: Lmiritello@sfponline.org
Jubilarians with Brother William Boslet
| Brother Labre | Brother Lawrence | Brother William | Brother Jude | Brother Robert |
Brother Jude, the son of James and Veronica Byrne, was born in 1928 in Brooklyn. After graduating from St. Michael's Diocesan High School, he joined the Franciscan Brothers and enjoyed teaching in four parish schools - St. Francis Xavier in Park Slope, Our Lady of Lourdes in East New York, St. Anthony in Greenpoint and Our Lady of Good Counsel in Bedford Stuyvesant. He spent approximately fifteen years teaching in grade schools, and coaching basketball and baseball of which he has fond memories. During his years in parish schools, he spent Summers at Camp Alvernia as counselor in charge of the motor and whaling boats. His first High School assignment was to St. Francis Prep in Williamsburg. His teaching career was interrupted when he was assigned to the Novitiate as Assistant Novice Master and then as Novice Master. The first school assignment he had outside of Brooklyn came when he was sent to St. Anthony's High School in Smithtown.
At St. Anthony's, he became the Guidance Director when the school numbered less than seven hundred students. A Guidance Program was introduced that was composed of groups scheduled into their program. During breaks from the school routine, he was able to establish a Camping Club through which he organized camping and canoeing trips to Florida, the Boundary Waters Wilderness Area of Minnesota, and the Upper Delaware River Valley in New York. He was also able to keep active as a team member for St. Paul's Cursillo Center.
Having just retired, he is keeping active as a volunteer at St. Anthony's. He often refers to himself as, "the spare tire in the trunk".
Brother Robert (John D. Smith) was born on January 7, 1929 in Brooklyn, NY. The second son of John and Mary Smith, he attended St. Patrick's Elementary School and St. Francis Prep, both in Brooklyn. Brother Robert entered the Franciscan Brothers Novitiate on February 14, 1947, received the Franciscan Habit on August 17, 1947 and was first professed on August 18, 1948. He received a Bachelor's Degree from Fordham University (1957), a Masters Degree from St. John's University (1960) and an Honorary Doctorate from St. Francis College (1998). Between 1949 and 1955, he taught at various elementary schools in Brooklyn and Long Island and in 1955 was assigned to St. Francis Prep as a teacher and then later as Assistant Principal. Brother left the Prep in 1961 and for the next two years was an Instructor at St. Francis College.
Brother Robert was elected to the Superior General's Council of the Franciscan Brothers in 1961 and continued as a General Consultor until June 2003. He also served as Director of Camp Alvernia (1956), Master of Scholastics (1961-1964), Treasurer General (1962-1976), and Secretary General (1985-1988).
Brother Robert served as a member of the Board of Trustees of Saint Francis College (1961-2005) and continues as a member of the Boards of Trustees of St. Francis Prep and St. Anthony's High School.
Brother Lawrence Makofske, O.S.F.
Brother Lawrence's interest in a vocation to become a Franciscan Brother came while he was a student at St. Francis Prep, Brooklyn, where many Brothers were his teachers. He graduated from St. Anthony's Juniorate High School, Smithtown, and later from St. Francis College, Brooklyn, and Villanova University, Pennsylvania.
Brother Lawrence was assigned a teacher at St. Joseph's School, Babylon, and St. Francis Prep Brooklyn until 1970. His later assignments were managerial assignments at St. Francis Novitiate and St. Francis Center, Upper Brookville; St. Francis Prep, Fresh Meadows and St. Anthony's High School, South Huntington. His current assignment, since 1977, is at Camp Alvernia and Mount Alvernia, Centerport.
Brother would appreciate your prayers and good wishes at this time of his 50th Anniversary as a Franciscan Brother of Brooklyn.
Brother Labre, the son of William and Eleanor (nee Smith) Tallman, was born in Brooklyn. Upon graduation from St. Thomas Aquinas in Flatlands, he attended Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School and then St. John’s University. Since he had wanted to be a Brother for some time, after receiving his BA from St. John’s he entered the Franciscan Brothers.
Brother Labre’s first assignment was to St. Anthony’s High School, then located in Smithtown, teaching History and Economics. His next assignment was to teach Theology at St. Francis College, Brooklyn, during which he lived at the Scholasticate.
In 1973 Brother Labre returned to St. Anthony’s High School as Treasurer, and for several years also served as a General Consultor and then as Novice Director for the Franciscan Brothers from 1978 until 1983.
When St. Anthony’s H.S. moved to its present location in South Huntington in 1984, Brother Labre moved there and continued as Treasurer until ill health necessitated his retirement.