Dick Trelease
My mentor, the man who not only taught me how to be a priest but made me glad to be one, died last night. His wife, Carol, called and said the cancer that was plaguing him had finally persuaded him he wasn't going to win this one, and he slid rapidly out of life in 12 hours. He met his end, which he worked hard to postpone, calmly and with class.
Dick Trelease was an old style liberal, figured any battle about justice, equality or the power of love was worth fighting. He was passionate, so passionate he blew out of his final job, Bisop of the Epsicopal Dioces of the Rio Grande (New Mexico and SW Texas) in a sexual scandal that would have caused lesser men to spend the rest of his life hiding. Not Dick. He married again, a wonderful woman, took jobs that others would have found menial, working in men's accessories in a department store in Albuquerque, and claimed his life with the style and passion he always had.
He asked me to preach at his funeral and this is a sort of warm up. He taught me to pick my fights and make sure they were worth dying for. His were racial justice, anti-war and the daring to love the way he believed Jesus had, with the clutch out.
Like most passionate fighters for justice, he has his enemies. But he was such an elegant man, handsome, afficianado of fine music and food, wine, that he kept his detractors off balance. Dick really liked people, even those who opposed him, and he never passed up a chance to connect with anyone who was willing to engage him with honest energy.
Hard to imagine this world without him.
Dick Trelease was an old style liberal, figured any battle about justice, equality or the power of love was worth fighting. He was passionate, so passionate he blew out of his final job, Bisop of the Epsicopal Dioces of the Rio Grande (New Mexico and SW Texas) in a sexual scandal that would have caused lesser men to spend the rest of his life hiding. Not Dick. He married again, a wonderful woman, took jobs that others would have found menial, working in men's accessories in a department store in Albuquerque, and claimed his life with the style and passion he always had.
He asked me to preach at his funeral and this is a sort of warm up. He taught me to pick my fights and make sure they were worth dying for. His were racial justice, anti-war and the daring to love the way he believed Jesus had, with the clutch out.
Like most passionate fighters for justice, he has his enemies. But he was such an elegant man, handsome, afficianado of fine music and food, wine, that he kept his detractors off balance. Dick really liked people, even those who opposed him, and he never passed up a chance to connect with anyone who was willing to engage him with honest energy.
Hard to imagine this world without him.
posted by Blayney at 9:49 AM
3 Comments:
Hearing this story and noting your statement, "Dick really liked people, even those who opposed him, and he never passed up a chance to connect with anyone who was willing to engage him with honest energy," I now know how you acquired these same qualities.
Paul, thank you for that comment. It would thrill me, and maybe even Dick, to think that I have even remotely followed in his big footsteps.
Sir!
if your blog was a "warm up", i need to see your finished product.beautiful prose and a nice reply from mr. cooper.
Sir !!
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