Redemptorist Father Bernard ‘Turk’ Rooney and
Grand Rapids, MI native dies at 75

DENVER, CO, August 25, 2008...Father Bernard George (Turk) Rooney, C.Ss.R., dedicated parish priest, seminary teacher, and former director of the Co-Redemptorist Association, died today (August 25) at St. Alphonsus Parish in Grand Rapids, MI. Fr. Rooney was 75 years old. 

Arrangements are pending, but there is a tentative services date set for Friday, August 29, 2008.  Complete details will be announced as soon as they become available.

If you plan to attend the services for Fr. Rooney, please contact Ms. Ginny Ferguson at the parish office at 616-451-3043.

Fr. Rooney was born to George and Helen Rooney on July 8, 1933, in Grand Rapids, MI.  He attended Mt. Mercy Academy and St. Alphonsus School in Grand Rapids before spending two years at the minor seminary at St. Joseph’s College in Kirkwood, MO. He took his first Redemptorist vows on August 2, 1954 in Desoto, MO, and was ordained a Redemptorist priest on July 2, 1959 in Oconomowoc, WI. 

Fr. Rooney’s first assignment, in 1960, was as an apprentice parish priest and missionary preacher at St. Alphonsus “Rock” Church in St. Louis, MO.  In 1961, his thirst for knowledge took him to Rome where he attended post-graduate studies at the Angelicum. He received a Doctorate in Theology and returned to the states in 1963.  He was assigned as a theology instructor at Immaculate Conception College/Novitiate in Oconomowoc.

Fr. Rooney’s career as a Redemptorist carried him into the classroom, the parish, and countless pulpits, where he preached parish missions and promoted the Co-Redemptorist Association.  He served as director of the Co-Redemptorists in Edgerton, WI for ten years, from 1973 to 1983, and presided over much growth and increasing support of the association’s membership.  Co-Redemptorists continue today to play a very important role in shaping and educating seminarians to become future Redemptorist priests and brothers.

In 1983, Fr. Rooney was granted a three-month sabbatical to attend the renewal program for priests at the Marienella Redemptorists’ Monastery in Dublin, Ireland.  He was one of 34 priests from five continents representing eight religious orders.  Of his experience, Fr. Rooney said: “The variety of experiences and perspectives gave me an appreciation of the universality of the Church and the vitality of American Catholicism.”  Following completion of the program, he went on a pilgrimage of the Holy Land for seven days before returning, renewed and refreshed, to begin his new assignment as associate pastor at Holy Redeemer Parish in Detroit, MI.

Since 1985, Fr. Rooney has labored as a parish priest, itinerant preacher, and administrator at St. Alphonsus Parish in his home city of Grand Rapids, MI.

Throughout his ministry, Fr. Rooney has taught and brought the Good News of God’s plentiful redemption to many.  In a Memorial Day speech many years ago, Fr. Rooney talked about God’s love for us and the value of life, “…from the unborn child all the way beyond the grave.” “Our life is valuable,” he said, “whether we are three years old, thirty or eighty.”

Please remember Fr. Rooney, his family and his Redemptorist family in your personal and community prayers and Masses, and may he rest in the fullness of the Redeemer’s peace.

If you would like to make a donation in Fr. Rooney’ memory, to help support the work of the Redemptorists, please make your check payable to Redemptorists/Denver Province and mail it to:

Redemptorists/Denver Province
Development Office
1230 South Parker Road
Denver, CO 80231

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The Redemptorists are a religious congregation of Catholic priests and brothers founded in southern Italy in 1732 by St. Alphonsus Liguori, C.Ss.R., a doctor of the Church and one of her greatest saints. Redemptorists around the world celebrate this year the 275th anniversary of their founding.

Born: July 8, 1933
Professed: August 2, 1954
Ordained: July 2, 1959

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