Sacred Hearts brother gave 63 years to the care of his religious community
Hawaii-born Sacred Hearts Brother James Mary Dunn died at Leahi Hospital March 18, one day before the 63rd anniversary of his first profession of vows. He was 85.
Brother Dunn was a lay brother of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary.
Describing the role of the community’s brothers, Sacred Hearts Father Herman Gomes said, “Traditionally with the men of the Sacred Hearts, the brothers were trained to do whatever was necessary to maintain the mission.”
“For Brother James, it was cooking, laundry, cleaning, welcoming guests to the community,” he said.
Brother Dunn also helped with the care of the retired and infirmed priests and brothers at St. Patrick Monastery on the grounds of St. Patrick Church in Kaimuki.
“In this way he was community-minded and devoted his life’s work to the religious community in whose service he vowed to live and die,” Father Gomes said.
A joyful man, “he also sang in the St. Augustine choir,” Father Gomes said, “and he loved sweets, especially ice cream!”
Brother Dunn was born William Dunn in Honolulu to Frank and Mary C. Mahaffy Dunn on Dec. 29, 1929.
He arrived at Sacred Hearts Seminary in Hauula on Oahu’s windward side at age 20, on Sept. 14, 1950.
He was invested on March 18, 1951, made his temporary vows on March 19, 1952, at the seminary, and his final vows there on March 19, 1955.
Through the rest of the 1950s and through the 1960s he worked at Sacred Hearts Seminary, St. Patrick Church in Kaimuki, and the provincial house.
He spent most of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s at Sacred Hearts Center in Kaneohe. In 1999 he was assigned to St. Patrick Monastery in Kaimuki.
His funeral was scheduled for April 7 at St. Patrick Church with his burial planned for Valley of the Temples Memorial Park in Kaneohe.
Brother Dunn is survived by his brother Joseph Patrick Dunn. His death leaves four local-born lay brothers in Hawaii’s Sacred Hearts Congregation.
