Lay brother served his community as a maintenance person, driver
Brother Leo (Odon) Vendiola, who served as a driver and maintenance worker for the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, died June 11 at Leahi Hospital in Honolulu. He was 85 and a religious brother for 58 years.
Reflecting on his religious calling eight years ago, on the 50th anniversary of his vows, the soft-spoken Brother Vendiola said, “To be united with God and all his goodness is simply awesome and wonderful.”
As a lay brother, Brother Vendiola worked as a maintenance person at Our Lady of Bethany, Kaneohe; Sacred Hearts Seminary, Hauula; Sacred Hearts Center-Bethany, Kaneohe; St. Michael Church and School, Waialua; Maria Lanakila Church, Lahaina, Maui; and St. Patrick Monastery, Honolulu.
He also served as a chauffeur and infirmarian for the community at St. Stephen Seminary, Kaneohe, and St. Patrick Monastery, Honolulu.
Brother Vendiola was born Odon Vendiola in Waipahu to Melchior Vendiola and Berhida Asople on Nov. 18, 1930.
In his 50th anniversary reflection, he said that it was the untimely death of two of his sister’s friends which caused him to think and pray seriously about life and mortality.
“The conclusion was, as the army chaplain said to me, I’d make a good religious,” Brother Vendiola said. “He and I were stationed in an atomic bomb base. My pastor, a Sacred Hearts Father, said the Sacred Hearts Congregation was the best, so I’m now a member.”
“I help people through my prayers, and I pray that a nuclear holocaust does not happen,” he said.
Brother Vendiola attended Sacred Hearts Seminary on Oahu’s windward side. He professed his temporary vows on March 19, 1958, and his perpetual vows on March 1, 1961, at Sacred Hearts Center-Bethany.
Funeral services for Brother Vendiola were held June 27 at St. Patrick Church, Honolulu. He was buried at Valley of the Temples Memorial Park, Kaneohe.
He is survived by brothers Arsenio and Joseph Vendiola, sisters Mercedes Barbosa and Felisa Miner, and nephews and nieces.