Marianist’s 50 years of teaching included jobs on Maui and Oahu
Marianist Brother Francis (Frank) Theodore Spaeth, a World War II veteran whose 50-plus-year career in education included service on Maui and Oahu, a maker of more than 1,000 rosaries, died March 16 in Cupertino at the age of 98. He served 72 years as a religious.
Brother Spaeth was an accomplished teacher, administrator and coach. His many contributions to the daily life of his community, prompting the brothers at his residence to write: “Brother Frank will be remembered as the salt, light and soul of our Marianist Community.”
Francis Theodore Spaeth was born on May 17, 1923, in Cincinnati, one of Theodore and Irene (Delaney) Spaeth’s six children. After graduating from high school in 1942, he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps serving for four years as a radar and radio technician.
Upon leaving the Marines, he reconnected with the Marianists who’d taught him in high school. He entered the Marianist novitiate in August 1948, at Beacon, New York.
Brother Frank professed first vows in 1949 and perpetual vows in 1952.
After earning a degree in education, he spent most of the next 57 years teaching and coaching at high schools on the west coast and Hawaii including St. Anthony, Wailuku, and Saint Louis, Honolulu.
Brother Spaeth was known as a gifted teacher of math, mechanical drawing and physics, which held a special place in his heart.
Although not an athlete in his younger years, the Marianist became quite fond of distance running and bicycling as an adult. He completed three marathons, two triathlons, and multi-day bicycle trips.
When he retired in 2008, he remained active as a community driver, part-time janitor and a physics lab assistant.
He taught himself how to repair and assemble rosaries, and made some from “Job’s tears” seeds he himself grew in the community garden. Brother Spaeth once estimated he’d made more than 1,000 rosaries.
On the 70th anniversary of his first profession, he said, “I see my Marianist life as a very special gift from God. It has been a super experience working with so many great men. If I had a second life, I would gladly do it all again.”
