Brothers who have gone before us . . .

Links to Funeral Arrangements and Video possibilities are at the article's end.

Our brother Brian Newman, OFM Cap., passed on to life in the Lord’s eternal peace on Monday June 30, 2025, at our motherhouse in Pittsburgh, PA. He celebrated his 90th birthday just 10 days before though he’d been in failing health since a cancer diagnosis in January. He chose to begin hospice care at that time; it was his sincere hope that all the friars accompany him in this final journey with their prayers, and he was consoled that his illness was advancing during the Church’s Jubilee Year of Hope. He wanted news of his illness to be shared widely so that our prayers and fraternal regard would be his “companion on this pilgrimage to our Father.”

Robert Newman was born June 20, 1935, and, being from his beloved Charleston, WV, was a self-described Mountaineer, a proud Appalachian. Son of Elmas and Betha (Lynch) Newman, he was baptized at Sacred Heart Church in the city where our Capuchin Franciscan friars had lived and served for decades. Sadly, his older sister, Patricia Ann, died at the age of 12.

With a vocation to the priesthood in his mind, he entered our Capuchin St. Fidelis Seminary in Herman, PA, in 1949. After his sixth year in 1955, as was the custom (which now would be his second year of college), Bob requested entrance into the Order along with classmates like future friars Roman Kozacheson, Blaine Burkey, Harvey Dinkel, Matthew Gross, Dunstan Jones (+2006), Bernard Finerty (+2015) and Colman Studeny (+2024). As these colleagues “graduated,” the editors of the seminary’s yearbook, the Skullkap, noted something particularly unique to Robert:

 “Though sometimes spoken of in a joking way as being a slow mover, Bob is an exceptionally active fellow . . .” It was, indeed, an observation of any who came to share life with our brother. Cousins told one friar that “slowness was genetic” in the family. They took their time to do anything. They’d move slowly. There was nothing that demanded any urgency. No hurry. And that was Brian: No rush. Things happen in their time. Perhaps it was a grand contribution to his extended life into 90.

He completed his philosophy studies in Herman after his profession of vows as Brian and went on for theological studies at Capuchin College in Washington, DC. He was ordained to the priesthood at the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington in 1961.

At the end of his theology studies in 1962, Brian’s first assignment was one which would span his life of active ministry from 1963-2013: for 50 golden years, Brian was a missionary. Uniquely, Brian’s initial years assigned to Papua New Guinea were documented in an article for Sandal Prints, a missionary periodical published by our confreres of the St. Joseph Province (Detroit, MI). For the issue of January-February, 1965, fellow missioner Benjamin Madden, then Prefect and teacher in Madang (his own 5^th year of missionary life), wrote:

Fr. Brian Newman, OFM Cap., recently came to Papua to begin his missionary work. He was quickly introduced to many of the facets of his future work by accompanying another missionary on a bush trip. Father had arrived with the idea that he would change the lives of many of the people here by offering them the teachings of God. He found from this brief first experience that in order to do this more successfully, he had to change a few things in his own life to better adapt himself to his work . . .

This will be Fr. Brian’s work in the future, possibly for the rest of his life [ed.: almost!]. He must supplant this fear with knowledge and love, love of a God strong enough to protect them from all evil forces. In the place of superstitious and sacrificial rituals, he must teach them the effectiveness of daily prayer . . . To do this, Fr. Brian must change his life somewhat. He must give up comforts to contact his people, dispersed over a wide area. He may even have to alter his eating and living habits. He faces many years of hard work on one or more new languages . . . God has put into his heart a missionary vocation. Just as His graces have made fruitful the work of so many of His missionaries, so His graces will also assist Fr. Brian in bringing about all these changes. [You can few the PDF of the entire article here.]

Indeed those graces did bring changes – and Brian noted them. In a letter written to the archivist in 2021, Brian wrote:

Before I left the USA to travel to PNG with Colman Studeny, I visited Fr. Patrick McGann at St. Fidelis Seminary. It was early 1963. Fr. Patrick urged me to write a Newsletter from PNG . . . [and] encourage me by saying that he would have the Letter printed and mailed. I wrote the first letter from Erave in the Mendi Diocese. That was in late 1963. The letter comes out three times a year. I was told to send a copy for the Archives and I have done this.

Yes, he did. Faithfully. Brian was a missionary on a mission. He was there to serve the men and women of PNG; he was there to learn and to teach; he was there to spread the life-giving word of the Gospel; and, he was there to make his friends, family, confreres and as much “public” as he could reach that the Lord was alive and well in Papua New Guinea – and they should know about it.

His first mission (as he mentioned) was to Erave, but he would go on to serve on the faculty of the newly founded St. Fidelis College in Madang and to be named Rector of the seminary in 1976. He continued his work of training local vocations to our way of life with seven years as director of the novices in Pangia in the Southern Highlands. In fact, the majority of his years as the Mountaineer missionary were devoted to the formation of Capuchin friars. He was director of postulants in Ialibu for four years, followed by eight years at the post-novitiate formation program in Port Moresby. In 2006 he returned to St. Fidelis Seminary in Madang as a teacher and spiritual director. He completed his missionary work at Padre Pio Friary in Madang to, again, work with candidates for our Capuchin life.

Brian preached many retreats and Recollection days, particularly to communities of Sisters and fostered the growth of many communities of Secular Franciscans throughout the areas he served.

In sabbaticals during his life as a missionary, Brian took every chance he could to feed his own knowledge and appreciation for the Franciscan Tradition. From Spirituality courses in Australia in 1981, to Spring and Fall Sessions at the Franciscan Institute in 1982, and to the Institute’s Advanced Certificate in Franciscan Studies with a Pilgrimage Study Program in Assisi (1993), Brian was determined to drink from the rich inspiration of the sources and spirit of Franciscan life – and, of course, to pass it on!

But formation of friars and future friars wasn’t his only forte. Our brother had a keen and active interest in the Papua New Guinea Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), serving as president for two terms and secretary-treasurer for one term. He declined an invitation to represent PNG at an AAU event in the United Kingdom (Papua New Guinea is a part of the Commonwealth), remarking that it would take him away from his mission work. An article in his hometown Charleston Gazette (January 13, 1972) [on the sports pages, no less] featured his role in PNG with the title, “Coaching Makes Life Fun for the Missionary:”

The life of a missionary has its rewards, especially when it is possible to blend a career in athletics with the religious aspects of the duties. Take it from Fr. Brian Newman, a Charlestonian who is Capuchin-Franciscan missionary in the mission fields of Papua New Guinea. In addition to his missionary work, Fr. Brian has become quite involved in organizing sports at his post with track and field being his long suit.

As a matter of fact, Fr. Brian is almost as much a coach as he is a missionary. So life for him has its special rewards.

“It’s wonderful to see these youngsters develop — to compete with one another and learn to do things well in athletics,” he says . . . . He got one of his great thrills while playing baseball at the high school level [in Herman, PA] against the Saint Fidelis College team: “I got two singles — the only hits of the game for either team — and scored the lone run in a 1-0 no-hit victory for my team,” he recalled.

He played American Legion baseball in Charleston during the summer months before his graduation from St. Fidelis in 1957.

N.B. Classmate Blaine Burkey, OFM Cap., of the Capuchin Province of St. Conrad, verified his baseball skills.

In May 2013, Brian saw that it was time to return to life in the United States and was assigned to Capuchin College in Washington, DC (of course, a house of formation!). He served as confessor at the National Shrine and for many of the Religious men and women of the DC area. In 2019, he felt it necessary to move to St. Augustine Friary in Pittsburgh to receive more intensive medical attention and care. Yet, even when mobility became more challenging, our brother was always eager to help when needed, particularly for confessions.

With his cancer diagnosis of January 2025, Brian’s physical strength weakened as the weeks went by. The staff of the care unit at St. Augustine Friary and the friars continued to tend to his needs, and Brian was a grateful recipient of the kindness. True to his genetic roots, there was no “urgency” to his passing on. He would be wheeled into chapel when he requested it, until it became impossible for him to be present at the friary’s daily Mass and Office. The brothers of the friary would celebrate Mass with him in his room in those final months, and day after day, Brian was grateful for the opportunity,

On the day of his death, our brother Dennis Klemash, Director of our Health Care Services, was with him as he passed. He prepared Brian’s body for the arrival of the hospice personnel who were to affirm his death and arrange the necessary funeral home transfer. Lighting a candle set on his bedside, friars from the community were able to reverence his body, small groups prayed the rosary, and Brian was accompanied to the Lord’s presence with the spirit and gift of brothers. Our brother Brian died in peace.

And, as we said above, he had just celebrated his 90th birthday with his cousins 10 days before . . .

We’re not sure about the overall timeline, but we’re sure that he felt no pressure to leave too soon. He let the Lord and his Brother Body decide. No hurry.

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Funeral Arrangements
St. Margaret of Cortona Chapel
St. Augustine Friary
221 36th Street, Pittsburgh PA

Sunday, July 6, 2025
4:30 p.m.  Reception of the body (friars only)
5:15 p.m. Evening Prayer (friars only)
7:00 p.m. Visitation & Viewing
7:30 p.m. Wake Service
Close of Visitation

Monday, July 7, 2025
9:30 a.m. Visitation
10:00 a.m. Mass of Christian Burial

Interment at St. Augustine Cemetery
Lunch in friary dining room

Arrangements by D'Alessandro Funeral Home (Pittsburgh)