Br. Alphonse George McAndrew S.J.

Brother Alphonse (Al) McAndrew, S.J. died peacefully on May 18th 2014 at Ajax-Pickering Hospital. Brother McAndrew was born on February 28th, 1932 in Toronto, Ontario, son of Henry McAndrew and Marie McNeil. He was brought up in Hamilton, Ontario. His father perished at the landing at Dieppe in 1942. Al entered the Society of Jesus on December 7th, 1955 in Guelph Ontario. Al had studied at the Father. Close Technical Institute in Hamilton and continued gaining skills in boiler maintenance, carpentry, machines and many other specialized skills. After some initial Jesuit training, he worked for Regis College in Toronto and St. Paul’s High School in Winnipeg, caring for the maintenance of the buildings and the boilers. In 1972, he moved to Lusaka in Zambia and started there with a one year in a language school. He worked at St. Ignatius Parish and Charles Lwanga College both in Zambia. From time to time, Al would take a study leave to improve his catechetical and educational skills. In 1978, Al went to the Eldoret Community in Kenya for a year community development study. He made many contributions to the work, including pastoral and religious work. He went to the Chisekesi Community in 1984 for four years. In 1989 he went to the Mukasa Minor Seminary in Choma and served at Canisius High School in Lusaka. Later he worked at the Parish of the Holy Spirit, Katondwe Mission for a number of years. And then he served at the Chikuni Mission. In 2008, Al returned to Canada and lived in Toronto working with inner-city refugees and migrants. In 2010, he worked in Thunder Bay at the apostolate to Native People and was the temporal administrator in Armstrong and Gull Bay. In 2012, he moved to Pickering due to some health difficulties. Brother Al was a very serene person and very respected for his skills and his wisdom. He was physically very able throughout his life and into his eighties. He was very generous and was happy contributing to the proclamation of the Gospel both in Africa and in Canada.

Al will be missed by his family, his brother John and cousin Joan, by his friends and fellow Jesuits. Friends are invited to a wake on Thursday, May 22, 2014 from 7-9 p.m. at St. Ignatius Chapel, Manresa Spiritual Renewal Centre, Liverpool Road North, Pickering, ON. Mass of the Resurrection will be celebrated on Friday, May 23, 2014 at 11 a.m. at St. Ignatius Chapel, Manresa Spiritual Renewal Centre, Liverpool Road North, Pickering, ON. Interment at the Jesuit Cemetery, Guelph at 2:30 p.m. Donations may be sent to Development Office, 43 Queen’s Park Crescent East, Toronto ON M5S 2C3.