Chase Hawkins
![Picture](/uploads/5/6/0/7/56072731/1916127.jpg?309)
This past Tuesday, my grandfather, Joseph Nauman passed away peacefully. He was 88 years old and is survived by 8 of his 9 children and all 24 of his great grandchildren (not to mention his 13 great-grandchildren!). In his waning years, he lived in the wonderful St. Leonard’s Franciscan Living Community – a retirement community in Centerville, Ohio – as he suffered from dementia. Even throughout the agonizing suffering of his mind failing, he remained a noble and smiling man. But before his dementia, he lived a long and wonderful life.
He graduated from St. Ignatius High School in Cleveland and later the University of Notre Dame in 1949 with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering. He graduated from Georgetown Law in 1953. He was a member of the Notre Dame marching band through which he took a trip to Washington D.C. where he met his wife, Mary O’Donnell. He worked at the Patent Office in D.D. as he studied to become a patent attorney. In 1953, he moved his family to Dayton, Ohio where he lived a large portion of his life, including a time where he served as an adjunct professor at University of Dayton Law School. He worked in patent law for a combined 60 years and was very involved in his community and in the parishes of Holy Angels and St. Albert the Great. He was a dedicated, loyal, and loving man who put his family first.
And now in these days, my family and I remember his tremendous life. We remember how much he did for all of us in the family. I was his one of his last few grandchildren, yet I still felt his love which he had shared with all of my cousins, aunts, and uncles of which he was our patriarch. As an Irish-Catholic family, we recall fondly our countless Christmas celebrations throughout the years. In those celebrations we not only rejoiced in each other’s presence, but also rejoiced in the birth of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Jesus’ mother, Mary is a prime example of love and tenderness in the Catholic faith, but she was also a role model for our family’s matriarch, Mary, or Mimi, as we fondly called her. The Virgin Mary was married to Jesus’ foster father, Joseph. Saint Joseph provided for the Holy Family and served as protector of the household. In the same way, our mother, Mary O’Donnell Nauman, and father, Joseph Nauman, provided love, health, and safety to each of us from childhood into adulthood. And though, we may not be as holy as the Holy Family, we know that because our parents held the same name as the parents of Jesus, we must strive to be like the Holy Family. Oftentimes we may feel distant or broken in our relationships with our family, but we must remember that even the holiest of families lost their child in Jerusalem!
As we grieve the loss of our father and grandfather, we recall that our God is not a distant God. Our God became incarnate; He became human for our sake. Because of this, Jesus Christ was not only fully divine but also fully human. And so, like a human, Jesus experienced pain and suffering. The shortest, one of the most powerful and one of the most saddening verses in all of Scripture reads: “Jesus wept” (John 11:35). Our God wept. This is a reminder of God’s humanity. As we weep, we are not alone. As Jesus wept at the death of his friend Lazarus, so too do we weep at the death of our father, Joseph.
In this season of Lent, we recall that Jesus also suffered the most gruesome of deaths – the crucifixion. We remember this crucifixion by the crucifix that hung over Papa Joe’s bed at St. Leonard’s. This time of Lent is a time of suffering and repentance, but we must remember the glorious season of Easter that follows Lent. Yes, let us weep at the loss of our father and grandfather, but let us also remember the time of glorious resurrection that is to follow! Going back to the story of Jesus and Lazarus, let’s take a look at the rest of the passage beyond Jesus weeping for his brother and friend:
He graduated from St. Ignatius High School in Cleveland and later the University of Notre Dame in 1949 with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering. He graduated from Georgetown Law in 1953. He was a member of the Notre Dame marching band through which he took a trip to Washington D.C. where he met his wife, Mary O’Donnell. He worked at the Patent Office in D.D. as he studied to become a patent attorney. In 1953, he moved his family to Dayton, Ohio where he lived a large portion of his life, including a time where he served as an adjunct professor at University of Dayton Law School. He worked in patent law for a combined 60 years and was very involved in his community and in the parishes of Holy Angels and St. Albert the Great. He was a dedicated, loyal, and loving man who put his family first.
And now in these days, my family and I remember his tremendous life. We remember how much he did for all of us in the family. I was his one of his last few grandchildren, yet I still felt his love which he had shared with all of my cousins, aunts, and uncles of which he was our patriarch. As an Irish-Catholic family, we recall fondly our countless Christmas celebrations throughout the years. In those celebrations we not only rejoiced in each other’s presence, but also rejoiced in the birth of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Jesus’ mother, Mary is a prime example of love and tenderness in the Catholic faith, but she was also a role model for our family’s matriarch, Mary, or Mimi, as we fondly called her. The Virgin Mary was married to Jesus’ foster father, Joseph. Saint Joseph provided for the Holy Family and served as protector of the household. In the same way, our mother, Mary O’Donnell Nauman, and father, Joseph Nauman, provided love, health, and safety to each of us from childhood into adulthood. And though, we may not be as holy as the Holy Family, we know that because our parents held the same name as the parents of Jesus, we must strive to be like the Holy Family. Oftentimes we may feel distant or broken in our relationships with our family, but we must remember that even the holiest of families lost their child in Jerusalem!
As we grieve the loss of our father and grandfather, we recall that our God is not a distant God. Our God became incarnate; He became human for our sake. Because of this, Jesus Christ was not only fully divine but also fully human. And so, like a human, Jesus experienced pain and suffering. The shortest, one of the most powerful and one of the most saddening verses in all of Scripture reads: “Jesus wept” (John 11:35). Our God wept. This is a reminder of God’s humanity. As we weep, we are not alone. As Jesus wept at the death of his friend Lazarus, so too do we weep at the death of our father, Joseph.
In this season of Lent, we recall that Jesus also suffered the most gruesome of deaths – the crucifixion. We remember this crucifixion by the crucifix that hung over Papa Joe’s bed at St. Leonard’s. This time of Lent is a time of suffering and repentance, but we must remember the glorious season of Easter that follows Lent. Yes, let us weep at the loss of our father and grandfather, but let us also remember the time of glorious resurrection that is to follow! Going back to the story of Jesus and Lazarus, let’s take a look at the rest of the passage beyond Jesus weeping for his brother and friend:
“When Jesus saw [Mary, the sister of Martha] weeping and the Jews who had come with her weeping, he became perturbed and deeply troubled, and said, ‘Where have you laid [Lazarus]?’ They said to him, ‘Sir, come and see.’ And Jesus wept. So the Jews said, ‘See how he loved him.’ But some of them said, ‘Could not the one who opened the eyes of the blind man have done something so that this man would not have died?’ So Jesus, perturbed again, came to the tomb … Jesus said, ‘Take away the stone.’ Martha, the dead man’s sister, said to him, ‘Lord, by now there will be a stench; he has been dead for four days.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Did I not tell you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?’ So they took away the stone. And Jesus raised his eyes and said, ‘Father, I thank you for hearing me. I know that you always hear me; but because of the crowd here I have said this [aloud], that they may believe that you sent me.’ And when he had said this, he cried out in a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out!’ The dead man came out, tied hand and foot with burial bands, and his face was wrapped in a cloth. So Jesus said to them, ‘Untie him and let him go.’” (John 11:33-44).
Jesus not only wept at the death of his friend, Lazarus, but He raised him from death into life. In the same way, Jesus weeps with us at the death of His son, Joseph, but will raise Him from death into everlasting life. Let us pray that Jesus will cry out to our father and grandfather, “Joseph, come out! Come out of your suffering and walk with me in the Light of Heaven!” We remember Jesus’ words, “Did I not tell you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?” Let us believe in the glory of God this upcoming Easter season and beyond as we continue the Nauman legacy in remembrance of our blessed father and grandfather, Joseph Nauman.
Something that you can find lying around somewhere at almost any Nauman family residence is the renowned Irish blessing that has become so dear to us:
Something that you can find lying around somewhere at almost any Nauman family residence is the renowned Irish blessing that has become so dear to us:
“May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
And rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand."
May God hold us and Papa Joe in the palm of His hand. Amen.
St. Joseph, ora pro nobis!
St. George, ora pro nobis!
St. Michael the Archangel, ora pro nobis!
St. Timothy, ora pro nobis!
St. Patricia, ora pro nobis!
St. William, ora pro nobis!
Holy Mary, Mother of God, ora pro nobis!
Chawkins.
"May the Road Rise to Meet You"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMr839d1PI0
"I Will Rise" by Chris Tomlin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKRF8UihM5s
"In Christ Alone" by Adrienne Liesching & Geoff Moore
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlZGRydoUpQ
St. Joseph, ora pro nobis!
St. George, ora pro nobis!
St. Michael the Archangel, ora pro nobis!
St. Timothy, ora pro nobis!
St. Patricia, ora pro nobis!
St. William, ora pro nobis!
Holy Mary, Mother of God, ora pro nobis!
Chawkins.
"May the Road Rise to Meet You"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMr839d1PI0
"I Will Rise" by Chris Tomlin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKRF8UihM5s
"In Christ Alone" by Adrienne Liesching & Geoff Moore
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlZGRydoUpQ