Sitting in the last row of the Glenmary chapel for Father Ed Haggerty’s wake service, my eyes were drawn to the American flag, folded into a triangle, lying next to his head. Like so many of his contemporaries, he had served his country overseas in the midst of a world torn apart by World War II. A Chicago native, he returned after the war to finish college at Loyola University where he met Father William Howard Bishop and decided to join Glenmary.

Later, standing near his coffin, I focused on another symbol of Father Ed’s service: the stole of priesthood draped over his shoulders. This was the symbol of the service he cherished most—his 50 years as a Glenmary missioner. His last homily (preached at St. Helen Church in Dayton, Ohio, the Sunday before his sudden heart attack) focused on his own vocation and love of priesthood. (He lived in Dayton, filling in at area parishes, since taking senior member status in 1994.)

As a soldier Father Ed traveled North Africa and Italy as part of a mission to free people from the horrors of political oppression. As a Glenmary home missioner, he traveled the small towns and rural areas of Virginia, Kentucky, Texas and Georgia to free people from another oppression: ignorance of God’s love and saving presence. He proclaimed the Good News of Christ Jesus, inviting the unchurched to experience the love of Christ in the Catholic Church through the celebration of the sacraments. Over the years he offered absolution, shared the Eucharist and anointed many with the oil of healing.

Key for Father Ed was the religious education of Catholics—and those wanting to be Catholic. He spent much time preparing for instruction classes. Likewise, as the number of Spanish-speakers increased in the Texas missions he served in Jefferson (1967-74) and Mt. Pleasant (1975-85), he sought out religious education programs to address their needs.

He pioneered Hispanic mission ministry by initiating bilingual Masses that brought Anglos and Hispanics together into a single worshiping community. He was also one of the first Glenmarians to attend classes in Spanish language and culture at the Mexican American Cultural Center in San Antonio. Most important, Father Ed looked at migrants not as “aliens” or “illegals” but as brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus who deserve just wages, decent housing and safe working conditions.

Father Ed’s ability to converse in Spanish was minimal, but when he celebrated Mass in Spanish, he radiated love and welcome.

I met Father Ed at our Glenmary house of studies in St. Louis in 1974 where he became my friend and mentor. Over the years, he blessed me with his broad smile, gracious laugh and generous spirit.

I know the stole of priesthood is the best symbol of his service record, of his life spent nurturing Catholics, reaching out to the unchurched, serving the needs of the poor and forgotten. And the fabric of that stole is his dedication to Christ and the Church Father Ed so deeply loved.