A farewell to an Indiana farm boy
who left a lasting mark on the home missions.
Father Bob Hare

Brother Builder: Brother Larry, left, was a self-taught carpenter who spent over 30 years as a member of the Glenmary Brothers’ Building Crew.

Brother Larry Jochim has left a lasting mark in the mission regions of America through his work building churches, rectories and parish halls. Brother Larry, 76, died Sept. 27 in Cincinnati.

Back in the late 1970s Brother Larry came to the mission I was pastoring in Aberdeen, Miss., to remodel the church. I wanted a circular wall built in the sanctuary, but I had heard that Brother Larry didn’t like to build anything curved. To my surprise he agreed with my plan. This man who only went to school to the eighth grade built that circular wall in the Aberdeen church with great expertise.

As the project was close to completion, everyone was anxious to finish, except, that is, for Brother Larry. He spent an entire workday completing a shelf for the tabernacle!

At Brother Larry’s funeral we read the gospel about Jesus’ lifeless body being placed in a tomb belonging to Joseph of Arimathea. I think Brother Larry had a lot in common with this man named Joseph. In Aberdeen—and the many other places he worked—Brother Larry also provided a place for the living Lord.

During the four years that I had the privilege to live with him in the residence in Nashville, Tenn., I often thought that if you wanted to know what the old Glenmary novitiate schedule was like, you would only need to follow Brother Larry through a typical day. He began each morning with an hour of prayer in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. Later in the morning you might see him with a broom sweeping the porch or one of the walks, or gathering up the leaves that had blown in around the back door.

When there were three or four of us living in the house Brother Larry once suggested that maybe we all should have “morning duties,” another concept from the novitiate days. Each day of his life, Brother Larry lived out a scripture that began his own novitiate: “You must be the same as Christ Jesus…emptying himself, humbling himself, assuming the condition of a servant.”

In the afternoon and evening I might see Brother Larry back in the chapel. Who and what did he pray for during all those hours in the chapel? I can only guess from the petitions that he offered at Mass. He prayed for all of us. He prayed for his family, especially those who were sick or had died; for Glenmarians, especially hurting Glenmarians; for preachers preparing Sunday sermons; for Glenmary’s benefactors; for vocations to Glenmary; for those in formation; for their directors and for those who had asked him for prayers.

This year after Mass on the Feast of the Assumption, Brother Larry fell. In years past this feast day, Aug. 15, was an important day for novices—it signaled the beginning and the end of the novitiate year. In 1950 this day would have marked the transition when Lawrence Jochim became Brother Larry. On the Feast of the Assumption this year, Brother Larry began another transition in his life.

About this transition, Brother Larry left us with these words from St. Paul chosen for his funeral Mass: “The life and death of each of us has its influence on others. If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. Jesus Christ is Lord both of the dead and the living.”

For our part we might now add our prayer. We give thanks to God for the life of Brother Larry.