Franciscan Fr. John Gini is remembered at memorial service

Intermountain Catholic

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Father John Gini's family gathers at Saint Ambrose Parish to say goodbye and remember his long history at the parish at a memorial service. IC photo/Christine Young

SALT LAKE CITY — Family and friends remembered Franciscan Father John Edward Gini as a master homilist, an awesome priest, brother and uncle and a good friend at a memorial service celebrated at Saint Ambrose Parish Nov. 16.

Fr. John died at Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles, Calif., on Oct. 23, 2013. A Memorial Mass was celebrated at St. John of God Care Center in Los Angeles on Nov. 9. The funeral Mass and inurnment were on Nov. 12 at Old Mission Santa Barbara in the Serra Chapel. Fr. John's remaining classmates, Franciscan Fathers Michael Dallmeier, Joseph Prochnow and Louis Vitale, co-celebrated the Mass.

St. Ambrose was Fr. John’s home parish; his parents, Edward F. and Charlotte M. Gini, were among its founding members.

Fr. John was born July 31, 1937 in Salt Lake City. He attended Judge Memorial Catholic High School until 1953, when he left to join Saint Anthony’s Seminary in Santa Barbara, Calif., graduating in 1956. He was ordained a priest on Dec. 21, 1963.

Fr. John had a long history in St. Ambrose Parish.

"This was always his home; he came home to preside over marriages and funerals for the family," said Sam Haddadin, Fr. John’s nephew. "It was always great to have him here and we are going to miss him. Whenever I would go to Fr. John’s Masses, he would be walking up and down the aisles making sure he was interacting with the congregation, and it was always a pleasure to attend his Masses. He was a religious beacon in my life."

Evelyn Emerson remembers her brother as one who never forgot a birthday. "He touched so many lives and he was so caring and so loving. He would call every week and say ‘love you,’ but he was a man of few words. His phone calls were never more than five minutes."

Fr. John’s sister Mary and Monsignor J. Terrence Fitzgerald, Diocese of Salt Lake City vicar general emeritus, were in the same class at Judge Memorial.

"John came from a very Catholic family," said Msgr. Fitzgerald, a long-time friend. "He was always enamored with the Franciscan’s humble style and was committed to the missions. He became familiar with them because at the time they were in Provo at St. Francis of Assisi Parish and school."

Msgr. Fitzgerald and Fr. John had a common love for opera.

"In those early days the University of Utah used to have two operas a year and the two of us would sneak up, because we had no money, and watch them from the fence of the stadium," Msgr. Fitzgerald said. "John was very knowledgeable about the plots and the music."

Fr. John would have celebrated his 50th Jubilee Dec. 21.

"We were all looking forward to celebrating his 50 years as a priest with him in December, but I think instead there will be a small service at his favorite mission – San Antonio in Jolon, Calif.," said Haddadin.

After short assignments at high schools in Oregon and California, Fr. John was assigned to a mission in Huntington Beach, Calif.

Fr. John incardinated into the Diocese of Pueblo in 1971 and served until 1994, when he requested readmission into the Franciscan Order and Province at San Miguel Mission in California. After two years he was sent as pastor to Mission San Antonio in Jolon, Calif., from 1996 to 2005, then he returned to San Miguel Mission until 2010.

In 2010, Fr. John was transferred to St. John of God Retirement and Care Center for assisted living.

"All his life he was very simple; living without material things," said Msgr. Fitzgerald. "He loved people and was very pastoral. He had a wonderful laugh and you knew of his presence."