Br. Gus William Schloesser, OSC, facilities manager at Crosier Village in Phoenix, died at the Banner University Medical Center in Phoenix on March 2, at 77.
Born May 23, 1941, in Jordan, Minnesota, to John W. and Ida Rose (Bauer) Schloesser, he attended South St. Paul High School and Nazareth Hall Junior College in St. Paul, and earned a Pastoral Ministry Certificate from the College of St. Catherine, also in St. Paul.
Br. Gus Schloesser, OSC
Born: May 23, 1941
First Profession: March 19, 1963
Service in the Diocese of Phoenix
2004-2019
Died: March 2, 2019
Memorial Donations:
Crosier Fathers and Brothers
P.O. Box 90428
Phoenix, AZ 85066-0428
Br. Gus, OSC, joined the Crosiers as a novice in 1962 and made his first profession of vows March 19, 1963, in Hastings, Nebraska. He professed solemn vows in Onamia, Minnesota, in 1969.
His assignments and ministries centered around Crosier Religious Life as a member of the Crosier communities in Onamia, Hastings, Anoka, Shoreview and Phoenix, where he lived since 2004.
He served in many different capacities including director of food service for the Crosier Seminary in Onamia; director of the Christian Community Center in Fort Wayne, Indiana; associate vocation director and then province vocation director for the Crosiers; religious superior of the Crosier community in Shoreview; facilities director at Maryhill Retreat House in St. Paul; co-director of the Listening House in St. Paul; member of the Commission on Ministry for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis; Crosier alumni associate director; rector of the Crosier Generalate in Rome.
In Phoenix, he served as facilities manager at Crosier Village in Phoenix. Br. Gus also enjoyed volunteering at Huger Mercy Living Center and coordinating efforts to stock a food pantry at Roeser Senior Village Apartments.
“Br. Gus always set a wonderful example of welcoming people to Crosier Village. He had a sense of warmth and patience, and he made it a point to listen to people and see how he could help them,” recalled Juan Collazo, a layman who served as a pallbearer for Br. Gus at his funeral Mass.
“The attention he gave to my family and me was ongoing. He always made sure we felt important no matter what we were working on. Br. Gus had a great humbleness about him and he was able to reach out to everyone at whatever stage of life from children to the elderly.”
Collazo, his wife, Adriana, and their two daughters, Joanna Mitchell, 8, and Jazmin Adriana, 4, helped and worked closely with Br. Gus.
“We are still absorbing every detail he shared with us from the first day we met him and we apply this information to our daily lives,” Collazo said. “We are so grateful to Br. Gus because we see the many blessings he gave to all of us. He was a unique and special person.”
Br. Gus is survived by his brothers Stan, Rod and Jack, his sister Doreen Yezek and their families; his Crosier confreres and numerous friends. He is preceded in death by his parents and brothers Kenny and Terry and sister Geri. Funeral services were March 7, at the Priory Church of the Holy Cross at Crosier Village in Phoenix.
