by Friar Servants of Mary – USA Province
Fr . Gabriel M. Weber, O.S.M., a solemn professed friar and priest, died Wednesday, April 6, 2016 at Sandalwood Manor Nursing Home in Wheat Ridge, Colorado. He was 92 years of age and a priest for 66 years. Fr. Weber was born August 13, 1923 in Buffalo, New York. He entered the Order of Friar Servants of Mary (Servites) on September 6, 1942 and was ordained a priest on May 15, 1949. As the Assistant Provincial, Fr. Gerald Horan, O.S.M., noted in his homily, when Fr. Gabriel died, “the Order lost a great friar, the Church lost a wonderful priest, the airlines lost a loyal customer, and we lost a good and dedicated friend.” Born in Buffalo, NY, in 1923, Fr. Gabriel grew up in Portland, OR, and it was the Marian Congress of 1934, held at the Grotto, that drew Fr. Gabriel to the Servite Order. Ordained in 1949 at Stonebridge Priory in Lake Bluff, IL, Fr. Gabriel went on to serve at Servite parishes and schools in Canada, California, Illinois, Wisconsin, Colorado, and New Mexico. He also ministered for some years at the Grotto in Portland, as a USAF chaplain, and as administrator of a parish in Arizona. None of these assignments and duties, as Fr. Horan stated, got in the way of the many pilgrimages to Marian shrines throughout the world. Fr. Gabriel made countless trips to Fatima, Lourdes, Medjugorje and other shrines with parishioners, Servite Secular Order members, as well as the Legion and Ambassadors of Mary: “He was a spiritual guide to many, a traveling companion to others, who was focused, resolute, and intent on his commitment of gospel living.” The Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated April 11, 2016, at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Denver, CO. Interment was in the Servite cemetery at the Grotto in Portland, OR.