As parishioners and the Redemptorist community at St. Alphonsus in Brooklyn Center mourn the loss of parochial vicar and Redemptorist Father Tony Judge, a 6 p.m. rosary and 7 p.m. memorial Mass are set for Aug. 12 at the church. Father Judge, 68, died unexpectedly at the rectory Aug. 5.
His funeral Mass is scheduled for 1 p.m. Aug. 14 at St. Alphonsus Ligouri “Rock” church in St. Louis. Burial will take place at a later date at the Redemptorist Cemetery in Liguori, Missouri.
A native of St. Louis, Father Judge served at the Brooklyn Center parish for six years with a community of Redemptorist priests that includes the pastor, Redemptorist Father John Schmidt. Father Judge’s ministry also included 10 years as a missionary in Brazil and multiple stops in Spanish-speaking communities across the western half of the United States.
“He was the heart and soul of the Hispanic ministry at this parish,” said Redemptorist Father Bill Peterson, who lived and served with him at St. Alphonsus. Father Judge heard confessions, celebrated Masses, served as a counselor, Father Peterson said.
While Father Judge suffered from health problems, Father Peterson said, “I never heard him ever complain, not one time.”
Father Judge also was an avid University of Notre Dame football fan, Father Peterson said. “If ever you wanted to get on the wrong side of him, you just had to sit in a room with a Notre Dame football game on and cheer for the other team,” he said.
Redemptorist Father Marcel Okwara, also a member of the parish’s Redemptorist community, said he found Father Judge on the floor and unresponsive in his room at the rectory, which is attached to the church. Paramedics arrived but could not revive him, Father Okwara said. Father Judge will be greatly missed, particularly in the Hispanic community, he said.
“I don’t know how we can replace him,” he said.
By early Aug. 9, at least 160 people had left messages, about half in Spanish, on the parish Facebook page expressing their grief and gratitude for his ministry.
“I loved his loud laugh,” posted Kris Gentilini Edwards. “He was a gentle soul.” In Spanish, Edwin Mendoza said, “Rest in peace … our Latino Community Pastor.”
Redemptorist Brother Laurence Lujan, whom Father Judge had mentored in Denver and then ministered with in Liberal, Kansas, said Father Judge was a large man with a heart as big as his stature.
“He was like the Gospel in living form — a brother, a friend and one of the kindest people I have ever known,” said Brother Lujan, now provincial consultor of the religious community’s Denver province.
Father Judge was down to earth, listened without judgment, laughed and told stories, all to communicate what he believed and lived for, the redemptive love of Jesus Christ, said Brother Lujan, 57, adding that Father Judge’s example prompted him to choose the Redemptorist Congregation.
“His death has left a great hole in my heart,” Brother Lujan said. “But I know I am a better Christian today because of his friendship. I can truly say Tony was a friend of Jesus.”
Father Judge’s ministry outside of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis included his years in Brazil’s Amazon region and 10 years as a parish priest in Greeley, Colorado, and pastor of a largely Hispanic parish in Denver. He was bilingual coordinator with a Redemptorist Hispanic ministry at a parish in Oakland, California, and the superior for seven years with a Hispanic missionary project in the Diocese of Dodge City, Kansas.
From 2008 until 2015, when Father Judge began serving at St. Alphonsus, he was a member of the Redemptorist mission team living in Chicago.
