Michael H. Custer

The oldest monk ever to have served at Saint Anselm Abbey, the Rev. Michael Herbert Custer, O.S.B., 95, died Monday, May 1, 2006, at Catholic Medical Center, Manchester, after a brief illness.

Father Michael, with more than 70 years of religious life in the Benedictine community that conducts Saint Anselm College, also served there for a longer period of time than any other monk.

A longtime member of the chemistry department, Father Michael is remembered in particular by generations of nursing students, who took his required course and frequently asked him to preach at their pinning Mass.

For the last several years, because of declining health, Father Michael has resided at Bishop Peterson Home, in Manchester, a diocesan nursing care facility for priests. In addition to participating in the liturgical life of the home, Father Michael frequently regaled his brother priests and visitors, as well as patients at nearby Mount Carmel Nursing Home and his monastic confreres, whom he visited every Sunday evening, with his piano "concerts" of classical, sacred and popular melodies. As a young man, Father Michael played with his brothers in a jazz band on Cape Cod - and he maintained his interest in music throughout his life.

Born Oct. 25, 1910, in Lowell, Mass., Father Michael was the son of James and Della (Connerton) Custer. He was educated in local schools and was graduated from Lowell High School in 1928. He attended Lowell Textile School, now the University of Massachusetts, Lowell, and later received his bachelor's degree in chemistry from Saint Anselm in 1936. In 1944, he earned a master's degree in chemistry from the Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C.

Father Michael entered the Benedictine community at Saint Anselm on July 1, 1934, pronounced simple vows as a monk on July 2, 1935, and solemn, or lifetime, vows in 1940. Following theological studies at Saint Anselm, he was ordained a deacon that same year, and was ordained to the Roman Catholic priesthood by the Most Rev. John B. Peterson, D.D., late bishop of Manchester, at Saint Joseph Cathedral on March 29, 1941.

When Father Michael began teaching chemistry in the 1930s at Saint Anselm, his work included testing milk from the abbey's dairy herd. He was chairman of the chemistry department at Saint Anselm from 1945 to1982, and he taught freshmen, as well as advanced courses, such as senior seminar and advanced topics in chemistry. During his tenure as chairman, the department grew from an academic unit that offered service courses for the biology department with no major in chemistry to one that was accredited by the American Chemical Society (ACS). He was a member of ACS and the New England Association of Chemistry Teachers (NEACT), from which he received the John A. Timm Award for the Furtherance of the Study of Chemistry in 1982 as "teacher of the year."

On the occasion of the Timm Award presentation, Frances Gray, a member of NEACT and Manchester West High School teacher, hailed Father Michael as "a teacher and a teacher of chemistry in the finest sense of the word for 50 years. For those of us who have had the privilege of knowing him, he has touched our lives and enriched them in many countless and immeasurable ways."

With his colleague, the late Dr. Andre Lavigne, Father Michael was the author of the college laboratory manual Experimental Studies in General Chemistry.

After his retirement from teaching, Father Michael spent a number of years as an unofficial greeter in the admissions office of the college.

"He would meet students and almost immediately charm them and their parents with his warmth and information about the college. He was always interested in prospective applicants who already had an idea of what to study, but it was even better if they had an interest in chemistry," said Donald J. Healy, retired director of admissions for Saint Anselm.

Right up until his final illness, Father Michael maintained an active correspondence with alumni, faculty and friends - all facilitated by e-mail. A much loved homilist, Father Michael was known for his stories with moral and doctrinal points.

In the monastery, Father Michael was adviser to clerics and served as subprior from 1949 to 1959.

Over the years, Father Michael served on temporary or weekend assignment at various parishes in New Hampshire, including Saint Ann's, Manchester, and Saint Christopher's, Nashua.

The Most Rev. Joseph J. Gerry, O.S.B., retired bishop of Portland, Maine, and former abbot of Saint Anselm, did celebrate a Liturgy of Christian Burial for Father Michael on Friday, May 5, 2006 in the abbey church, with the Rt. Rev. Matthew K. Leavy, O.S.B., abbot of Saint Anselm, as the homilist. Burial was in Saint Leander's Cemetery on the Saint Anselm campus, followed by a reception for guests in the monastic refectory.

Family members include,Mrs. Raymond T. (Eleanor Fitzgerald) Custer. Sister-in-law.Kearney, Nebraska,

Mr. Raymond T. Custer, Jr., nephew, Chester Springs, PA, Mrs. Stephen (Rosemary Custer) Glazier, niece. Kearney,Nebraska, Mr. C. Ronald Custer, nephew, San Antonio, Texas, Mrs. E. Dennis (Eleanor Custer) Stoebner, niece, San Antonio, Texas,Mrs. Edward (Collette C. Custer) Comstock, niece, San Antonio, TX, Mr. Robert J. Gauvreau, Lowell, MA, cousin,Mr. Paul F. Gauvreau, Hudson, NH, cousin.

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