Brother Brendan Kneale, FSC '40, 1919-2018
Brother Brendan Kneale, FSC ’40, a retired faculty member and administrator, and a beloved member of the Saint Mary’s community, died peacefully on February 22 at Mont La Salle, the Christian Brothers residence in Napa. The roots of Brother Brendan’s legacy at the College run deep. The 98-year-old Montana native left behind more than 100 trees—stands of eucalyptus, pine, and oak (including a popular grove near the stadium). The Secret Life of Trees, a 2010 student-produced video, includes reflections from Brother Brendan about the trees he helped plant on the SMC campus.
Brother Brendan was born to parents Morris and Elsie Mary Kennealley on March 9, 1919. After attending Cathedral High School in Los Angeles, he entered the Brothers of the Christian Schools at Mont La Salle, receiving the religious name Ternan Brendan and the Brothers’ habit on August 14, 1936.
Brother Brendan was known for his wry sense of humor and work ethic. “He did his work with a sense of duty,” said Brother Raphael Patton. “He took on all possible tasks with real vigor, from dean down to sweeper.”
Brother Brendan once recalled his first “onerous assignment” at Saint Mary’s, that of dormitory prefect in the mid- to late-1950s, during the years when phone-booth and farm-animal pranks were popular. “I tried to enforce the rules and the students tried to break them,” he famously said.
Over 43 years at the College, Brother Brendan taught many disciplines, including physics, math, and religion. He served as dean of studies, chair of the Integral Program, and acting dean of the School of Liberal Arts.
In the mid-1980s, Brother Brendan became involved in the then-fledgling Performing Arts program. "Back then, students couldn't major in performing arts, and we had no performing ensembles—we could put on plays and that was it," remembered Professor Emeritus Martin Rokeach. As dean, Brother Brendan took a leadership role in helping the program coalesce.
Brother Brendan left Saint Mary’s as professor emeritus in 1995, moving to Mont La Salle to become an archivist, newsletter editor, and producer of oral histories for the community. At 94, he was still contributing to Horizons—a journal for the District Brothers—and Educational Perspectives for the faculty and staff of Saint Mary’s College.
Brother Brendan often recalled his mother’s advice that there was no such thing as an easy vocation, but would add that the burden “was light and the yoke sweet.”
“He seemed to have a profound desire to be faithful to the will of God,” said Theology and Religious Studies Professor Paul Giurlanda. “Right now he is surely hearing, ‘Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”’
A viewing will be held Friday, March 2, at 10:15 a.m. at Mont La Salle, 4401 Redwood Road, Napa, followed by the funeral Mass in the Main Chapel at 11:00 a.m.