Brother Dominic Berardelli, 1938-2017
Teacher, greeter, leader. Brother Dominic Berardelli FSC, who died Dec. 28, 2017, embodied the spirit of John Baptist de la Salle. “He was a force,” said Brother Michael Meister, who added that when Brother Dom was healthy, they would tease that “there wasn’t a thing that he wasn’t involved in at the College.”
Brother Dom was born in Pittsburgh (to parents Charles Berardelli and Carmella Manfredi) on Jan. 6, 1938 and entered the Novitiate in 1955. "His upbeat approach to life and all that it held made him a joy to be around,” said Brother Victor Kenneth, his classmate at Central District Catholic High School in Pittsburgh.
Brother Dom took his final vows on April 2, 1963 in Manila, Philippines, where he chose the name Brother Aquinas. Spending nine years in the Philippines as a teacher, director and principal, he was “approachable, kind, yet strict with the rules and regulations of the school,” according to former student and current De La Salle University Professor Luis Carmelo Buenaventura.
Buenaventura still marvels at how Brother Aquinas learned the Filipino language and culture during “a perennial Communist Regime takeover including the Declaration of Martial Law by then President Ferdinand E. Marcos.”
A student himself, Brother Dom held an undergraduate degree in history and a master’s in theology from La Salle College in Philadelphia, as well as an honorary doctorate from La Salle University in Obregon, Mexico.
In the late 1980s, Brother Dom found himself at the end of a machine gun barrel in war-torn Sri Lanka. He was traveling as part of his work in the Mission Office at the Generalate in Rome, checking on Brothers who were under duress in civil wars. He was stopped by Tamil Tigers rebels, who mistakenly thought he had a bomb in his travel bag. Miraculously, one of his traveling companions spotted a cousin in the ranks and called out to him for help. The rebels put down their guns and let the Brothers pass through.
Throughout his life, Brother Dom has felt God’s grace and answered his call. When he was asked to return to Saint Mary’s in 1995, he was conflicted. He was very close to his students at De La Salle North Catholic High School in Portland, Ore., but heard God’s voice calling him back to the College.
From 1995 until his retirement to Mont La Salle in 2017, Brother Dom served in several capacities at Saint Mary’s, including as the special assistant to the Office of the President. He worked with donors, parents, friends of the school, the Moraga Town Council, and the Moraga Chamber of Commerce as the liaison to the College.
A trademark of Brother Dom’s playful spirit was the golf cart—known as the Bromobile—he used to traverse campus, adorned with Italian and American flags. Brother Dom could often be seen giving motorized campus tours.
“Dominic was truly Lasallian in his embodiment of the virtue of hospitality,” said former SMC president, Brother Ron Gallagher. “He was the official greeter at the College, and showed up on the stairs of the Chapel or at the front door at almost every event.”
Brother Dom was not just the face of Saint Mary’s but of the entire Lasallian mission, said Carole Swain, Vice President for Mission. “He became an ambassador for Jesus among us.”
In the Filipino tradition, a nine-day novena is being said for Brother Dom, after which it’s believed the soul of the dearly departed will have reached heaven.
View a photo gallery here.
Services and events honoring Brother Dom are Friday, Jan. 12 on campus (viewing, 6-7 p.m., and service 7-7:45 p.m., in the Chapel, followed by a reception in the Soda Center) and Saturday, Jan. 13 at Mont La Salle in Napa (reception of the body, 9 a.m., viewing, 9:15-10 a.m., funeral Mass at 10 a.m., followed by a burial and luncheon).