On September 21, J. Robert Barth, SJ, former dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and a member of the English department faculty, died of cancer. At a funeral Mass in a packed St. Ignatius Church on September 26, Joseph A. Appleyard, SJ, a close friend of Barth’s and BC’s vice president for University Mission and Ministry, began his homily in the following way.
I think it is quite fitting that among the tangible ways in which Bob Barth has been remembered are two garden benches. Many of you know the bench here on campus, some of you will know of the other bench in London. Both were given by his family and both embody significant truths about Bob’s life.
The bench on Linden Lane [above], just outside the office he occupied as dean, has been filled with flowers these past few days, almost obscuring the plaque on it that says, “In honor of J. Robert Barth, SJ, who has found a home at Boston College.” The aptness of the inscription is evident in the remark of a friend on the BC faculty, who wrote in an e-mail the other day, “I’m sorry I didn’t have a chance to say goodbye to Bob before he died. But that’s a selfish wish. Were all of those whose lives were touched and energized by Bob able to gather to say goodbye, no hall could contain them.”
Read more about Fr. Barth in the announcement from Public Affairs.