✝ SAMUEL LARSON SDS
RIP: 13/06/2025 - Wibaux, Montana, USA
He was 92 years old and had been professed for 75 years.
Deacon Samuel Larson (birth name: Everett Leo) was born on February 2, 1933, in Two Rivers, Wisconsin, the only boy of four children. He completed eight years of Catholic grade school, then applied and was accepted to be a Brother Candidate for the Salvatorians in nearby St. Nazianz. He went to the Salvatorian Monastery in July 1948 and in March 1949, began Novitiate in Menominee, Michigan. As Brother Samuel, he professed vows on March 19, 1950.
Br. Sam was good with tools and machinery, and for the next six years in St. Nazianz, he learned to be a boiler operator, carpenter, and electrical engineer. Over the years he was the boiler room operator and did maintenance at various institutions operated by the US Province. In 1975 Br. Sam experienced a change within himself. By listing to students and their stories as they worked with him side-by-side, he found he was a good listener. Later, while working in the Interfaith Spiritual Center in the former novitiate at Colfax, he got to know many of the participants and hear of their faith journeys. He was often asked to participate in panel discussions to share his own story and faith life.
This was certainly a different ministry than operating boilers and keeping facilities in good working condition. He found that he really enjoyed being a part of people’s lives and their spiritual journeys. The Center closed in 1975, and the Provincial noted how beneficial Br. Sam was by his taking part in the Spirituality workshops that were given there and suggested he consider that kind of ministry. The Provincial offered him a few choices: he chose to work with at-risk youth in North Dakota. He would later say, “It was like a bell rang inside my head when I heard that last option, as if God was telling me that this was the place where I was needed.” After a sabbatical to prepare he moved to North Dakota. There he met with a fellow Salvatorian who introduced him to “Home on the Range” – a place that would become both his home and his ministry for years to come. His patience, gentleness, listening, and sharing brought young people to his side, not just to work with him and learn new skills, but to learn how to live faithfully and peacefully. The leaders asked him to be the Assistant Chaplain. He was willing, but he needed more training from the Church to do it properly. He enrolled at nearby Sacred Heart Monastery to study Scripture, Theology, and Canon Law. There he was advised to consider becoming a Permanent Deacon so that he could expand his role as Chaplain. He met several times with the local Bishop and was ordained a Deacon in May 1985. After ordination, he hosted Spiritual Leadership Projects at the Home and conducted weekly prayer services for the youth. He was also certified as an Alcohol and Substance Abuse Counselor.
In 1997, Dcn. Sam suffered a heart attack, slowing him considerably. While recovering, he learned to design beautiful hand-made greeting cards that he would send to people on birthdays or holidays, to encourage them when they needed it, to console them in time of loss, or simply to tell them that he was thinking about and praying for them. He retired in 2008, and in 2018 he moved into an Assisted Care facility in Wibaux, Montana, where he died peacefully on June 13, 2025, at the age of 92, with 75 years of religious profession, and 40 years as a Deacon.
