Rev. Maynard Tetrault, O.F.M.
Fr. Maynard Tetreault, O.F.M. just returned from celebrating his 50th anniversary as a priest with his family and friends up North. Maynard was born in Detroit on January 25, 1934, making him older than Fr. John Paul and me, who were both born in 1935. He grew up in Detroit. His father, Amos, was of French Canadian descent and worked as a tool maker and labor standard engineer for General Motors. His mother, Eileen, was of Irish descent and was a homemaker and an executive secretary. He was the youngest of their three sons.
Educated by the Adrian Dominican Sisters in grade school, Michael George (his baptismal names) went to Cincinnati to attend St. Francis Seminary High School in 1947. During his teen years he worked at a gas station, explaining his life-long interest in automobiles. He is very capable of maintaining his own car and thinks, I believe, that all of us friars should know how to fix our own cars too. Dream on! He prefers old model cars. He brought a 1984 Dodge 600 with him to Galveston and surely drives one of the oldest cars on the island.
He entered our novitiate in 1951 and was given the name Maynard. He made his first profession as a Franciscan in 1952 and his final vows in 1955. He was ordained a priest in 1960. Happy 50th Anniversary, Fr. Maynard. His 50 years as a priest have led him to various ministries. He was a high school teacher in Cincinnati for four years, in retreat ministry for three years, became the director of Friars Club in Cincinnati (like a Catholic YMCA) for thirteen years, the superior of our Motherhouse in Cincinnati for three years, and a missionary in Eastern Kentucky in Appalachia for twenty three years. Since 1964 he has been our Provincial Building Coordinator. He oversaw the building of additions to our high school and college seminaries and to our retreat center in Easton, Pennsylvania. He supervised the remodeling of many of our Franciscan facilities in the province. He was also at the forefront of the sale of our high school seminary in Cincinnati, our college seminary in Detroit, and our province’s theological seminary in Dayton, Ohio. I was our provincial leader when we sold our high school and college seminaries and will always be indebted to him. He was a great help to me in successfully selling these two properties.
Interests and hobbies of his include boating, back packing, and reading. Anyone who has ever been around Fr. Maynard would quickly conclude that he is very well read. He enjoys reading history, theology, and science books; biographies; and classic novels. He is able to converse with anyone on almost any topic. He is very knowledgeable about Franciscanism, having earned an M.A. in Franciscan Studies at St. Bonaventure University in New York.
Many of you will remember that Fr. Maynard was interim pastor of St. Patrick Parish for approximately five months in 2000 between Fr. Page and myself. He also substituted for me during my recovery from total knee replacement surgeries in 2001 and again in 2008. It is good to have Fr. Maynard with us again on a full-time basis.
Written by Fr. John