Brother Edward Richard Walter Englund, O.S.B., 71, a monk of the Benedictine community at Saint Anselm Abbey serving in California since 1988, died Thursday, Jan. 2, 2014, after a period of declining health.
At the time of his death, Bro. Edward was director of student assessment and data analysis, at Woodside Priory School, Portola Valley, CA. Since 1975, Woodside’s monastic community and its college preparatory school, located outside San Francisco, have been part of Saint Anselm.
A native of New Haven, CT, Bro. Edward was born April 3, 1942, the son of the late Walter and Alice (Rutz) Englund. He was educated in West Haven, CT, and was graduated in 1960 from The Canterbury School, New Milford, CT. He received his B.A. degree in sociology from Saint Anselm College in 1965. He subsequently earned a master’s degree in counseling from Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA, in 1970, and a doctorate in educational leadership from the University of San Francisco in 1995.
He entered Saint Anselm Abbey in 1962, and made his first profession of vows on July 2, 1963, with perpetual vows in 1966 and solemn vows in 1967.
At Saint Anselm, Bro. Edward served as a member of the Education Department, was assistant registrar and later registrar of the college. In addition, he served as a dormitory prefect.
During his 25 years at Woodside, in addition to teaching, he served at various times as director of the boarding program, guesthouse master, testing coordinator, personal counselor and dormitory master. He also served as director of counseling and guidance. For several years, Bro. Edward served as academic dean.
Bro. Edward was an influential leader in the Woodside community in his role as chair for reaccreditation by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges and a member of numerous committees over the years. He was a member for the U.S. of the International Commission on Benedictine Education, an organization of the more than 200 Benedictine and Cistercian schools and colleges in the world, as well as ICBE’s Benedictine Educators Network, which organizes regional, national and, triennially, international conferences on education in the Benedictine tradition.
He traveled to the Philippines for the most recent international conference in Manila this past October.
He was also instrumental in developing a program for Woodside administrators and faculty to come to Saint Anselm for a summer program on Benedictine identity, mission and spirituality in an educational setting.
"In all of these roles, Brother Edward was highly respected and loved and he will be missed by the many students, faculty, and staff whose lives he touched," said Tim Molak, Woodside’s headmaster. "Brother Edward was a significant force in the progress of the Priory, both in affairs of the school and the Benedictine Community. He will be missed by all," he added. In “Being Benedictine,” a 2011 documentary on the Woodside, Bro. Edward said, “You join a community not for the work that they do, but for the lifestyle they share. [Benedictines] challenge the society in which they live to look at the meaning of life. There is something deeper to life, and it’s a balance … of living together, working together and praying together.”
In the same film, Bro. Edward expressed great amusement at a Woodside pupil who was adept at entertaining his fellow students by doing impressions of him.
"Brother Edward loved his monastic community and his vocation as a Benedictine,” said the Rt. Rev. Mark A. Cooper, O.S.B., abbot of Saint Anselm.
Brother Edward “worked tirelessly for the students of Saint Anselm College and Woodside Priory School,” the abbot said. “Foremost for Brother Edward was the ultimate good of the other person - confrere, student or colleague. His brothers now entrust his soul to the God to whom Brother Edward was always most faithful."
In addition to his parents, Bro. Edward was predeceased by his sister, Janet(Englund) Hughes. He is survived by his monastic community and by his brother-in-law, Edward, and his nephews Justin and Chris, all of Ridgewood, N.J., and by his niece, Kim (Hughes) Heldreth of North Carolina. He is also survived by a great-niece and a great-nephew.
A Liturgy of Christian Burial was celebrated on Tuesday, January 14, 2014 at Saint Anselm Abbey Church, with Abbot Mark as the principal celebrant. After the Mass, burial followed in Saint Leander’s Cemetery on the monastery grounds.
Lambert Funeral Home & Crematory, Manchester, assisted with local arrangements.