Brother Leo C. Gillis, C.F.X., died Wednesday morning, January 15, 2014 in the Kaplan Family Hospice House. He had been a member of the Congregation of the Brothers of Saint Francis Xavier for sixty years.
Born in Somerville on March 31, 1936, he was the son of the late Herman and Zeta (O’Rourke) Gillis. He was raised and educated in Somerville and was a graduate of Malden Catholic High School, Class of 1953. He entered the Xaverian Brothers that same year, receiving the religious name Brother Wenceslaus.
He furthered his education with degrees from Saint John’s University in New York and Salem State College.
His teaching apostolate brought him first to Leonard Hall in Leonardtown, Maryland until 1958, when he was transferred to Brooklyn, teaching at Holy Name School, Saint Teresa’s School, and Nazareth High School until 1969 when he returned to Leonard Hall for the next eighteen years. In 1987, he began an assignment at Malden Catholic High School, serving most of those years as librarian, until his retirement in 2002. He remained in residence at MC until joining the community at Xaverian House in Danvers in 2013.
In addition to his brothers in religion, he is survived by a sister, Jean Wolcott of Kingston and many nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by a brother, Joseph Gillis.
His Funeral Mass will be celebrated on Monday, January 20, 2014 in the Saint John’s Preparatory School Chapel (Admin. Bldg.) at 11AM. A visitation will precede the funeral beginning at 9:30AM. Burial will follow in the Xaverian Brothers’ Cemetery, Danvers. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Xaverian Brothers’ Retirement Fund, 4409 Frederick Ave., Baltimore, MD 21229.