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The Redemptorists/Denver Province Volume 3 Issue 5 September/October 2010

COMMUNITY SCHEDULE
January/February
Immaculate Conception – Bronx
Seelos House – Chicago
Villa Redeemer – Glenview
Young Adult Ministry
March/April
St. Clement Maria – Berkeley
St. Mary’s of the Assumption –
Whittier
Sacred Heart – Seattle
St. Michael’s & Mission Team –
Chicago
May/June
Mission House & Mission Team –
Liguori

A Tribute St. Clement Health Care Center –

Liguori
St. Alphonsus “Rock” – St. Louis
by Fr. Michael Shea Our Lady of Perpetual Help –
Kansas City
The history of the Vice Province– now about to become the Province– of
Thailand is a proud story of rugged young men chosen from the St. Louis and July/August
Oakland Provinces and the Vice Province of New Orleans. In the Nongkhai St. Gerard – Baton Rouge
monastery, as one walks into chapel, the portraits of these heroes nearly fill St. Alphonsus – New Orleans
up one wall. These are pictures of men who guided Thailand and gave it such Our Mother of Sorrows/
firm foundations. Bishop Duhart, Rog Godbout, Tom Griffith, Bro. Cornelius Blessed Seelos – Biloxi
just to name a few, all came to Thailand to do great and unbelievable things. Holy Names of Jesus & Mary –
Those men depicted on that wall are all dead. I want to write a bit about a Memphis
confrere who is still with us: Fr. Larry Patin.
Fr. Larry and his six brothers–Bros. Leo, Andy, Gene and Gerry, and John September/October
Spielmaker, whom Andrew and Regina Patin took in and raised– are from St. Alphonsus – Grand Rapids
that miraculous street in Grand Rapids, MI: Page Street. Page Street was the St. Alphonsus – Minneapolis
street of Redemptorist priests and brothers. The famous Miller family came Holy Ghost – Houston
from Grand Rapids, as did the Bouchers, Nugents and many, many others. St. Gerard & CSsR Apostolic
Larry’s parents, Andrew and Regina, are Redemptorist Oblates. I was with Center – San Antonio
Larry for years before finding out this fact, purely by accident. The Patin November/December
brothers also have a sister Regina, the youngest in the family. Regina and her Provincial Residence – Denver
husband Larry, as well as their two sons Jacob and Matthew, are very suppor- Redemptorist Renewal Center at
tive of the older brothers. Picture Rocks – Tucson
Fr. Larry went to Kirkwood in 1951. I went in 1952. I followed Larry through Desert House of Prayer – Tucson
Kirkwood to Novitiate in De Soto, MO, on to Oconomowoc, WI, and finally Redemptorist Retreat Center –
joined him in Thailand. Larry left for Thailand in June 1965, and I arrived in Oconomowoc
February 1966.
Fr. Larry (third from left) and his Thai confreres greet Queen Sirikit of Thailand (left); enjoys a royal feast (right); and presents
Queen Sirikit with a memento of her visit (below).
All photos courtesy of The Father Ray Foundation

Larry was and is a real leader. He doesn’t always wait for people to follow. We met in Thailand and were stationed
together in 1967, when the Communist insurgency was heating up and the Indochina war was consuming lives and
land in Southeast Asia. Larry was the best student ever to graduate from the Baptist Thai Language School, and was
the most fluent of all the foreign missionaries in Thailand. Larry was first stationed in Bahn Dung, about 80 kilometers
west of Bishop Duhart’s grubby little hovel in Udonthani. Our first Vice Provincial was Fr. Wil Lowery, now is his 80s
but to this day still working with Lao refugees throughout the Midwest and south of the U.S.A.
Bahn Dung looked like a frontier town in the old days of the West. It was made up of old wooden houses, dusty
streets, dirty stores and a police station. There, Bishop Duhart told Larry to find funds and build a church. Bro. Corne-
lius was there to do the building. Just as the church was finished, Larry was stationed in the minor seminary at
Sriracha on the Gulf of Thailand. This transfer nearly broke Larry’s heart. He loved the northeast, with its utterly poor
but simple and friendly folk. Larry grimly did his duty in Sriracha. In 1974, he was transferred to the leper colonies
around Khon Kaen, back in the northeast. This was the toughest appointment one could get, physically and mentally.
I could nearly fill a book with stories Larry told in those days. Thank God Larry has a great sense of humor, because he
needed it. But typical Larry, he settled down to do the work. He purchased books about leprosy, to the point he knew
more about the disease than did the doctors. The lepers were not an easy group to work for: they were uncooperative,
jealous and ungrateful. Larry overcame these problems, and worked hard to get medicine in from Holland and else-

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Clockwise from left: Fr. Larry with those he most loves:
the children helped by the Father Ray Brennan Foundation,
including the Redemptorist School for the Blind and the
Vocational School for the Disabled in Thailand.

Around 1980, Larry was transferred to a parish just out-

side of Bangkok, called “Soi 101” by the freres. He took
over from Fr. Tom Griffith and in 1984, Larry returned to
Nongkhai as Novice Master and Pastor. For six years,
Larry taught and gave spiritual direction to the Novices.
Larry is a real expert on St. Alphonsus, his writings and
spirituality. He is very knowledgeable of the history of
the early days of the Redemptorists, both in Europe and
the United States. He showed himself as a real leader and
motivator of young men.
Larry later wound up in Bangkok at our bustling Holy
Redeemer Parish, as Pastor and Superior. He was happy
living on the banks of the Mekong River in Viengkhuk.
He did not want the job in Bangkok, but took it in obedience. It was there in his three years as Pastor that he learned
how to lift weights. Larry always had a thyroid disease and high cholesterol, so he suddenly bulked up and was an avid
lifter, until his present shoulder problem.
After nearly three years in Bangkok, Larry returned to serve in the honpisai area along the Mekong River for years, and
then on to the Thabo area, where he worked in the Nam Som mountains in a desperately poor village. We were to-
gether again, and power walked and lifted weights and drank Heineken beer! Larry settled in happily, and he was once
again enjoying the simple life of upcountry Thailand. But then again, obedience called. Not only was Larry elected to
the EVPC, the OVPC and again to the EVPC. These appointments as Consulter brought out Larry’s leadership skills,
and his ability to cut to the chase and simplify things. He did not suffer fools gladly. He was straightforward and blunt
when it came to clarifying issues and coming to a decision. At the time of this writing, Larry is still a member of the
EVPC. During that time, Fr. Philip Banjong Chaiyara was Superior and Director of the Redemptorist Center in Pattaya,
having had taken up the reins from the fallen Fr. Ray Brennan. Philip was suddenly made bishop of Ubolratchathani,
and a frantic search went for a leader and animator. Larry was talked out of Thabo, and made his move to Pattaya.
Pattaya was, to put it bluntly, in real trouble. The local bishop, despite approaching retirement, decided to take over
the orphanage, St. Nicholas Church and School for the Deaf. Larry and Bro. Denis fought a great fight, but the bishop
prevailed. Rather than sit in smoldering anger or depression, the team at Pattaya, under Larry’s direction, began setting
up homes for orphaned children, now known as Father Ray Village. New drop-in centers for children and teens in the
sin city of Pattaya were opened. The home for street kids became the best in the country. The School for the Handi-
capped was extended to take in a school the Redemptorists will build in Nongkhai. Larry was everywhere; after a
morning of prayer and a trip to the gym to pump iron, Larry was off. He absolutely loved the kids and his work.

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 This past December, Larry was in Nongkhai
to direct the budding new handicapped
school of 17 students, who are temporarily
staying at the Novitiate building (The
Novitiate has been moved to the Philippines
to serve Novices all over Southeast Asia).
The Redemptorists have land, and Larry
was getting ready to put fill dirt on the
property. The next morning, Larry had a
seizure that threw his shoulders out of the
socket. He is recuperating at St. Clement
Health Care Center in Liguori, MO. People
from all over Thailand are praying for him to
recover and return. His presence is sorely
missed, and his work is still not done. Please
join us in prayer for Larry. God broke the
mold when he made him.

Left: Fr. Larry in a reflective moment.

Below: Redemptorist confreres in Thailand,
including the author (left, wearing red) and
Fr. Larry (sixth from left).

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