Grace, John, 1936-2013, Capuchin priest

William Grace was born in Dublin on 18 July 1936. He was received into the Capuchin Franciscan Order on 3 October 1953 and took John as his religious name. He spent his novitiate years in Rochestown Friary and obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree from University College Cork. He was ordained to the priesthood in County Donegal in June 1961. Following his ordination, he volunteered for missionary work and arrived in Livingstone in Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) in September 1961. He remained a missionary friar in Zambia for the rest of his life (aside from year spent in St. Patrick’s College in Maynooth, County Kildare, taking a higher diploma in education). He returned to Zambia and took up a staff position at the Teachers’ Training College in Malengwa near Mongu in Western Zambia. He also acted as superior and parish priest in Malengwa, a location covering approximately two hundred and fifty square miles with a Catholic populace of about four thousand. He was appointed Vicar General in Mongu, the capital of the Western Province of Zambia, in 1997. He died in Lusaka, Zambia, on 2 October 2013. He was buried in the cemetery attached to the Capuchin novitiate at the Camerino Friary in Lusaka.

Baptismal name: William Grace
Religious name: Fr. John Grace OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 18 July 1936
Place of birth: Dublin
Name of father: John Grace
Name of mother: Catherine (Kathleen) Grace (née Hyland)
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 3 Oct. 1953
Date of first profession: 4 Oct. 1954
Date of solemn profession: 4 Oct. 1957
Date of ordination (as priest): 1 June 1961
Educational attainments: BA (1957); Higher Diploma in Education (1973)
Missionary activities: Travelled to Northern Rhodesia (later Zambia) on 26 Sept. 1961; Appointed Vicar General (Mongu, Zambia) on 14 June 1997.
Date of death: 2 Oct. 2013
Place of death: Lusaka, Zambia
Place of burial: Cemetery, Capuchin Novitiate, Camerino Friary, Lusaka, Zambia