Item 12 - Letter from Br. Alexius Paolucci OFM Cap.

Emilio Paolucci was born in Italy on 22 December 1898. His family moved to the United States in 1916. His initial contact with the Capuchins was in Watts Parish in Los Angeles. He was among the first men to join the Irish Capuchin custody in California, entering the novitiate in Ireland in October 1927. He took Alexius as his religious name and made his solemn profession in Ard Mhuire Friary in County Donegal in September 1932. Br. Alexius was the first Capuchin brother to volunteer for missionary work in Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia). He spent ten years in Africa (1936-46) making a major contribution to the mission at a critical stage of its development. The result of his skilled work as a carpenter and builder can be seen in the churches and furnishings which he constructed in Livingstone, Sichili, Sancta Maria (Lukulu), Kalabo, Maramba, and in Cape Town, South Africa. He returned to Ireland in late 1946 and spent four years residing in St. Bonaventure’s Friary and with the community in Rochestown in County Cork. He returned to the United States in December 1950. His first assignment was in Santa Inés near Solvang in California where he worked for twelve years restoring and renovating the historic buildings of the old mission. In 1963 he was appointed to the newly established West Coast novitiate at San Lorenzo in Santa Inés Valley. He resided at the novitiate until 1970 before moving to Watts in Los Angeles and later to St. Francis High School in La Cañada Flintridge in California. He subsequently returned to San Lorenzo Seminary and died there on 27 August 1983. He was buried in the adjoining cemetery.

Baptismal name: Emilio Paolucci
Religious name: Br. Alexius Paolucci OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 22 Dec. 1898
Place of birth: Carovilli, Italy
Name of father: Salvatore Paolucci
Name of mother: Cleta Paolucci
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 3 Oct. 1927
Date of first profession: 31 Mar. 1929
Date of final profession: 26 Sept. 1932
Missionary activities: Travelled to Victoria Falls Prefecture, Northern Rhodesia, on 5 Sept. 1936. He returned to Ireland in Nov. 1946. He travelled to the Western American Mission on 3 Dec. 1950.
Date of death: 27 Aug. 1983
Place of death: San Lorenzo Seminary, California, United States
Place of burial: Cemetery, San Lorenzo Seminary, Old Mission Santa Inés, Solvang, California, United States