Fr. Raymond Thomas Johns, OP
The announcement of the death of our Father Raymond Johns, O.P., in San Francisco on
February twenty-fourth, was received with expressions of profound regret by all those who
had known his genial, kindly nature, or had been brought into contact with his
never-failing, gentle courtesy. By his brethren in the Order the sad tidings were
not unexpected, for they knew the fatal character of his illness.
During the two months
which followed this manifestation, and until his death, Father Johns displayed a spirit of
patience and resignation, under sufferings most intense, worthy of a true religious and
edifying to all who witnessed his fortitude.
Although not naturally robust, Father Johns was actively engaged in the duties of his
charge until two months previously to his death, when the disease, from which he had long
suffered, took so marked a turn that the change gave a shock to all his associates.
He was born in London, March 13, 1842; his parents, exemplary members of the Episcopal
Church, were remarkable for their intelligence and culture. From his earliest years
he was required to be helpful in the household and to avail of all the opportunities of
instruction that offered. He soon developed an eye quick to apprehend and a mind apt
to comprehend the harmony of colors and the beauty of proportions. He determined to
devote himself to the study of architecture. His later years gave splendid evidence
of his artistic genius. Architectural disproportion was to him a real source of
affliction.
Having been converted to the Catholic faith, Father Johns entered the Novitiate of the
Dominican Order at Woodchester, England. He made profession in 1871. In 1876
he came to California, and in the following year was ordained priest by the late
Archbishop Alemany. Since his ordination Father Johns labored zealously and
successfully in San Francisco, Vallejo, Benicia, and in the neighboring towns.
According to his plans were erected S. Dominic's Church, San Francisco, and St.
Dominic's Church, Benicia, both conceded to be monuments of architectural ability.
Many conventual buildings also bear the impress of his artistic skill.
Naturally of a kind and generous heart with a temperament not easily ruffled, he proved
a pleasant and agreeable companion to all his associates. By his life he taught the
blessedness and beauty of a gentle heart.
He died as he had lived, thinking well of all, and by no one disesteemed. He
exhaled a spirit of charity and hearty toleration, redolent of the atmosphere of peace in
which he dwelt, and in which he enjoyed a foretaste of that eternal peace into which, as
we pray and hope, his soul has entered.
--1902, Dominicana V.3, pg. 151 |
