Rev. James E. Morse

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Rev. James E. Morse, S.J.

In Los Gatos, CA on Wednesday, March 21, 2007, at age 87, of respiratory failure. He was born in San Diego and attended St. Augustine High School there, where he was an excellent student and edited the school newspaper. He entered the Jesuit novitiate at Los Gatos, at age 17, upon graduation from high school. Jim did philosophy studies at Mount St. Michaels in Spokane and theology studies at Alma College in Los Gatos. He was ordained to the priesthood in San Francisco in June of 1950. This coming August 14th would have marked his 70th anniversary as a Jesuit.Early on Jim taught mathematics and speech at St. Ignatius College Prep in San Francisco where he was known as a clear and deliberate teacher who kept good order in the classroom. Jim also did short tours of duty as assistant director of the Jesuit Seminary Association in San Francisco and in the office at the Novitiate Winery in Los Gatos. But, for most of his career as a Jesuit, Jim served as treasurer and as an administrator in his Jesuit communities. He served as treasurer for four years at Brophy College Prep in Phoenix, and for a combined thirty-nine years at Bellarmine College Prep, San Jose. At Bellarmine he worked in the financial office of the school and as treasurer for the Jesuit community. During his years as treasurer, Jim also assisted with masses at local parishes and convents. Due to declining health, in 2001 Jim was assigned to Sacred Heart Jesuit Center, Los Gatos, from Bellarmine.Fr. Jim was a shy, self-contained man. These characteristics were accentuated in later years with the onset of serious deafness. He also carried the burden of personal tragedy: his mother died at his birth, and one month before his ordination to the priesthood his father and step-mother were killed in an automobile accident. He greatly enjoyed playing bridge. And, an occasional evening at a good restaurant was a special treat. Most of all Jim was known as a very prayerful, good priest who was devoted to his work and extremely dependable. It was the quiet, almost-anonymous, self-sacrificing dedication to their work of so many Jesuits like Jim that made Jesuit prep schools what they were from the 1940s through the turn of the century. He is survived by his cousins, Virginia Ashley and George Kingsmill, both of San Diego. Vigil: 7:30 p.m. Monday, April 2, Mass of Christian Burial: 10:00 a.m. Tuesday, April 3, both at Sacred Heart Jesuit Center, Los Gatos. Committal will follow at Santa Clara Mission Cemetery, Santa Clara. Funeral arrangements by Darling & Fischer Chapel of the Hills in Los Gatos.