Father Serges Lamaute

>LAMAUTE, Father Serges, S.D.B., 90, passed away peacefully in his sleep 9:52 p.m. Thursday, April 26, 2007, in Bon Secours Maria Manor, St. Petersburg, Fla. Born February 23,1917, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. He was the son of Emmanuel and Lamercie Salomon Lamaute. He was baptized at the Catholic cathedral there. He led a pious life, declaring to his family at age 3 that he wanted to be a Catholic priest. During his youth, he came to know the Salesians of Don Bosco, Catholic missionaries who arrived in Haiti to work among the young, especially the poor and abandoned. Fascinated by their joyful spirit and deep faith, he decided to become one of them. On August 15, 1944, he entered the Salesian novitiate in Matanzas, Cuba. He was the first native of Haiti to enter the Salesian Society. He professed his religious vows in Matanzas August 16, 1945. Father Lamaute studied theology at colleges in Belgium and France. He was ordained a Catholic priest in Lyon, France June 29, 1950. After his ordination, his pastoral work led him to many places in Haiti and Cuba where he served as a teacher and worked in parishes. He served as the director of the Salesian community in Petion-Ville, Haiti from 1969 to 1972, and in Port-au-Prince from 1972-75, and again from 1980-1985. He also worked in the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Colombia, and the United States. His ability to speak fluent English, French, Spanish, Creole and German endeared him to many. Following a series of mission appeal tours in the United States, his American relatives invited him to stay. Father Lamaute became an American citizen himself in 1985. He served in various positions as pastor, teacher and hospital chaplain in Miami, New York, and Los Angeles. On June 25, 1993, Father Lamaute was appointed by Bishop Jaynes A. Griffin of the diocese of Columbus, Ohio, to serve as the founding pastor of Santa Cruz Parish, a non-territorial parish serving the Spanish speaking community of Columbus. After that, he served with the Salesians at parishes in New Orleans and Chicago before retiring in 2004, to the St. Philip Residence at the Mary Help of Christians Center in Tampa. Declining health during recent months required a move to Bon Secours Maria Manor in St. Petersburg, Fla., where he celebrated his 90th birthday February 23, 2007. On the occasion of his 50th anniversary of priesthood at St. John Bosco Parish in Chicago, Father Serge told his congregation, "I am in the hands of God, happy to serve Him, the best I humanly can, for as long as He wishes." Visitation will be 3-5 p.m. and 6-8 p.m. Sunday, April 29, with at prayer service at 7:30 p.m. at the St. Philip Residence at Mary Help of Christian Center, 6400 E. Chelsea St., Tampa. A Mass will be 11 a.m. Tuesday at the chapel at Mary Help of Christian Center. Burial will be in the Salesian Cemetery, Goshen, NY. Brett Funeral Home in St. Petersburg, Fla., is in charge of arrangements. On line memorial and guestbook at www. brettfuneralhome.net.