Bay City's Franciscan friar keeps the faith despite ALS
Saturday, July 28, 2007By SHANNON KELLY KURTZSPECIAL TO THE TIMES


When I first walked through the doors of the Adoration Chapel at Marytown in Libertyville, Ill., several years ago, my eventual return to the Catholic Church was just one of the blessings in store for me. I loved being in the beauty and the quiet there, stirring fond memories of the parish of my childhood, St. Boniface Church in Bay City.

Nearly every time I was in the Adoration Chapel, I saw a Franciscan friar in a wheelchair, his eyes closed in deep prayer. I came to recognize the sound of his motorized wheelchair, as his caretaker led him to his usual spot along the back wall. Eventually I learned he was Brother Camillus Dulude and it was amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, often referred to as Lou Gehrig's disease, a progressive disease affecting nerve cells to the brain and spinal cord, that had put him in that wheelchair.

One day while chatting with Brother Martin, a good friend of Brother Camillus', I mentioned I was from Bay City, Mich. ''Small world!'' he said. ''That's where Brother Camillus is from.'' Was it just a coincidence or a ''God thing''? I had to find out, so after Mass one day I introduced myself as ''Bay City Shannon.'' Soon we were meeting every Friday afternoon with me sitting close to him, to hear his voice just above a whisper. Despite his infirmity, which has left him unable to do anything for himself, his mind is sharp, his memory enviable and his wit delightful.


Baptized Harold Joseph Dulude at Visitation Church, he was born in August 1924, the only child of Richard and Aldea (Pelletier) Dulude at the family home on North Dean Street in Bay City. His father worked at the Chevrolet Parts Plant, his mother was a homemaker and seamstress. He attended St. Mary's School and still remembers the names of all the sisters who taught him. He was an altar boy and had a Bay City Times paper route. He remembers fondly time spent at the Auburn farm of his Aunt Josephine and Uncle Henry Vaillancourt.

Even though we are of different generations, there is Bay City ''stuff'' we have in common: being in safety patrol, Carroll Park, the viaduct on Marquette Street and the Third Street Bridge falling in the river. I laughed so hard during one of our visits, as with a twinkle in his eye he quipped, ''St. Laurent Brothers, nuts since 1904!'' It was a thrill when I learned that he and his buddies used to go to Wenonah Beach and he remembers hearing my dad, Jim Kelly, sing with a big band.

Harold graduated from St. Mary's High School in 1942, at the height of World War II. Classified 4-F, he couldn't join the military, but helped the war effort by working at Dow Chemical Co. in plastics development. After attending Bay City Junior College, he graduated from the University of Detroit with a chemistry degree in 1947. He lived and worked in the South Bend, Ind., area for several years.

In 1951 he and three friends drove to a place they had heard about called Marytown in Kenosha, Wis. After spending time with its founder, the Rev. Dominic Szymanski, Harold believed he was being called to the religious life.

He entered the Conventual Franciscan novitiate on April 21, 1952, receiving the name Camillus. He professed his solemn vows in 1956. Brother Camillus worked for many years as a typesetter in Marytown's print shop, which published the magazine Immaculata and other religious materials.

I was privileged to be present at the Mass on April 22, 2006, when Brother Camillus, with the help of his caretaker, renewed his vows as a Franciscan friar that he had taken 50 years before.

Brother Camillus was diagnosed with ALS in 1993 and has been confined to his wheelchair the last five years. Despite the challenges of his disease, his faithfulness to the community life of the friary including morning prayer, Mass, evening prayer, rosary and adoration of the blessed sacrament are exemplary. Many people whisper their special intentions to him, knowing his prayers are effective. This life of prayer is his life work now.

Marytown moved to its current location of Libertyville, Ill., in 1978. It is the national shrine of St. Maximilian Kolbe, the Polish Franciscan priest who gave his life for a fellow prisoner at Auschwitz in 1941. The Perpetual Adoration Chapel has been closed since September 30, 2006, when a portion of the ceiling collapsed.

In gratitude for the upcoming reopening of the chapel, Marytown has reinstated the Kolbe Award, which Mother Teresa of Calcutta, the Rev. Patrick Peyton and the Rev. John Hardon received in past years. This award recognizes individuals who have promoted greater devotion to the Holy Eucharist and the Blessed Virgin Mary. That has been Brother Camillus' life, so he will receive this year's Kolbe Award on Aug. 5 at a special Mass and banquet to be held at St. Mary of the Lake Seminary in Mundelein, Ill.

Knowing Brother Camillus is one of the greatest blessings of my life. I will always treasure my friendship with one of Bay City's finest sons.

- Shannon Kelly Kurtz was born and raised in Bay City. She graduated from All Saints Central High School in 1971 and spent four years in the U.S. Navy, where she met her husband. The couple has lived in Lindenhurst, Ill., for more than 20 years and have two grown children. Kurtz is a writer and speaker and has just completed her first book of poetry.

Letters to Brother Camillus Dulude can be sent to his attention at Marytown, 1600 W. Park Ave., Libertyville, Ill., 60048.


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Brother Camillus is my first cousin once removed on my Dad's side. His mother was my paternal grandmother's sister. It's so nice to read your post about him.

Annette Vaillancourt, Ph.D.