The Rev. Robert Herne, the founding pastor of Northbrook’s Our Lady of the Brook Parish, has died. Herne was 93 years old.
Cardinal John Cody in 1968 tasked Herne, then an assistant pastor at a South Side church, to found a parish to welcome the 350 Catholic families on Northbrook’s west side, as the Catholic population of Northbrook threatened to grow beyond the capacity of St. Norbert Parish.
Within four years, Herne had led a fundraising effort that built the present church at 3700 Dundee Road.
Herne was allowed by the Archdiocese of Chicago to continue to serve the parish he founded beyond the usual limit of 12 years, until 1991.
“He was always a priest, 24 hours a day,” said Mary Kusswurm, who worked in the church’s office for its first 39 years and knew Herne for years before that. “You never saw him without his collar.”
Herne was serious about his religion but light-hearted in delivering its message to his flock, said Chuck Sansone, a friend and a parishioner at the Northbrook church since its beginning.
“Father had a great sense of humor, and he would always tell a joke at mass,” he said. “He had a black book, and the black book was full of jokes from his parishioners that he was friendly with.
“One time I told him a joke before mass, and by gosh if he didn’t tell it during the homily. Probably told it better than I did.”
In the early days of the church, Herne led masses in Glenbrook South High School’s cafeteria, which became known by locals as “Saint South.”
When a permanent building for the church was constructed in 1972, the structure was unusual for its day, with movable chairs instead of pews and kneelers, as well as a movable altar.
“Father Herne said we are the church,” Kusswurm. “The church is the people.
“He didn’t want to call (the building) ‘the church.’ He called it a house of worship,” she said.
“He was a very charismatic man,” long-time church Finance Committee Chairman Wayne Bubak said. “He would get up there and say ‘We need something fast,’ and the money would pour in.'”
Herne was succeeded by the Rev. Richard Sztorc, who led the church for the next 12 years. Sztorc had been the church’s assistant pastor for the last seven years of Herne’s tenure.
In an Archdiocese press release, Sztorc said, “Father Herne had great friendships with the parishioners; he loved them and they loved him back. He really believed in the power of the Holy Spirit and collegiality, and made sure parishioners used their gifts and talents for the Parish, while maintaining his thumbprint in the work, too.”
Herne, a Chicago native, was educated at St. Columbanus School and Quigley Preparatory Seminary, both in Chicago, and the University of St. Mary of the Lake / Mundelein Seminary, according to the Archdiocese. He also did post-graduate work at Loyola University Chicago.
Herne was ordained in 1947, and was named that year an assistant pastor at St. Celestine Parish in Elmwood Park. He was assigned to fill a similar position at Holy Name Cathedral Parish in Chicago in 1952, and at St. Joseph Parish in Wilmette in 1960. His last assistant pastor assignment was at Chicago’s St. Richard Parish in 1964.
In his retirement, Herne was named the Northbrook church’s pastor emeritus, and continued in his service to the Legion of Mary, an international Catholic group based on prayer and fraternity. He also continued until recently to see many of his Northbrook parish friends, Sansone said.
Herne died Jan. 14 while a resident of the Bishop Timothy J. Lyne Residence for Retired Priests in Palos Park.
Visitation will be at Sacred Heart Parish, 8245 W. 111th Street in Palos Hills, on Thursday, Jan. 21, from 4 to 7 p.m. A funeral mass will be celebrated at 7:30 p.m. Most Rev. Andrew Wypych will be the main celebrant and the Rev. Medard Laz will be the homilist.
Visitation will continue on Friday, Jan. 22, from 10 a.m. until 12 p.m. at Our Lady of the Brook, followed by a funeral mass celebrated by the Rev. Sztorc, with the Rev. Medard Laz the homilist. The Most Rev. Francis Kane will preside in choir dress.
Interment will take place at Sacred Heart Cemetery in Northbrook.
Twitter: @IrvLeavitt
