Xaverian Brother Harold William Eccles dies

Xaverian Brother Harold William Eccles (formerly Brother Bernard) died March 8 at Nazareth Home. A Xaverian Brother for 76 years, at the time of his death he was believed to be the oldest and longest-serving Xaverian Brother.

Brother Eccles was born in Louisville in 1928 and joined the Xaverians in 1945 after graduating from St. Xavier High School. He taught English and religion at Xaverian schools in Massachusetts, Maryland, New York and Kentucky. In the Archdiocese of Louisville, he taught at St. Joseph Preparatory School in Bardstown, Ky., and served as assistant principal of St. Xavier from 1963 to 1966.

In 1979, he shifted to social ministry as the director of the Diocese of Richmond’s Volunteer Ministries Community, which brought recent college graduates to do a year of service in rural Virginia. After 10 years, he took his ministry to Haiti, where he continued to mentor volunteers in the Xaverian Volunteer Program and taught English.

He served in Haiti until his health brought him back to Louisville in 2014. He lived at Ryken House on the campus of St. Xavier until moving to Nazareth Home in 2019.

He is survived by his nephews, a niece and their families.

Funeral services were private and burial was in the Xaverian Cemetery at St. Xavier High School. Expressions of sympathy may be made to the Xaverian Brothers at Ryken House, 1607 Poplar Level Road, Louisville, Ky., 40217.

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