When one person leaves a community, the whole community is changed. Especially when that one person lived his entire life as a man for others. On Aug. 16, Fr. Richard (Dick) Hadel, SJ passed away at the age of 90. A memorial Mass will be celebrated at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 12 in the Chapel of St. Ignatius Hall at Garden Villas North, in Florissant, Missouri.

^{Hadel working with children in Belize.  photo | Courtesy of Jesuits.org}

Hadel grew up surrounded by Jesuits. He was baptized by a Jesuit priest and attended a Jesuit parish. He attended Rockhurst High School in Kansas City, Missouri, and it was there where he discerned his calling to become a Jesuit. In August of 1952, while he was still 16, he decided to enter the Society of Jesus.

The most notable part of his formation was his work in Belize. It was here where he had notable interactions that helped him to become a man for others. He spent a total of three years in Belize before returning to America to earn his PhD and to be ordained as a priest. In 1972, he returned to Belize and taught at St. John’s College where he stayed until 1981. During this time, he also worked with the Garifuna peoples who descend from enslaved Africans. Hadel was the first priest to say Mass in the Garifuna’s native language. 

When he returned to America the second time, he went to teach at De Smet Jesuit High School, and after seven years began his tenure at St. Louis U. High where he primarily taught freshman English. While at SLUH, he led countless students to grow closer to Christ. 

“He was such a servant of other people,” said history teacher Joe Porter, who was an ASC volunteer while Hadel was at SLUH. “The thing I remember about Fr. Hadel was he was always the first person to immediately take all of our dishes (at the retreat house). He was such a kind soul.”

One example of his character was when he was teaching a group of freshmen in M101, and as freshmen do, his students began to act up a little. Instead of getting angry at them, Fr. Hadel simply decided to yell at them, and proceed to storm out the door. While the freshmen were likely terrified, Fr. Hadel turned the corner and started laughing, because he was never mad at them in the first place, he just wanted them to behave themselves. 

“Whenever you talked to him, he just had a great smile,” said computer science teacher Steve Nicollerat, “He just made you comfortable. He was a great guy and I’m certainly a better person for having known him and worked with him.”

Back when Hadel taught at SLUH, freshman English was structured differently. Instead of The Odyssey, one of the key books was The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. Hadel actually recorded himself reading Huck Finn so his students could better understand the different tensions and emotions present in the book. 

“He did a wonderful job (helping) some of our kids who were struggling,” said Nicollerat. “He was the guy that pulled those kids through in many cases.”

A testament to Hadel’s impact on the students was around 1995 when at the Battle of the Bands, the senior band wrote their heavy metal song entirely about Fr. Hadel. Of course few could understand the lyrics to the song, but it was a tribute nonetheless. 

“He had this ability for you to believe when he was talking to you that you were the only person there,” said president Fr. Matthew Stewart, S.J. “I think it was just a deep love and and appreciation for you as a person, which I think was really meaningful to us as students.”

During that same year, Hadel was bestowed with the Faculty Appreciation Award, a token of appreciation for his dedication to both SLUH and its mission. 

On one particularly chilly day,  a student walked up to Hadel, and told Hadel he liked his sweater. Hadel took his sweater off and gave it to the student. That is the kind, loving and thoughtful person Hadel was. 

Hadel wrapped up his SLUH career serving at the White House retreat center, and then coming back to SLUH in 2008 to teach Latin. Fr. Hadel was a priest for 61 years, a Jesuit for almost 74 years, and a servant of God his whole life. 

“He was just one of the holiest people I ever met,” said Stewart, “and not showy. He said Mass and those kinds of things, but he was just a holy, humble guy who loved the Lord. He would say, right before communion, ‘We hold in our hands a treasure not made by hands.’ It was true, genuine holiness.”