Fr. John B. “Jack” Warner, SJ, died Oct. 4, 2025, in Florissant, Missouri. He is remembered for his highly successful ministry in El Progreso, Yoro, Honduras, where he founded and directed a theater company that became a beacon of cultural resistance and social evangelization, forming generations of artists committed to truth, memory and the transformation of their reality. He was 80 years old, a Jesuit for 63 years and a priest for 51 years.

His life will be celebrated during a Mass of Christian Burial at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, October 18, 2025, in the chapel of St. Ignatius Hall, the Jesuit Community at Garden Villas North, in Florissant. A visitation will immediately precede the funeral Mass, beginning at 9:00 a.m. He will be buried at Calvary Cemetery immediately following the Mass.

The funeral will be livestreamed at jesuits.family/fr-warner-funeral.

A reception and celebration of his life and legacy will be held after the burial from 1 to 4 p.m. at St. Louis University High (SLUH), 4970 Oakland Ave, St. Louis, MO 63110.

Jack Warner was born Oct. 18, 1944, in Portsmouth, Virginia, to Claire (née Stanley) and John B. Warner Jr. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his stepmother Kathlene “Kate” Rasmussen Warner and his sister Mary Katharine Whitt (George), and his sister-in-law Kathleen Brady Corcoran. He is survived by sisters Mary Margaret “Peggy” Facer (Thomas), Mary Patricia “Pat” Warner (Mary Anne), and Marie Elizabeth “Betsy” Warner, and brothers Michael O’Reilly “Mike” Warner (Amy) and Edward Kinsella “Ted” Warner (Mary), twelve nieces and nephews, fifteen great-nieces and great-nephews and a myriad of cousins. He was also an honorary father, grandfather, and great-grandfather to the numerous Honduran families who had adopted him as their own.

He entered the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) at St. Stanislaus Seminary in Florissant, Missouri, on August 21, 1962, and pronounced first vows two years later. He was ordained a priest on May 11, 1974, at St. Francis Xavier College Church in St. Louis. He professed his final vows in El Progreso in 1986.

As a Jesuit scholastic, Fr. Warner taught English for two years at St. Louis University High School where he started a Glee Club and directed numerous plays.

Following his ordination, he spent a year studying theology and honing his Spanish skills in Cochabamba, Bolivia. He then earned a Master of Fine Arts in directing from the Goodman School of Drama in Chicago.  All of which prepared him for establishing Teatro La Fragua (Theater of the Forge or The Forge Theater) in 1979 at the age of 34. He said later of the name of his project, “I like the image ... taking ideas and cultural realities and forming them into a shape that can be seen, heard and experienced; the forming of people and forming of ideas, and by doing so, giving people a reflection, an image of who they are and their own reality.”

The theater’s mission is to stimulate the creativity needed for problem solving, and to enable Hondurans to show themselves and the world their culture’s worth, beauty and power even as globalization ranks some as inferior. Teatro La Fragua stands as a light on the cultural map of Latin America, a community where art and spirituality coexist, and where theatre retains its power to unite, heal and inspire hope. La Fragua – true to Fr. Warner’s vision – reminds us that theater can be a way of serving others, of giving voice to the voiceless and of celebrating human dignity.

Fr. Warner continued to lead Teatro La Fragua until poor health dictated his return to the province in 2021.

Fr. Warner graduated from St. Louis University High School. He earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and completed his theology studies at Saint Louis University.

As we thank God for the gift of Fr. Warner’s creative and dedicated service to the people of God, let us remember him in our prayers.

Memorial gifts may be made to Teatro La Fragua. Please make checks payable to the USA Central and Southern Province of the Society of Jesus with Teatro La Fragua in the memo line. They can be mailed to 4511 West Pine Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63108. Or donate online at www.JesuitsCentralSouthern.org.

Man for others: Fr. Jack warner, sj '62

Forging a National Identity

Published in U. Highlights, November 2012

In 1979, Fr. Jack Warner, SJ '62 founded Teatro La Fragua, or "The Forge Theatre,” a theater troupe based in El Progreso, Honduras' third largest city. Since then, he has grown Teatro La Fragua into the most prominent theater group in Honduras, and one of the most highly-regarded performing troupes in all of Central and South America.

“In a country as desperately poor as Honduras, why do theatre?” asks Fr. Warner. “Theater is never going to lower the infant mortality rate or not save an infant dying of malnutrition. But theater can make a child laugh, and this reminds us that it fulfills other needs perhaps as desperate.”

For much of the last century, Honduras has been a nation in search of a historical and cultural identity, with international fruit companies dominating the economy and suppressing any local culture or national identity. Conversely, Teatro La Fragua strives to forge a national identity by means of the people’s own expression. It aims to awaken the creativity of the people with the help of theater and to find solutions to current problems.

Specifically, Teatro La Fragua utilizes three aspects of theater to help achieve its goals: staging dramas featuring Latin American writers; performing religious plays, such as ¡El Evangelio En Vivo! (The Gospel Live!); and presenting dramatic adaptations of Honduran stories, myths and folklore.

Fr. Warner, who has been the artistic director of Teatro La Fragua since he founded it, often chooses plays that can be performed in the street, or in a church or other non-theatrical venue. Many Hondurans cannot afford to come to his theater, so Fr. Warner brings the theater to them. In fact, during a recent visit for his 50^th Reunion at SLUH, he raised money to purchase a heavy-duty van to transport the troupe to performances throughout Honduras.

From the earliest travels of Francis Xavier to India, and Matteo Ricci to the Orient, the Jesuits have often brought the gospel message to the people using the local, indigenous cultures. Using the art of the theater, Fr. Warner and his troupe of performers bring the gospels to the plazas, churches and schoolyards of Honduras, primarily for poor and working-class audiences. In the process, continue to forge and strengthen the cultural identity of Honduras.

“The best part of my job is hearing the audience applause,” says Fr. Warner with a smile, “and seeing an audience of kids transformed with a new life.”