Tribute to Fr. Larry

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The Redemptorists/Denver Province Volume 3 Issue 5 September/October 2010

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by Fr. Michael Shea

The history of the Vice Province now about to become the Province ofThailand is a proud story of rugged young men chosen from the St. Louis andOakland Provinces and the Vice Province of New Orleans. In the Nongkhaimonastery, as one walks into chapel, the portraits of these heroes nearly fillup one wall. These are pictures of men who guided Thailand and gave it suchfirm foundations. Bishop Duhart, Rog Godbout, Tom Griffith, Bro. Corneliusjust to name a few, all came to Thailand to do great and unbelievable things.Those men depicted on that wall are all dead. I want to write a bit about aconfrere who is still with us: Fr. Larry Patin.

Fr. Larry and his six brothersBros. Leo, Andy, Gene and Gerry, and JohnSpielmaker, whom Andrew and Regina Patin took in and raised are fromthat miraculous street in Grand Rapids, MI: Page Street. Page Street was thestreet of Redemptorist priests and brothers. The famous Miller family camefrom Grand Rapids, as did the Bouchers, Nugents and many, many others.Larrys parents, Andrew and Regina, are Redemptorist Oblates. I was withLarry for years before finding out this fact, purely by accident. The Patinbrothers also have a sister Regina, the youngest in the family. Regina and herhusband Larry, as well as their two sons Jacob and Matthew, are very suppor-tive of the older brothers.

Fr. Larry went to Kirkwood in 1951. I went in 1952. I followed Larry throughKirkwood to Novitiate in De Soto, MO, on to Oconomowoc, WI, and finallyjoined him in Thailand. Larry left for Thailand in June 1965, and I arrived inFebruary 1966.

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Larry was and is a real leader. He doesnt always wait for people to follow. We met in Thailand and were stationedtogether in 1967, when the Communist insurgency was heating up and the Indochina war was consuming lives andland in Southeast Asia. Larry was the best student ever to graduate from the Baptist Thai Language School, and wasthe most fluent of all the foreign missionaries in Thailand. Larry was first stationed in Bahn Dung, about 80 kilometerswest of Bishop Duharts grubby little hovel in Udonthani. Our first Vice Provincial was Fr. Wil Lowery, now is his 80s

but to this day still working with Lao refugees throughout the Midwest and south of the U.S.A.

Bahn Dung looked like a frontier town in the old days of the West. It was made up of old wooden houses, dustystreets, dirty stores and a police station. There, Bishop Duhart told Larry to find funds and build a church. Bro. Corne-lius was there to do the building. Just as the church was finished, Larry was stationed in the minor seminary atSriracha on the Gulf of Thailand. This transfer nearly broke Larrys heart. He loved the northeast, with its utterly poorbut simple and friendly folk. Larry grimly did his duty in Sriracha. In 1974, he was transferred to the leper coloniesaround Khon Kaen, back in the northeast. This was the toughest appointment one could get, physically and mentally.I could nearly fill a book with stories Larry told in those days. Thank God Larry has a great sense of humor, because heneeded it. But typical Larry, he settled down to do the work. He purchased books about leprosy, to the point he knewmore about the disease than did the doctors. The lepers were not an easy group to work for: they were uncooperative,jealous and ungrateful. Larry overcame these problems, and worked hard to get medicine in from Holland and else-

denverlinkSeptember/October2010

Fr. Larry (third from left) and his Thai confreres greet Queen Sirikit of Thailand (left); enjoys a royal feast (right); and presentsQueen Sirikit with a memento of her visit (below).

All photos courtesy of The Father Ray Foundation


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Around 1980, Larry was transferred to a parish just out-side of Bangkok, called Soi 101 by the freres. He tookover from Fr. Tom Griffith and in 1984, Larry returned toNongkhai as Novice Master and Pastor. For six years,Larry taught and gave spiritual direction to the Novices.Larry is a real expert on St. Alphonsus, his writings andspirituality. He is very knowledgeable of the history ofthe early days of the Redemptorists, both in Europe andthe United States. He showed himself as a real leader andmotivator of young men.

Larry later wound up in Bangkok at our bustling Holy

Redeemer Parish, as Pastor and Superior. He was happyliving on the banks of the Mekong River in Viengkhuk.He did not want the job in Bangkok, but took it in obedience. It was there in his three years as Pastor that he learnedhow to lift weights. Larry always had a thyroid disease and high cholesterol, so he suddenly bulked up and was an avidlifter, until his present shoulder problem.

After nearly three years in Bangkok, Larry returned to serve in the honpisai area along the Mekong River for years, andthen on to the Thabo area, where he worked in the Nam Som mountains in a desperately poor village. We were to-gether again, and power walked and lifted weights and drank Heineken beer! Larry settled in happily, and he was onceagain enjoying the simple life of upcountry Thailand. But then again, obedience called. Not only was Larry elected tothe EVPC, the OVPC and again to the EVPC. These appointments as Consulter brought out Larrys leadership skills,and his ability to cut to the chase and simplify things. He did not suffer fools gladly. He was straightforward and bluntwhen it came to clarifying issues and coming to a decision. At the time of this writing, Larry is still a member of the

EVPC. During that time, Fr. Philip Banjong Chaiyara was Superior and Director of the Redemptorist Center in Pattaya,having had taken up the reins from the fallen Fr. Ray Brennan. Philip was suddenly made bishop of Ubolratchathani,and a frantic search went for a leader and animator. Larry was talked out of Thabo, and made his move to Pattaya.

Pattaya was, to put it bluntly, in real trouble. The local bishop, despite approaching retirement, decided to take overthe orphanage, St. Nicholas Church and School for the Deaf. Larry and Bro. Denis fought a great fight, but the bishopprevailed. Rather than sit in smoldering anger or depression, the team at Pattaya, under Larrys direction, began settingup homes for orphaned children, now known as Father Ray Village. New drop-in centers for children and teens in thesin city of Pattaya were opened. The home for street kids became the best in the country. The School for the Handi-capped was extended to take in a school the Redemptorists will build in Nongkhai. Larry was everywhere; after amorning of prayer and a trip to the gym to pump iron, Larry was off. He absolutely loved the kids and his work.

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Clockwise from left: Fr. Larry with those he most loves:the children helped by the Father Ray Brennan Foundation,including the Redemptorist School for the Blind and theVocational School for the Disabled in Thailand.


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This past December, Larry was in Nongkhaito direct the budding new handicappedschool of 17 students, who are temporarilystaying at the Novitiate building (TheNovitiate has been moved to the Philippinesto serve Novices all over Southeast Asia).The Redemptorists have land, and Larrywas getting ready to put fill dirt on the

property. The next morning, Larry had aseizure that threw his shoulders out of thesocket. He is recuperating at St. ClementHealth Care Center in Liguori, MO. Peoplefrom all over Thailand are praying for him torecover and return. His presence is sorelymissed, and his work is still not done. Pleasejoin us in prayer for Larry. God broke themold when he made him.

Left: Fr. Larry in a reflective moment.

Below: Redemptorist confreres in Thailand,

including the author (left, wearing red) and

Fr. Larry (sixth from left).

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Tribute to Fr. Larry