Bro. Thomas John Cruise

Bro. Thomas John Cruise, OMI, 89, died on February 16, 2018, at Lowell General Hospital after a short illness, surrounded by several of his many nieces and nephews. He was born in Brockton, Massachusetts, the youngest son of the late Peter Cruise from County Roscommon, Ireland, and Margaret (Hopkins) Cruise from County Mayo, Ireland. He was also predeceased by all of his siblings and their spouses: Mary Cruise Kennedy (Robert), Anna Connolly (Raymond), James Cruise (Kay), William Cruise, Peter E. Cruise (Roberta), Margaret McMenamy (Edward), Joseph Cruise (Margaret), and Eileen Hogan McVarish (Ed and William); and by five of his nieces and nephews.
Bro. Cruise entered the Oblate Novitiate in Tewksbury, Massachusetts, on March 1, 1946. He professed his first vows as a Brother Oblate on March 2, 1947, in Tewksbury. He professed his perpetual vows on March 2, 1953, at the Oblate Novitiate in Ipswich, Massachusetts. He was a member of the Oblates' Eastern U.S. Province until the Eastern Province became part of the new United States Province in February, 1999.
Bro. Cruise worked at the Oblate Novitiates in Ipswich and in Essex, New York. He had two assignments to the Oblate House in Washington, DC. He worked at the Immaculate Conception parish in Lowell, Massachusetts, and at the Holy Angels parish in Buffalo, New York, where he served as the Sacristan. He also served at the Oblate Provincial House in Boston, Massachusetts. His final assignment was at the André Garin House in Lowell.
He joined the Oblate community at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Residence in Tewksbury in 2014, where he resided until his death.
In 2015, Bro. Cruise was honored by Cardinal Seán Patrick O'Malley and the Archdiocese of Boston with the Cheverus Medal, named for Bishop Jean-Louis Anne Magdelaine Lefebvre de Cheverus, the founding Bishop of Boston. The medal recipients -- who include laypeople, religious and deacons -- are chosen for their service to the Church and God's people over an extended period of time in a quiet, unassuming and, perhaps, unrecognized fashion.
In addition to his Oblate family, Bro. Cruise is survived by 19 nieces and nephews (two of whom were named after him), by 53 grandnieces and grandnephews, and by 63 great grandnieces and great grandnephews. He was the uncle of the late State Senator Thomas Patrick Kennedy of Brockton, who attended the Missionary Congregation of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate prior to suffering a tragic accident which rendered him a quadriplegic and ended his studies as a seminarian, but led him to a different form of public service. He knew all of these and took great pride in them. He kept the ever expanding Cruise family tree in his head, rather than on a spreadsheet, and could regale all with stories about friends and relatives all over the world from generations past and present.
He is remembered by his family as the epitome of a humble man who dedicated his life, without complaint, to help and serve others; as a man who practiced his Catholic faith not only by his prayers but by countless good works and deeds; and as a man who shed humor and light wherever he went.
Services and calling hours will be in the Chapel at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Residence, 486 Chandler Street, Tewksbury, Massachusetts. Calling hours will be on Friday, February 23, 2018, from 2-4 p.m. and from 7-9 p.m. with a Prayer Service at 7:30 p.m. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated by the Most Reverend Robert F. Hennessey, Auxiliary Bishop of Boston, Regional Vicar-Merrimack Region, on Saturday, February 24, 2018, at 11:00 a.m. Interment will take place in the Oblate cemetery at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Residence.
Donations in memory of Bro. Cruise may be made to the Oblate Infirmary Fund, 486 Chandler Street, Tewksbury, MA 01876-2849.