Lucien A. Sawyer

Rev. Lucien A. Sawyer, OMI, 91, died on March 18, 2016, at Tewksbury, Massachusetts, after a period of declining health. He was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, a son of the late Lionel A. and Irene (Houde) Sawyer. He was predeceased by a brother, Robert, of Pelham, New Hampshire, a sister, Claire Lussier, of Nashua, New Hampshire, and a nephew, Robert Sawyer, of Dracut, Massachusetts.
Fr. Sawyer was educated in Lowell through high school and was a communicant of Ste. Jeanne d'Arc Parish where he first encountered the Missionary Oblates. He held Bachelor Degrees in Philosophy and Theology and a Master's Degree in English Literature from Catholic University in Washington, DC. He attended Notre Dame University in South Bend, Indiana, and took supplemental courses in teaching at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, and at Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts.
He entered the Oblate Novitiate in Colebrook, New Hampshire, on August 1, 1942. He professed his first vows as a Missionary Oblate on August 2, 1943, and perpetual vows on September 8, 1946. The late Archbishop Robert E. Lucey ordained him to the priesthood in San Antonio, Texas, on February 24, 1949.
Fr. Sawyer spent twenty years teaching English and French Literature on the faculty of the Oblate College and Seminary in Bar Harbor, Maine. He spoke English, French and Spanish and was proud that his former students were sent to preach and teach throughout the United States, Canada, Haiti, Japan, Brazil, Columbia and other countries of South America.
Following his years of teaching, Fr. Sawyer was Assistant Pastor at Notre Dame de Lourdes Parish in Lowell and then Retreat Master at Immaculata Retreat House in Willimantic, Connecticut. From 1971 to 2013 his time was devoted to chaplain ministry at various medical institutions in Maine, Connecticut, Washington, DC, Lowell, Dorchester and Boston. He was a certified member of the National Association of Catholic Chaplains, the National Institute of Mental Health and the National Association of Mental Health Clergy. While in Connecticut, he coordinated an association of Catholic hospital chaplains at the request of the Bishop. As his health became frailer, he transitioned from full-time to part-time chaplain ministry.
He sat on the Board of the National Association of Mental Health Clergy and was later elected president. During his years in chaplain ministry, he was the first Director of Health Care Ministries for the Archdiocese of Boston. He was consultant to the Governor's Committee on Chaplaincy and was on the Advisory Committee in Medical Ethics to the Commissioner of Mental Retardation in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Fr. Sawyer was active in the Franco-American group in Lowell, was instrumental in translating several books from French to English and, for many years, created an annual book of Jubilee Memories highlighting the memories submitted by Oblates to be honored each year at the Oblates' anniversary celebration.
While residing in Lowell, he was a member of the Oblate Foreign Mission House community for several years. In the fall of 2001, he joined the community at St. Eugene House in Lowell. Due to declining health in 2014, he transferred to the community at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Residence in Tewksbury, where he remained until his death.
In addition to his Oblate family, Fr. Sawyer is survived by his nieces Judy Surprenant of Davenport, Florida; Monica Moore and Joanne DeRosa of Lowell, Massachusetts; Carol Hough of Port St. Lucie, Florida; Denise LaVallee of Littleton, Massachusetts; Laura Stewart of Burlington, Massachusetts; Diane DuPrat of Nashua, New Hampshire; and Denise Brough of Londonderry, New Hampshire.