In Remembrance - Fr. George R. Follen, S.J.

reflections by Fr. Thomas H. Radloff, S.J.

Fr. George R. Follen, S.J., died April 8, 2008, at Colombiere Center in Clarkston, Michigan. 

As a longtime friend of “the Reverend George R,” (a nickname he gave himself at U of D High, in anticipation of high school boys often giving their teachers “not too complimentary” titles), I have been asked to offer a few appropriate words.

I became close to Fr. George during the years we taught at U of D.  Among other matters we both taught high school theology and shared the struggles and joys of attracting male mid-adolescent minds to the “study of God.”  We both had living relatives in our home town of Cleveland, a three-hour expressway drive even in the best of weather.  Regularly it was only the two of us in the car.  That gave us an opportunity to share much with each other.

Those of you who know Fr. George know that he was, to say the least, opinionated.  Actually, he had two or three opinions about anything and anybody.  If you asked him, you would get more than you asked for, much of it complimentary, some of it quite incisive, none of it ever boring.

I have three vignettes to share with you — without George’s permission — because at this juncture, I have the last word.  This is the only time I ever had the last word!  They help reveal Fr. George, I believe, more characteristically and most honestly.

One time on a car trip to Cleveland, he told me how he skipped the first grade. Youngsters were lining up for each nun designated to take names.  To an associate pastor standing nearby, George said he pointed to youngsters lining up for second grade and announced: “I know as much as those kids know!”  The priest responded, “Then go, get in that line!”  He did, and skipped the first grade.  When he came home, he told his mother, and apparently, with the best of intentions not to let her son become overly impressed with himself, she let him know he was not something special.  George told me he made up his mind at that moment never, in his life, to let anyone “put him down” again. 

Another time he observed that he was a highly impulsive youngster.  Once he rushed into the street after a ball without looking either way.  He ran right into the side of a passing car.  It knocked him silly, without breaking a single bone, though he remained stunned for a little while.  He admitted, matter-of-factly, neither proudly nor defensively, that it never cured him of his impulsivity — not in thought, word, or action.

And finally, on one of our car trips, I asked him to explain a math principle that I never really understood.  George had a mind that grasped math and science, and he knew it.  Perhaps because of my own poor math background and my inept way of expressing myself mathematically, George got the impression I was challenging his mathematical acumen.  He let me have it “with both barrels.”  When he had finished I calmly pointed out that I was not challenging him but merely expressing my own lack of understanding and asking for clarification.  There followed a long silence.  I was driving.  I looked across the front seat only to see big tears running down George’s face.  I mean big ones!  After a little while, he apologized for misunderstanding.  Again, a little pause.  Then we went on with our math discussion, and his patient clarification.

I know this man, my friend, as highly intellectually talented, beyond impulsive in thought, word and action, yet profoundly sensitive, and most willing — in the words of Micah the Prophet—to walk humbly and honestly before God and man alike.  I will miss “The Reverend George R.”

Biographical Information

He was born August 10, 1915, in Cleveland, Ohio.  He attended St. Columbkille Grade School (1921-28), Cathedral Latin High School (1932-35), and John Carroll University, all in Cleveland.  He entered the Society of Jesus on August 6, 1935, at Milford.  He was ordained June 14, 1949, at West Baden College, West Baden Springs, Indiana.  He pronounced final vows in Cincinnati, February 2, 1954.

He taught at Xavier University, Cincinnati (1943-44, 1952-59, 1962-66), St. Ignatius High School, Cleveland (1949-51, 1960-62), and finally, at the University of Detroit High School, Detroit (1966 to 1992).  In addition to teaching mathematics, chemistry, physics and theology, he authored several chemistry books.  From 1992 to 1994, he was chaplain at St. Joseph Home, in Detroit.  He was associate pastor at Ss. Peter and Paul, in Detroit from 1994 to 2001.  He moved to Colombiere Center in 2001, where he prayed for the Church and Society.