Rev. Richard D. Bertrand, S.J., 69, who after a long illness was called home by the Lord on Monday, September 11, 2017. He died peacefully at the Campion Center in Weston, MA. Richard Bertrand was born on November 28th, 1947, in Biddeford, Maine. He and his sister Susan were the children of Lucien and Gertrude (Archambault) Bertrand. He attended parish schools and graduated from St. Louis High School in Biddeford in 1966. He entered Shadowbrook, the novitiate of the New England Province, in Lenox, Massachusetts, on July 30th, 1966, and took first vows two years later. From 1968 to 1971, he did collegian and philosophy studies at Boston College, then, was assigned to Seattle Prep, where he taught French and English for two years. He returned to B.C., in 1972, for a year of graduate studies in French literature. Two more years of high-school work followed, the first, teaching French at Boston College High School, and the second, teaching English and art at École St. Louis de Gonzague in Paris. From 1975 to 1978, he studied theology at Weston School of Theology in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He then taught French and Spanish and chaired the modern languages department at Bishop Connolly High School in Fall River, Massachusetts for four years. He was ordained a priest in Fall River on November 10th, 1979. He spent the academic year 1982-1983 at Fordham University in the CORD Program for Jesuit high-school administrators. In 1983, he returned to Maine and began his long association with Cheverus High School and Maine parishes, where he was to spend most of the remainder of his life. From 1983 to 1987, he was at Cheverus as assistant principal and then as principal. In 1988-1989, he did his final year of Jesuit training in Quebec. This was followed by a five-year stint at Fairfield Prep where he served first in admissions and then as school chaplain. In 1994, he returned to Maine where he served as pastor or parochial vicar in several locations during a period when the diocese was consolidating and merging multiple parishes: St. Louis in Auburn and St. Mary in Lewiston from 1994 to 1998; St. Edmund in Westbrook from 1998 to 2003; and Sacred Heart/St. Dominic to which were added St. Pius X and St. Patrick in Portland where he ministered to Spanish and French-African communities from 2003 to 2010. In 2010, he moved to St. Ignatius Residence at Cheverus High School in Portland, where he served as parochial vicar at St. Joseph, St. Patrick, and St. Pius X parishes, which merged to form Our Lady of Hope Parish in 2011. In the past year he was diagnosed with cancer. He went to the Campion Center for a period of treatments in Boston. Despite the exhausting regimen, he returned to minister at Our Lady of Hope Parish. In the late summer of 2017 he was finally persuaded to move permanently to Campion Center where, after a brief but determined struggle, he died surrounded by his Jesuit Brothers. In addition to his gift for languages, Fr. Bertrand had a strong commitment to the social gospel with a special focus on the poor, the immigrant and the refugee.
Fr. Bertrand S.J. was predeceased by his parents, dear aunts, uncles and cherished cousins. In addition to his Jesuit Brothers, he is survived by a sister, Susan Bertrand Tourigny, and her husband Bruce A. Tourigny of Biddeford; a nephew, Joel M. Tourigny and his wife Brittaney and their daughter Kharis of Edmond, OK; a niece, Danielle R. Tourigny and her partner Kelly Ward of Portland, ME; cousins, Lucille Lagueux, Janine Parker, Elaine Compagna, Norman Lewis, Jane Petschek and their families. Fr. Bertrand will lie in State on Monday, September 18, 2017 from 2:00 to 5:00pm and 7:00 to 9:00pm at St. Pius X Church, 492 Ocean Ave., Portland. A concelebrated Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Tuesday, September 19, 2017 at 12:30pm at Sacred Heart/St. Dominic Parish, corner of Mellen and Sherman Street, Portland, with The Most Reverend Robert P. Deeley, J.C.D. as principle celebrant. On Wednesday, September 20, 2017 a Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10:00am at the Campion Center in Weston, MA, followed by burial there. Those who wish may make donations to: Cheverus High School, 267 Ocean Ave., Portland, ME 04103, for the Fr. Richard D. Bertrand S.J. Scholarship, which will provide tuition assistance to Cheverus Students or to Campion Health Center, 319 Concord Rd, Weston, MA 02493