Brother Duain O'Mara O.S.J.

Carissima Fratello....My dear brother. I have known Duain since I was in sixth grade (1965-1966) at St. Mary's School in Sacramento. He was the brother at my home Parish and the head (ONLY) Sacristan of the church. Nice title for a custodian. I spent a lot of time at the rectory as a child, and Duain and I and our friend Ed Roach would do a lot of silly things. Things like making match guns out of spokes, or shooting pigeons from the back porch of the rectory or hunting them on the outside areas of the church, to my ultimate favorite, seeing how badly we could scare Fr. Russo with noises when he tried to nap. We lived as Brothers for only a few years while he was stationed in Madera. For some reason, they tried to keep us in separate houses...I have NO IDEA WHY??? Today, the 28th of June, 2012, Duain died. Caro fratello de mi vita, requitate en pace. I shall miss you my dear friend, and when I toast at Thanksgiving, there will always be a place for you to be seated with us! Ciao'... From a trip to Italy in 1985, Duain in Florence Duain in Rome Duain as Assistant Youth Minister on our retreat to Soda Springs (1982) On ur bus trip in Germany...he had to sit in front of us... Always doing the work of others! Thanksgiving, 2010 in the back yard with the guys, solving the issues of the world! The next day with my Dad, and good Friend David at the Paso Robles Wineries With me in Paso Robles And this is so hard for me...Left is Fr. Siro, Center is Br. Duain, Back Right is Fr.Gus and front right is Fr. Tunesi. All of them are dead...but I bet the Asti Spumanti is flowing in the rooms of Heaven when these dear friends met up again today! I miss them all, I miss them greatly, but I am the person I am today for what ALL of them taught me. "Life is a Journey, enjoy it!"