Dale Carleton Nix, Brother Mary Joseph CMRI

REQUIESCAT IN PACE

On Monday, June 1, 2020, Bro. Mary Joseph Nix, CMRI, succumbed to complications from appendicitis, among them pneumonia caused by aspiration into the lungs. He was a member of the Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen (C.M.R.I.) for over 50 years, and celebrated his Golden Jubilee of Vows this past year. We mourn his loss deeply, for he had a profound effect upon us all by the living of his religious vocation, by his singular devotion to Our Blessed Mother and her Holy Rosary, and by his unremitting prayer and witness to the Pro-Life cause.

Brother Joseph was born March 10, 1942, in Cleveland, Ohio, and as a young boy contracted tuberculosis, necessitating the surgical removal of his right knee joint and one of his kidneys because the disease had spread to those places. He would ever after walk with a pronounced limp, since the upper and lower leg bones of his right leg were now fused. The family moved to Phoenix, Arizona, where Brother completed high school and then attended college, learning and honing his architectural drawing skills. His growing love for Our Blessed Mother led him in 1967 to join the Blue Army, an organization that promoted the message of Our Lady of Fatima, and then he realized he was being called to the newly-begun traditional Catholic Religious Congregation of C.M.R.I., based in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, whose purpose was also to spread that same Fatima Message. He made his First Profession of Vows in September of 1969, and served in various roles as infirmarian, cook, cleaner, and designer and builder of shrines and devotional structures. Brother moved along with his fellow religious to Mt. St. Michael, in Spokane, Washington, in 1978, when C.M.R.I. took possession of the former Jesuit Scholasticate, and for nearly that entire time continued to pray, labor, and live his religious vocation there. A terrible fall from a staircase in 2009 caused him a loss of most of his mobility, and so he and his wheelchair became quite the constant companions.

Because of the restrictions on number of people present in church, sadly, we cannot invite everyone to a public Rosary and to his 10:30 a.m. funeral Mass on Tuesday, June 9. However, his body will lie in state in church on Monday, June 8, on the transferred feast of Mary Immaculate Queen, and you are invited to come pay your respects beginning after the 11 a.m. Mass. You are also asked to pray the Rosary as families or groups, at the beginning of each hour, starting at noon, and continuing until 9 p.m., at which time the Mount is locked for the night. You may also visit his remains on Tuesday morning, until 10 a.m., at which time preparations for the funeral will happen. As was done for Mr. Tom Drahman’s funeral, you are most welcome to line the roadway to the cemetery while remaining in your cars, at noon, to show your respect to the funeral cortege as it goes by.

Besides his fellow religious, the Priests, Brothers, and Sisters of C.M.R.I., Brother is survived by his brother Ron Nix (Mary), and sister Lisa Ann Nix.  

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