About a week before he died from a heart attack, the Catholic Chaplain of Syracuse University and SUNY-ESF was gleaning apple orchards with SU students in an effort to feed the poor.

Father Linus DeSantis was someone who was gracious to the Syracuse community and was involved in it beyond his role as a chaplain and the head of the Alibrandi Catholic Center at 110 Walnut Place, said Melanie Carroll, a member of the Catholic Center’s Board of Directors and a doctoral candidate at SU.

DeSantis died Tuesday after suffering a heart attack. He was ordained as a Catholic priest in 1971 and began his role as Roman Catholic chaplain at Hendricks in November 2007.

Carroll first met DeSantis in 2008 when she was the principal of an inner city elementary school in Syracuse. She needed someone to volunteer for Read Across America Day, and DeSantis came in to the school dressed in full SU gear and a big Dr. Seuss hat, she said.

Carroll, 45, who said she hasn’t left the university since she was an undergraduate, said during her experience in the community, none of the SU priests reached out the way DeSantis did.

“They did not engage in our Syracuse city schools, they did not engage with kids in poverty at the Franciscan Center the way he did,” Carroll said.

This also extended to SU students, who he encouraged to volunteer and engage in the Syracuse community as a part of the service component of Catholic education, Carroll said.

Through DeSantis’s efforts, SU students got involved in STEM science fairs at the inner city schools.

“The Syracuse University students, they loved him, they just — what’s not to love? He was a great priest … He was a really good human being as well as a good priest,” Carroll said.

The chaplain “really was passionate” about the students he worked with, said Hendricks Chapel Interim Dean Samuel Clemence. DeSantis cared for them and counseled them, he added, and was always very “visible” on campus.

Clemence said DeSantis was “hands-on” and added that the chaplain would often say, “’Words are good, but actions are more important.’”

DeSantis’ actions included his efforts to help the poor and children in inner city schools. The chaplain also was always willing to volunteer within the SU community, Clemence said, and often organized and prayed at vigils held at Hendricks.

When Hendricks celebrated its 85th birthday in the fall, DeSantis was out cutting cake on the Quad and handing slices to students, Clemence said.

DeSantis held Catholic masses every Sunday at Hendricks, and also held masses regularly at the Catholic Center, Clemence said. The chaplain was available 24/7, Clemence added, and was “always willing” to help students with whatever they needed, whether it be help with religious observances or counseling.

“There’s no other place he would rather be than working with students,” he said.

There will be an interfaith service held Wednesday in honor of DeSantis, Clemence said. At the end of the service, attendees can get their hands washed. DeSantis often washed people’s feet at religious ceremonies, Clemence said, as this is a tradition in the Catholic faith.

“He was willing to talk to anybody and be supportive,” he said. “He really was a very, very important part of the chapel.”

Published on December 6, 2015 at 9:32 pm

Contact Alexa: atorrens@syr.edu