Requiescat in Pace, Father Albert A. Grosskopf, SJ

Dear Sisters and Brothers –

Please join me and my brother Jesuits as we pray in gratitude for the life and ministry of Father Al Grosskopf, S.J., who, at age 94, died peacefully on August 25 at the Sacred Heart Jesuit Center in Los Gatos. Most of us came to know and love Father Al through his ministry as Associate Pastor of St. Ignatius Parish from 1997-2008. 

Father Al entered the Society of Jesus in 1950 as a Jesuit Brother. In his early years of ministry, he was a carpenter, a truck and tractor mechanic, and a traveling altar wine salesman for Jesuit Novitiate Wines. He earned two degrees in theology in the early 1970s, and it was during his service in the mid-70s at Holy Family Parish in San Jose that he discovered his interest in and great gift for ministering to people experiencing separation and divorce, a ministry he engaged in for the rest of his life. In this time, Father Al discerned his vocation to priesthood, and he was ordained in 1983. Father Al  served as Associate Director of Campus Ministry at USF from 1985 to 1997 and continued as a member of that team until 2003. After he formally left the St. Ignatius Parish staff, Father Al continued his sacramental ministry at St. Ignatius for another six years. As many know, he was an authority on vintage fountain pens and cigarette lighters!

Father Al touched our lives in countless ways through his kindness, optimistic preaching, gentle pastoral care, and dedicated sacramental ministry. We will remember his life and service to the People of God at a Mass of Christian Burial at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, September 23, at St. Ignatius Church.

Whether our memories find Father Al in cowboy boots and one of his Hawaiian shirts, or vested in our church celebrating the Eucharist, let us give thanks for all the ways that Father Al helped us know the mercy and peace of Jesus.

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. May his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

Oremus pro invicem.