Obituary of Brother Belanger

Brother Joseph L. R "Roland" Belanger, died on April 21, 2010 in New York City. He was 84 years of age. Born in Lawrence, Massachusetts, Brother Joseph entered the Marist Juniorate, located in Tyngsboro, Massachusetts, in 1938. He professed his first vows as a Marist Brother in 1944. Bro. Joseph received his Bachelor's Degree in English from Marian College in 1948. His Master's Degree in English was granted by St. John's University in 1955. Bro. Joseph obtained a second Master's Degree in French from Middlebury in 1960. In 1970 Bro. Joseph received his Ph.D. in French from New York University. As a Marist Brother he filled his life with prayer and work. His was a long academic journey through classrooms as a teacher in Marist Brother's schools along the eastern coast of the United States. In 1959 Bro. Joseph joined the faculty at Marist College and, as both a professor and professor emeritus; he spent his years at Marist trying to open students' minds to new ways of thinking. In 1996 Bro. Joseph traveled to China, where he taught English at Lujiang University in Xiamen, after which he wrote "China Prism: Red-Yellow-Green". His aim in writing this book was to offer a view of China that he found lacking in media accounts. His last years of retirement was spent at the Marist Brothers community at Mount St. Michael Academy in the Bronx. His optimism and joy of life will be missed by his brothers and sisters: Irene and her husband Joseph Golden of Groveland, Rita and her husband Ovila Cote of Bradford, Emile and his wife Charlotte Belanger of Hobe Sound, Fla., Raymond and his wife Cecile Belanger of Lawrence, J. Ernest and his wife Alicia Quintana Castilla of Madrid, Spain; also his sister-in-law: Ethel Belanger of Lawrence, and his brother-in-law: Laren Smart; his godchild, Nicole Zakrewski; as well as many nieces and nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews. He is predeceased by his two sisters: Bernadette Elston, and Juliette Smart; and his brother, Philippe Belanger. A Funeral Mass was celebrated on Monday, April 26, 2010 in Methuen, MA. A prayer service and wake will be held at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, on Wednesday, April 28, at 3 p.m. A committal service will be held on Thursday at 9:30 a.m. in the Marist Brothers Cemetery in Esopus. Memorial contributions may be made to the Brother Joseph L.R. Belanger, FMS Scholarship Fund, c/o Marist College, Poughkeepsie, NY 12601. Arrangements under the direction of the Timothy P. Doyle Funeral Home, Inc, 371 Hooker Ave., Poughkeepsie. For directions, or to send an online condolence, please visit our website at www.doylefuneralhome.com