By Florida Catholic staff - Florida Catholic
FORT LAUDERDALE | Students and staff at Cardinal Gibbons High School here celebrated a memorial Mass April 13 for Piarist Father Charles W. Newburn, who taught at the school for 34 years.
Photographer: FILE PHOTO
Piarist Father Charles Newburn, born Oct. 23, 1943; entered religious life Oct. 15, 1969; ordained Sept. 22, 1979; died April 4, 2016.
Father Newburn, 72, died April 4, after 46 years of religious life and 36 in the priesthood. While teaching math and theology at Gibbons, he also helped out at local parishes on the weekend, including St. Gabriel in Pompano Beach and Our Lady of Mercy in Deerfield Beach.
Born Oct. 23, 1943 in Daytona Beach, the third child in a family of four, he graduated from Mainland High School in 1961 and enlisted in the U.S. Navy. He entered the novitiate of the Piarist Fathers in Derby, N.Y., on Oct. 15, 1969 and made his first profession of vows on Oct. 16, 1970.
He studied at the Catholic University of America in Washington and the University of Central Florida, earning a bachelor's degree in Spanish. In 1974, he was assigned to the Piarist community of Devon in suburban Philadelphia. He studied philosophy and theology at Villanova University while teaching mathematics and geography in Devon Prep.
From 1977 until 1978, he was assigned to the community in Fort Lauderdale, during which time he continued his studies at St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in Boynton Beach. He made his solemn profession as a Piarist Oct. 23, 1977, and in 1978 returned to Devon to complete his theology studies. He was ordained a priest Sept. 22, 1979.
In 1982, he was again assigned to Fort Lauderdale, where he remained until his death. While teaching at Gibbons, he also served over the years as local superior of the Piarist Fathers, master of novices, provincial assistant and provincial secretary.
His funeral Mass was celebrated April 9 at St. John the Baptist in Fort Lauderdale, followed by burial at Our Lady Queen of Heaven Cemetery there. Donations in his name may be made to: Piarist Seminarian or Retirement Funds, P.O. Box 11822, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33339.
