Deacon Bambrick: 'The best deacon I ever worked with'
OGDEN — Deacon Robert Bambrick was a man who believed in the Gospel, was faithful to the teachings of the Church and who loved the Eucharist above all things, said Father Erik Richtsteig at the Oct. 16 funeral Mass for the deacon.
The deacon also touched many lives in his 92 years. “Look around,” Fr. Richtsteig urged those present at the Mass. “Look how many people. This is just a small sampling of the lives which Bob touched.”
In his homily, Fr. Richtsteig said Deacon Bambrick “was the best deacon I ever worked with … because he took seriously the fact that he was serving our Lord Jesus Christ. He put Jesus first.”
The deacon died Oct. 7 at the age of 92. In 1976, he was a member of the first class of deacons to be ordained for the Diocese of Salt Lake City by Bishop Joseph L. Federal. He served many ministries in Utah, much of it at St. Henry Mission and St. James the Just Parish, while also serving 25 years in the Southeastern Deanery of the Diocese of Boise.
Fr. Richtsteig, who was pastor at St. James the Just Parish from 2003 to 2019 and is now pastor of St. Ambrose Parish in Salt Lake City, presided at the funeral Mass. Concelebrants were Fr. Eleazar Silva, who was sacramental minister at St. James for several months this year and now is pastor at St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Orem, and Fr. Francisco Pires, now pastor of Saint Henry Parish, Brigham City, and Santa Ana Mission, Tremonton. Fr. Pires celebrated the gravesite ceremony.
Deacon Steven Neveraski was Deacon of the Mass; numerous other deacons attended. The Knights of Columbus provided an honor guard, and the music ministry was by the parish choir.
Deacon Bambrick was born in Detroit, Mich. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1946-1951. After being discharged, he joined the Knights of Columbus and met his future wife, Pauline Hebben, through her father, who served in the same Knights of Columbus council and introduced them. The couple was married for more than 66 years. After the deacon was hired by Thiokol Corp. in 1961, they moved their family to Brigham City, where they became active at St. Henry Parish.
God was the deacon’s first love, “then his wonderful family, and then his country,” Fr. Richtsteig said at the funeral Mass.
He urged those present to tell stories, when the occasion arose, about “Sgt. Bob and steely-eyed rocket man Bob, and Bob the dad, and Bob the granddad and great-granddad and Bob the husband and Deacon Bob – all the same person, all a truly wonderful man.”
But the funeral Mass wasn’t the time to tell such stories, Fr. Richtsteig said, because “a funeral is about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It’s why we have funerals in churches. It’s why it’s an act of prayer. Because we come together today to pray for Bob, to pray that whatever stains of this earthly life are left are washed away in the fire of God’s love, and that the gates of heaven will be open for him.”
As he concluded his homily, Fr. Richtsteig asked those present to say a prayer for the deacon whenever they thought of him, “but also ask him to say a prayer for you. I know that I did. As I was driving up here, I said, ‘Bob, help me out here. Help me to celebrate your funeral. Help me to say goodbye to my very good friend.”
Deacon Bambrick is survived by his wife and their children, 12 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren (plus two on the way) and other family members.
Burial was at Brigham City Cemetery.
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