Message received from the family of Father Polzer

November 5th, 2003

Dear Friends:

Ipolzer am Charlie Polzer’s closest relative and cousin, Michael Loughran.I know many of you. It is with great sadness that I am writing to let you know that, yesterday morning, Charlie died peacefully in his sleep in the infirmary at the Sacred Heart Jesuit Center in Los Gatos, California.

Charlie, as many of you were aware, was to undergo surgery this morning to re-attach his colon. He was then to begin a period of convalescence at the Jesuit Center that would have had him back in the desert by Christmas. He arrived in Los Gatos this past Thursday.
I saw Charlie on Saturday at the Jesuit Center, and on Sunday brought him home to enjoy a wonderful dinner together with my family. He was in high spirits and excited about all how all of his projects, especially the novel and the new bust of Kino, were going forward so successfully. Charlie began a pre-operation liquid diet on Monday morning. On Tuesday morning after breakfast, Charlie returned to his room in the infirmary to lie down. The nurses discovered thirty minutes later that Charlie had died in his sleep, apparently of heart failure.

This is an immense loss for me and for my family, as Charlie has been so central in our lives. I’m sure it is a huge loss for all of us who loved him. I am so thankful to all the wonderful people at the Jesuit Center who so welcomed Charlie and took such excellent and loving care of him. I am thankful, as well, to all of you for all the support you have given over the past months. I can tell you I have not seen Charlie as happy and at peace as he was recently, despite his medical problems. I think he really felt how much he was loved.

There will be a vigil next Tuesday evening, November 11, at 7:00 PM, and a Mass followed by a burial Wednesday, November 12, at 10:00 AM, both at the Sacred Heart Jesuit Center in Los Gatos. Chris Corbally, S.J., is organizing a memorial for Charlie in be held in Tucson later this month. Either I or Chris will email you with the details as they are finalized.

As Charlie has now left us, I am sure he would want all of us to continue in our own efforts to make a loving contribution to this world. He inspired many, was deeply loved, and will be terribly missed.

With love,
Michael Loughran

Message received from Mr. Enrique Salgado

November 5th, 2003

Todos extrañaremos a Charlie.

—–Original Message—–
From: Jerold Lindner [mailto:jwl44sj64sl97@earthlink.net]
Sent: Tuesday, November 04, 2003 4:39 PM
This is a notice of the sudden death of Fr. Polzer. Your names were found on his computer email list. Please pray for him.
Father Charles W. Polzer, S.J., died unexpectedly on Tuesday, November 4, 2003, at Regis Infirmary, Sacred Heart Jesuit Center, in Los Gatos, California. He was 72 years old. Born in San Diego, California, on December 1, 1930, Charlie entered the Society of Jesus at Sacred Heart Novitiate, Los Gatos, on August 14, 1952. He pronounced final vows on July 31, 1982, at San Ignacio, Sonora, Mexico. May he rest in peace.

Vigil:
Tuesday, November 11, 7:30 p.m.
Sacred Heart Jesuit Center Chapel
300 College Avenue
Los Gatos, CA

Mass of the Resurrection:
Wednesday, November 12, 10:00 a.m.
Sacred Heart Jesuit Center Chapel

Committal:
following Mass of the Resurrection
Santa Clara Mission Cemetery
490 Lincoln Street
Santa Clara, CA

A memorial Mass will be held in Tucson at a time yet to be determined.

Take care.

Obituary written by Fr. John Martin at Los Gatos

Obituary: Rev. Charles W. Polzer, S.J. – In Los Gatos, CA on Tuesday, November 4, 2003, at age 72

Fr. Polzer was born in San Diego where he attended St. Augustine High School. Upon graduation from Santa Clara University in 1952 he entered the Jesuit novitiate at Los Gatos, CA. His normal course of studies in the Jesuits brought him to St. Louis University, MO, and Alma College in Los Gatos. He was ordained to the priesthood in Los Angeles in 1964. He then did a period of post-ordination studies in Cordoba, Spain. During his studies for the priesthood Fr. Polzer taught for three years at Brophy College Preparatory in Phoenix. It was during his time at Brophy that he developed the keen interest in Southwest American History that would shape his life’s work.

This interest brought him to the University of Arizona where, in 1972, he received a doctorate in History and Anthropology. He joined the faculty at the University and served as an ethnohistorian and a curator at the Arizona State Museum. His area of scholarly interest, research and writing was the 17th-18th century Jesuit missions of Sonora, Baja California and Arizona. He had a special interest in the life of Padre Eusebio Kino, S.J. the founder of the Jesuit missions in the Northwestern area of “New Spain,” and he became instrumental in promoting the cause for sainthood in the Catholic Church for Fr. Kino. He wrote or edited twelve books and numerous articles on these Jesuit missions. He was also a member of the American Division of the Jesuit Historical Institute and he helped gather and manage an extensive library of historical documents relating to the history of the Jesuits in the Americas. In 1985 he was appointed to the Christopher Columbus Quincentenary Jubilee Commission created by the U.S. Congress. In 1987 he received, from King Juan Carlos of Spain, the Order of Isabela La Catolica for distinguished work in the history of the Americas.

Charlie’s professional competence was augmented with a strong, up-beat personality. To engage him in conversation was to get an enthusiastic update on his latest project. A special treat, experienced by many of his professional colleagues and friends, was to accompany Charlie on one of his many four-wheeler expeditions into his beloved deserts and mountains of Sonora. He could bring those dry environs alive with historical details. In the early 1970’s Charlie founded Kino House, a Jesuit residence in Tucson. There, with his trusted dachshund, “Underdog”, he offered gracious Southwestern hospitality to many of his Jesuit brothers and to visitors from all points of the globe. He maintained a voluminous correspondence with colleagues around the world.

Charlie had come to Los Gatos to prepare for some planned surgery, but died peacefully in his sleep, apparently from heart failure, the day before his scheduled operation. He is survived by his cousins Michael Loughran of Redwood City, CA and William Mitchell of Belmont, CA. Vigil at 7:30 PM, Tuesday, November 11, Funeral Mass at 10:00 AM, Wednesday, November 12, both at Sacred Heart Jesuit Center, Los Gatos. Committal will follow at Santa Clara Mission Cemetery, Santa Clara.
A Memorial Mass will be celebrated at St. Augustine Cathedral, Tucson, on Friday, November 21st, at 7:00 PM. .
Arizona Daily Star (2 days: Friday, Nov. 7, Saturday, Nov. 8)
Tucson Citizen (2 days: Friday, Nov. 7, Saturday, Nov. 8)
San Jose Mercury News (1 day: Sunday, Nov. 9) 9)

Message received from Mr. Henry Capote

November 7th, 2003

I’ve taken the liberty to respond to all on this list. Yet I am certain that is not fully reflective of all his friends.

Charlie was a jovial, generous and gregarious man willing to give sans expectations. This qualitative trilogy, when confined to one individual and expressed in virginal purity, is a rare occurrence, one might say, even extraordinary.

I came in contact with him just a few times in his life, during his visits to Washington DC. My former wife Graciela, had been his grad assistant at the University of Arizona Charlie’s base of operations. The times we met generally in a group and over dinner, the discussions were lively and the stories funny. A yes his projects, they surfaced there too, but more they helped to define his life but without domination. He was driven and enjoyed every minute of it. He was an enthusiastic emotional geyser of sorts. I felt at ease with him and able to converse openly almost immediately after our initial meeting.

He showed uncommon kindness and thoughtfulness toward Graciela and helped to fill the emotional void left by her father’s death. Indeed Graciela always referred to Charlie with a mixture of respect and love.

That was Charlie, a sensitive brilliant man without an ounce of pretension. I expect that if a man is defined by his deeds, his memory will not burrow into obscurity. The Homerian vision of eternity will be fulfilled.

May we be afforded the zest for life that Charlie had.

Henry Capote

Message received from Mr. James P. Keeny

November 7th, 2003

I, too, would like to convey my thoughts about the passing of Charles Polzer, SJ:

My wife Dorothy and I are terribly grieved to learn of Charlie’s passing. He was a friend to us over the past 12 years, ever since I learned back then that I was distantly related to Padre Kino. Some years after receiving papers in Italian passed on to me by my father, I learned that our family name of Keeney was anglicized from the Italian Chini. The town of Segno figured prominently in the papers. Back in 1991, my wife and I traveled there and were amazed to see this name inscribed above the church. In Segno, we were passed from one branch of the Chini family to another until finally the “right” Chini found us after referencing the Chini family tree book that was published in Italy in 1938. One member, a Massimiliano Chini, my grandfather, had emigrated from Segno to New York City in 1884, and, later, in 1910 changed the name to Keeney. We then came to understand the significance of the statue of Padre Kino on horseback standing in the square in Segno, and that a certain Rev. Polzer in Tucson was the “keeper” of Padre Kino lore in the US.

Needless to say, we began communicating to Charlie upon our return, first by letter and then by email. We visited with him in Tucson on three occasions, and on one, I believe in 1996, he took us by car to Kino’s missions in the Sonora and even down to Magdalena in northern Mexico where the missionary is entombed. Over the years, we learned of his successes with the busts and books about Padre Kino, his pursuit of beatification on behalf of the missionary, his disappointment with his university in Tucson, his beloved pair of beagles and, yes, even of his illnesses. We purchased several statues of Padre Kino from him, and all are given honored places in the homes of ourselves and our daughters.

I see that I have used the word ‘learned” more than once in this communication, and that is the context in which I will remember Charlie. For he was a teacher in addition to being a preacher – an enthusiastic, productive and highly personable one at that. We are sad to learn of his departure, but happy that he was at peace with himself and his God. Please let us know if there are ways in the future to remember him.

Sincerely,

James P. Keeney
8 Circle Dr.,
Dover, MA 02030-2106
(508) 785-1361